Breaking Point

The Lowood Eyre Institute for Girls.

The Lowood Eyre Institute for Girls provides a structured and secure learning environment for girls aged 4 – 18 who have experienced difficulties in traditional schools. Lowood Eyre has an excellent track record of dealing with children who have displayed behavioural and emotional problems. Lowood Eyre was first established during the late Victorian period and still believes in many of the core values practised at that time. At Lowood Eyre we have a stricter regime than most other boarding schools, with an emphasis being placed on discipline and hard work,  but our success rate of transforming wayward girls into fine young women with solid beliefs and values speaks for itself……..

I looked at the brochure gloomily and wondered how on earth things had come to this. How had Prue and I failed parenting Alisha so badly? Had we been too strict? Not strict enough? I didn’t know the answer, all I knew was that things had finally reached breaking point.

After the party at Helga’s Cove which saw Alisha arrive home in a police car Alisha wasted no time at all in finding out who had informed Prue and I of all her crazy stunts. It didn’t take long for her to discover her cousin, Esther was at the root of it all. What happened next I don’t think any of us could have forseen.

Alisha sent Esther a text asking her to meet up at Helga’s Cove after school. Of course Esther didn’t suspect a thing because Alisha had been acting as if nothing had happened. Once there though, Alisha wasted no time laying into Esther. Cameron told Prue that Esther had told them Alisha had accused her of being jealous because she was more popular than  her and also because she was going out with Sam.

Poor Esther, it didn’t matter how much she tried to deny it Alisha was adamant Esther was creating trouble for her because she wanted to split her and Sam up. I knew this lad would be trouble, and I haven’t even met him yet. Alisha has always been a bit of a hot head, Prue says it’s a trait from her mother’s side of the family, but this time she really overstepped the mark.

“I’m going to make you wish you never messed with me, Esther Bunch.” she shouted angrily. “You won’t be able to set foot in school without knowing how much you are hated by everyone. I don’t care if you are my cousin or not, I’m going to make your life a living hell.”

“Alisha, please I didn’t mean…… I’m not interested in Sam….. Please you’ve got to believe me.” cried Esther

“Why should I? I know your game, grass me up to my Mum and Dad so they stop me seeing Sam and then you’ll be right on in there. Eva told me it was you who told Aunt Leela and Uncle Cameron everything. Dad’s got me down as some sort of tart and is on my case all the time.”

“I said I hated her.” Esther told Cameron and Leela “The next thing I knew I was on the ground and Alisha was hitting me and screaming that Sam would never be interested in someone like me and the only reason anyone in school was nice to me was because I was her cousin. I begged her to stop….. but she wouldn’t.” sobbed Esther.

I can’t tell you the mixture of emotions I felt hearing how Alisha, my daughter who had been brought up to know right from wrong had treated her cousin. When I lectured Alisha for what felt like the millionth time on her behaviour it felt like she wasn’t even listening and I wondered how on earth I could make her see sense.

Thankfully Cameron and Leela decided it wasn’t in anyone’s interests to make this a police matter and we had planned to try and deal with Alisha’s behaviour as a family, but the matter was taken out of our hands.

The school had heard about the events at Helga’s Cove and summoned Prue and I to a meeting with the headteacher. We were told how Alisha’s behaviour, whilst out of school hours and off school property was still regarded as unacceptable by the school. They said they couldn’t possibly allow a student to remain on their roll after displaying such appalling behaviour. There was only one thing for it, Alisha was to be excluded from Sunset Valley School. The headteacher was actually quite kind to us and said that academically Alisha was the perfect pupil, but they felt she did need some sort of intervention with regards to her behaviour (they’d also heard about the party.)

That’s there a recommendaton to The Lowood Eyre Institute came in. In short it’s a boarding school for children with behavioural problems. At first I was shocked, I mean I’d thought about boarding school in the past, but never really thought it would come to this. After a few telephone calls it was decided, Alisha would become a boarder at the institute the following week.

Prue and I went up to our bedroom once we returned home to discuss the best way to break the news to our daughter. Prue was so upset by the whole thing and blamed herself, saying maybe she hadn’t been strict enough, or maybe she’d gone back to work too soon. She even wondered if it was her fault for falling pregnant with David whilst Alisha was only a toddler. We haven’t even thought about what we are going to tell David about his sister, but I get the feeling he won’t be too upset because he seems to spend as little time as possible in her company.

We decided the best thing was to tell Alisha straight what was happening so when she finally rolled home we summoned her into the dining room and explained everything that had happened in the meeting with the headteacher. I did most of the talking, whilst Prue sat in silence. At first Alisha thought we were joking, but then she saw the serious look on our faces….

She ran out of the room and I followed her. She turned to me “I HATE you!” she spat angrily at me.

“Alisha, the matter is out of our hands. The school won’t have you back and they made the recommendation you go to Lowood Eyre…… I think… me and your mother think it will be good for you. We don’t know how to deal with your behaviour these days, your brother is scared of being in the same room as you, you’ve treated Esther shockingly. You are lucky Cameron and Leela don’t want to press charges.”

“What about Sam? I can’t leave him. It won’t be the same if we are just seeing each other at weekends and holidays.”

“Alisha, you won’t be allowed home for weekends and holidays. I’m afraid that’s the kind of school Lowood Eyre is, you have to stay there for the full academic year.”

Alisha’s eyes opened wide with shock. “You’re sending me away forever?” she gasped.

“No, not forever. But the rules are you stay there as a full time boarder. You’ll be reviewed at the end of the academic year, and if the think your behaviour has improved sufficiently then you may be allowed back home for visits.”

“Daddy, please don’t send me away, please. I know I’ve behaved badly lately, but I’ll change, I really will. If you let me stay then I’ll show you. Please Daddy…..”

I choked back a lump in my throat, Alisha hadn’t called me ‘Daddy’ in a very long time and I was immediately reminded of the small blonde haired toddler who loved to nestle against my chest as I read her favourite books to her. I had to be strong.

“I’m afraid the plans are already in place. This is best for you, best for everyone. You will thank me one day.

“Never” she screamed running upstairs and slamming the door behind her.

For the next few days Alisha refused to speak to me or her mother, blaming us equally for the situation. There were times I came so close to giving the school a phone call and telling them Alisha wouldn’t be attending the institute after all, but in the end Prue was the one who was stronger.

“You said yourself she’s out of control. We’ve tried to deal with her and have failed, so maybe the institute can put right wherever we went so wrong. ” said Prue one evening as I questioned everything. “It really scared me what she did to Esther, her own cousin. What if she turned on David in the same way next time?”

If Alisha ever hurt David I knew I’d never forgive myself, so at the crack of dawn at the start of the following week, my daughter in her new modest looking new school uniform stood angrily at the gate with her cases by her feet waiting for someone from the institute to come and pick her up. She refused to say goodbye to any of us and I wondered if the institute would be able to deal with my daughter.

Daniel.