A former Dubbo College Delroy Campus school captain has claimed she endured "extreme" bullying during her final year of school which was tolerated and allowed to persist.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Maree Pobje said other students often told her to kill herself and a male student once told her he would "punch me in the face and knock me out".
"I said 'this is how domestic violence starts, because you teach boys at the age of 16 that they can get away with telling a girl they'll punch her and when they're 30 and have a partner that's how they believe they can dominate her'," Ms Pobje claimed.
When the behaviour was reported in 2016 the former Dubbo Teenage Showgirl said she and her parents were told nothing much could be done to stop it. Bullying took place online and in person, she said.
When she was desperate for help, Ms Pobje went to Department of Education offices in Dubbo but she claimed her complaints were never resolved and the bullying continued.
"There were multiple times my parents thought they were going to lose me," she said.
"I never got an apology...the school's got a very big issue with the community finding out what's going on and that's why I was made to be silent a lot of the time when I was going through it [bullying]."
Ms Pobje said she was bullied because she was different.
"I was very different," she said."I didn't get to sneak out of my bedroom window and go to a friend's house, I didn't have a social media, I didn't have a phone and I loved learning. It's cool nowadays to not be smart and not wanna do school work and not hand your assignments in and I was the opposite."
Ms Pobje said her experience in years 11 and 12 at Dubbo College Senior Campus were positive compared to her final year at the Delroy Campus.
The Daily Liberal asked the Department of Education to respond to Ms Pobje's allegations.
A spokesperson said "bullying and other forms of unfair or disrespectful behaviour towards fellow students is not tolerated at Dubbo College Delroy Campus or any other NSW school".
"For privacy reasons, the Department of Education does not comment about specific students, past students or staff," the spokesperson said.
"Well-being of all students is a priority at Dubbo College Delroy Campus and support includes a school counsellor, student support team, year advisers, teachers, extensive support and executive staff".
