Bullies tried to strangle Josh with a wire in the school science lab. Now he is fighting for a change

WHAT started out as verbal bullying at the age of 13, progressed gradually to physical attacks and could have reached a fatal conclusion when an attempt was made to strangle Josh Lowe in a school science classroom.

- By ZENA HAWLEY

For Josh, the situation was made worse when the teacher denied having seen anything happen and despite the red mark on his neck, nothing was done about the assault.

The attack with the wire took place in year nine at a Derby school, which he has asked us not to name, and he said that for some reason "my bullying went from 0 to 60mph, from verbal to physical, almost overnight."

Josh said: "I would be regularly tripped or punched and complaining did not seem to make any difference and I was just seen as a 'snitch' by everyone, it felt.

"The worse thing about it all was that when I was home I acted out. My behaviour was bad and all I wanted to do was leave the school and go elsewhere.

"I began to self-harm in the hope that I wouldn't have to go to school at all and this meant my work was suffering. I really felt worthless, a feeling that was enforced by comments from both other pupils and teachers, who said I was a 'failure."

Eventually, Josh discovered Children First Derby, a charity based in Leopold Street, which runs a mentoring service and over the years has seen an increased number of young people experiencing bullying.

He is now aged 21 and recently finished his environmental science degree, which he gained with first-class honours.

Josh, who is part of the Children First young people's forum, has been telling his story to help address the growing challenges victims of bullies and their parents face - a situation the forum would like to see changed and it is heading a citywide call for change.