90 | October• 2018
KINDNESS REALLY MATTERS
weekly therapy and seemed to be
feeling better. Unfortunately, this
was short-lived.
Inthesummerof2014,Igotanew
teaching job, but this meant Pey-
ton would have to change schools.
Ihelpedhimseethatthiswasa
newbeginningandthatthebullies
fromhispreviousschoolwouldbea
thingofthepast;hewasnervousbut
excited.
AshestartedYear8athisnew
school,hemetoneboywithwhom
hehadcommoninterestsandthey
became friends. However, the teas-
ing and bullying continued at this
school,too.Peytonwasaneasytar-
get because he didn’t like what other
kids liked. He didn’t play sport; he
loved watchingDr Who,YouTubeand
anime, and would rather read a book
than play outside.
Hewassoonbeingcalleda‘loser’
anda‘geek’.Hewasdevastated.he
diferencewasthathestoppedtelling
me about the bullying.
Amonthintohisnewschool,Pey-
tontoldmeaboutwhatwasgoing
on.Hehadreportedanincidentto
theprincipalthedaybeforeandthe
principaltoldhimjusttoavoidthe
other boy. I asked Peyton why he
hadn’t told me this was going on and
hesaid,“Mum,youcan’tixthis.”
Afterwegothome,Peytonwent
intohisroom,typicalofteenage
boys. I thought he just needed some
time alone. After about 20 minutes, I
went to check on him and that’s when
Ifoundhim.Hehadhunghimself
from the ceiling fan. There was no
warning and no note. After a fran-
ticcalltoemergencyservicesand
25 minutes of CPR by paramedics,
Peyton was transported to hospital.
The doctors did everything they
could to stabilise him and to allow
him to heal, but the injury to his
brain was just too severe. On Octo-
ber 13, 2014 at 12.02am, Peyton was
pronounced brain dead. At 8.30 that
night, he gave his last and most pro-
found gift by donating his organs,
corneas and skin. He saved the lives
of six people and enhanced the lives
of countless others.AFTER HIS DEATH, I WAS NUMB.
I don’t really remember a lot of the
nextfewweeks,butIdoremembera
conversationIhadwiththemother
ofoneofPeyton’sclosefriends,
Phoebe. She told me that Phoebe
hadbeencryingatschoolandthe
boywhohadtormentedPeytonfor
all those years saw and knew why.
He said to her, “I’m not surprised.
hatboywasafreak.”
hiswaslikeapunchinthegut.
Ijustcouldn’tunderstandwhy
one person would choose to be so
incredibly mean to another person.
No good could come from that state-
ment,sowhywouldhesayit?
ItwasthenthatIrealisedthat,as
educators, we have done our kids a
disservice. We’ve taught them about
bullies and bullying behaviour.