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Record payout for bullied pupil 學童飽受校園霸凌 賠償金破紀錄

An undated copy of a school photograph of Benjamin Cox. 日期不明的班傑明．寇克斯在校照片。 PHOTO: EPA

An Australian teenager was awarded record damages and a lifetime income May 14 after a court found that his life had been ruined by bullying at primary school.

Benjamin Cox, now 18, was six when he was regularly bullied by an older, disturbed pupil, the New South Wales state Supreme Court heard.

Judge Carolyn Simpson said the state had "grossly failed" in its duty of care to Cox, who now suffers from a severe psychiatric condition.

Angela Cox told the court her son became "absolutely petrified" of going to school, particularly after his tormentor tried to strangle him in February 1995.

When she complained about the school's inaction, she said a Department of Education officer told her that "bullying builds character".

Her son began to have nightmares and headaches, cried all the time and developed a severe stutter, she said.

"His adolescence has been all but destroyed; his adulthood will not be any better," the judge said. "He will never know the satisfaction of employment."

"He will suffer anxiety and depression, almost certainly, for the rest of his life. He has no friends and is unlikely to make any."

When Angela Cox told the principal in September 1995 that she was taking her son out of school because of the bullying, she said he replied: "You lose some kids and keep some."

The judge accepted psychiatric evidence that the bullying was the initiating factor which led to the teenager's current condition.

Cox was awarded more than AU$213,000 (NT$5,843,068) plus a weekly allowance for life expected to total more than a million dollars. (AFP)

澳洲法院五月十四日判決，一名青少年因小學時飽受校園霸凌之苦，毀了他的人生，獲判創紀錄的賠償費，且有終身所得。

現年十八歲的班傑明．寇克斯，六歲時經常遭一位心理異常的高年級生霸凌欺壓。新南威爾斯州最高法院審理此案。

卡洛琳．辛普森法官表示，此州「嚴重怠忽」照顧寇克斯的職責，寇克斯正苦於嚴重的精神狀態。

其母安琪拉．寇克斯向法官表示，她的兒子被嚇到不敢去上學，尤其是一九九五年二月那名惡霸想勒斃他時。

她說自己埋怨學校不理不睬時，教育部官員還告訴她「校園霸凌可塑造人格」。

她說，兒子開始做惡夢、頭痛，無時無刻哭喊，還導致嚴重結巴。

「他青少年時期全毀了，成年後也不會好轉，」法官說︰「他將無從得知受僱的滿足。」

「他幾乎一輩子都會飽受焦慮與沮喪所苦。他沒有朋友，也不可能交友。」

安琪拉．寇克斯一九九五年九月告訴校長她因校園霸凌要帶兒子離開時，校長回答說︰「學生本來就來來去去」。

法官採信精神病學的證據，認為校園霸凌是導致這名青少年現狀的起因。

寇克斯獲賠澳幣二十一萬三千多元（新台幣五百八十四萬三千零六十八元），終生還週週可領補償金，總額估計超過一百萬元澳幣。

（法新社/翻譯︰賴美君）

TODAY'S WORDS 今日單字 1. disturbed adj. 精神異常的 (jing1 shen2 yi4 chang2 de5) 例: My niece suffers from a disturbed personality. (我姪女有人格異常的問題。) 2. petrified adj. 嚇呆的 (xia4 dai1 de5) 例: I'm petrified of cockroaches. (我被蟑螂嚇得目瞪口呆。) 3. strangle v.t. 勒斃 (le4 bi4) 例: The murder victim was strangled. (謀殺案被害人慘遭勒斃。) 4. initiate v.t. 開始 (kai1 shi3) 例: You can't just wait for a new opportunity to find you. You have to initiate change. (你不能等新契機自己送上門來。你必須開始改變。)

SAY WHAT? 說說看 duty of care　照顧責任 Duty of care is a legal term. It means that a person in a given position (like a teacher or doctor) has a legal duty to care for the subject as a reasonable and prudent person would.The goal is to protect the subject from unnecessary harm. In this case, the school was state run and so the state of New South Wales was found to have failed in its duty of care. The teachers, principal and Department of Education officer whom neglected their duty of care were all employed by the state of New South Wales. 「duty of care」（照顧責任）是一個法律名詞，意指擔任老師或醫生等特定工作者在法律上有理性且謹慎 地照顧當事人的責任。目的在保護當事人免受不必要的傷害。 本文案例中，由於那所小學屬州立小學，故新南威爾斯州未盡到照顧他人的責任；而受這一州僱聘的老師、校長與教育部官員也全都怠忽職守。

OUT LOUD 對話練習 April: Hi. I was wondering if you could help me out with something? Chris: Sure, what's up? April: Did either of your two kids ever get picked on at school? Chris: Well, Fiona did for a short while. But we managed to sort it out by meeting up with the bully's parents. Why do you ask? April: It's Josh. I can see that something is going on, and I've spoken to the school. But they weren't very helpful. I'm at my wits' end! 艾波兒︰嗨！可否請你幫我一點忙？ 克里斯︰當然，怎麼啦？ 艾波兒︰你兩個孩子有過在校被欺負的經驗嗎？ 克里斯︰費歐娜曾短暫有過。不過我們與惡霸學生的家長見面，設法解決問題。你為什麼這麼問？ 艾波兒︰是因為喬許。我知道有事情發生，也跟學校談過了，但沒什麼幫助。我真的是窮途末路了！ at (one's) wits' end　窮途末路，不知道該怎麼辦 You can say that you are at your wits' end if you have tried every way you can think of to solve a problem and have run out of ideas. 解決問題時，當你能想的方法都用盡了，再也想不出來，你就是「at your wits' end」。

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