Police will interview several students at Ballina High School later this week after an alleged attack on a student which left him with a severely broken arm.
The year 7 student underwent three hours of surgery after the incident last week during a game of schoolyard contact football which is apparently banned.
The victim’s mother complained to police after the school suspended the other boy involved in the incident for four days.
The school claims it was an accident. In a statement to media, the Department of Education says the boy was pushed over and ‘fallen on’ by another boy while playing a game of ‘grab’ football during recess.
But the injured boy’s mother has called it a sickening case of bullying.
She told the Melbourne Herald-Sun newspaper that fellow students told her that her son was swung around by his arm then jumped on by a fellow Year 7 student, who laughed afterwards.
The education department statement, according to ABC North Coast, said evidence from students and staff did not suggest there was a deliberate attempt to cause harm, and there had been no history of bullying between the two boys.
APN Media reported the incident had sparked division in the school community, with several students taking to social media to comment.
Two senior students said that teachers had ‘warned students against playing tackle football’, which they claim had been banned for years.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
