Alex Trelinski
A BRITISH school in Madrid is being sued for €35,000 for allegedly not doing enough to stop a pupil being bullied.
The youngster- named as Monica-was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, which her family claim was caused by bullying at the British Council School in Pozuelo de Alarcon.
The parents claim their daughter suffered ‘serious’ damage to her mental and physical health.
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The family have had to resort to a civil case amidst reports that the school have hired 10 lawyers to act for them and four co-defendant teachers.
The case- which will be heard by a Pozuelo court- dates back to 2022 when Monica was aged 13.
She observed one of her classmates drop out of the school after her parents reported that she was the victim of racial prejudice by pupils.
Monica conveyed her concerns about what was happening to a teacher which allegedly had no effect.
The civil lawsuit refers to her relationship with teachers breaking down as she raised issues of bullying which caused ‘situations of isolation’.
That led to her suffering with from anorexia nervosa for which she had to be hospitalised, documents claim.
Monica lost nine kilos in three months and a psychologist, Jose Cabrera, hired by her parents said her story ‘has a high degree of plausibility’ and therefore is ‘credible’.
The child expert said she suffered harassment leading to acute stress and then anorexia nervosa.
For the last two years, the family has tried to hold the school responsible and the Vozpopuli news portal has reported that several families have denounced the institute for bullying.
There have been allegations from ex-students that the school harboured an ‘elite’ who were children of major celebrities and businessmen who enjoyed a certain ‘impunity’ to be able to harass classmates.
The British school told Vozpopuli in a statement: “The well-being and protection of our students are and always have been a priority.
“These are inalienable principles and as a result of this our policy towards bullying is one of zero tolerance.”
It continued: “Any possible case, even if it is not classifiable as bullying, but is likely to affect the personal and emotional stability of any of our students, is always investigated following our internal procedures, extremely carefully and preserving above all the privacy of the minor.”
“It is the duty of the school to ensure the integrity of all its students and its objective is always to maintain coexistence in the centre, respecting the privacy of the members of the community, especially minors.”
“The school is and has always been in constant communication and harmony with the educational inspectorate and with the Ministry of Education of the Community of Madrid”.
The school also dismissed reporting that 10 lawyers were involved in the civil case.
It said: “We regularly have a legal team specialised in different areas of law, whose job is to guarantee regulatory compliance and manage any legal situation that may require the intervention of these professionals.
“In this case, there are two people – from the same team – who will handle the case representing both the school and the teachers.”
