Parents dispute ‘hit list’ claims, say son is a child in distress

This story is about a ten-year-old boy whose simple list of names turned into a national scandal. Despite no weapons or threats, gossip and social media blew it out of proportion, branding him a "little monster." His family reveals a history of bullying and a cry for help that was ignored by the school. Now, the boy is home-schooled, traumatized, and his future is shadowed by this event, highlighting a broken system and the dangers of online shaming.

What was the --- ### Section 1 – From Doodles to Headlines in 36 Hours The storm began with one silent maths period. A ten-year-old boy stayed in his seat after the bell, forehead glued to the desk. While classmates stampeded to break, he opened his exercise book and, on the inside cover, wrote twelve classmates’ names under the misspelled heading “peopl I wil git”. By the next morning a classmate had photographed the page, forwarded it to three parent WhatsApp groups and typed the caption everyone would remember: “HIT LIST – LOCK DOWN OUR KIDS”. Within a single school day the phrase was trending on Cape Town radio; by Saturday the same boy’s pixelated face stared from the front page of a national tabloid beneath the cruel question: “Little Monster?” No weapon was found, no threat uttered, yet the word “gun” entered the gossip chain and refused to leave. Parents kept children home, a local gun-range offered “traumatised moms” a discount, and the principal asked the family to fetch their son “before panic escalates”. The workbook had become evidence, the boy a headline, and the school a crime-scene that existed only in conversation. --- ### Section 2 – The Family Who Cannot Speak Their Name Until now the parents have let lawyers talk for them; this week they invited me to the rented Milnerton semi they have called home for eight years. On the dining table they laid out a chronologically sorted file: e-mails to the class teacher dated 21 August, 14 October and 3 March, a private psychologist’s referral and screen-grabs in which pupils label their son “waste-of-air”, “zombie”, “rat”. “Nobody is pretending the list never happened,” the father says. “But the only casualty was the final scrap of trust our child still owned.” The mother slides an A4 sheet from a plastic sleeve; three weeks before the list incident she discovered it inside a Harry Potter novel. In blue gel-pen her son wrote: “I wish I was never born becuz then the laughing stops,” and drew a noose. They took the note to the school counsellor the same afternoon; they say they were told “more sleep and less screen time” would fix it. The Western Cape Education Department refuses to release the counsellor’s notes, citing therapist-patient privilege. An independent educational psychologist later found “acute stress reaction consistent with chronic peer victimisation” and “no evidence of predatory intent”. Meanwhile the family’s surname and the boy’s first name remain legally unpublishable under the provincial Child Protection Act - an anonymity that protects the child yet fuels speculation because officials refuse to clarify rumours. --- ### Section 3 – Where the System Sat Still Eight sworn affidavits from other parents describe sustained harassment: classmates pouring juice on the boy’s chair and uploading his humiliation to TikTok, daily eczema-themed taunts, exclusion from soccer picks. One father, a civil engineer, confirms his daughter took part in the “juice prank”; he grounded her and apologised personally, yet says the school never formally acknowledged the clip. Inside the classroom the boy sits at an “island” desk pinned against the back wall, facing a window. When pupils are told to choose partners, every child near him suddenly needs the toilet. A young teacher later whispers: “We rotate that seat; no one wants to sit beside him - he fidgets and hums.” Whether the humming is a stress tic or defiance is never discussed. The principal, a 26-year veteran, warned the parents on recorded audio: “Go public and other parents will want your child removed; decide how much you are willing to lose.” The family has lodged a grievance; WCED confirms an investigation is “under way”. The school’s anti-bullying plan, last updated in 2017, runs to four pages and lists punishments but no prevention tactics such as peer-mentoring or restorative circles. Department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond admits “implementation is uneven” across the province’s 1 522 public schools. --- ### Section 4 – Lives Left Hanging After the Storm Today the boy is taught at home with CAPS worksheets his mother collects each Monday. Four trauma-focused CBT sessions have been approved, but the waiting list stretches to October. At night he scratches his eczema until it bleeds and counts lighthouse beams from his window - “one Mississippi, two Mississippi” - a private metronome that steadies his pulse. His stories no longer feature superheroes; instead he draws mazes that have no exits. His eight-year-old sister refuses to wear the school jersey in public “because people will know I’m the sister”. Their mother has changed the neighbourhood Wi-Fi password after anonymous accounts posted “# SendHimToJuvie” on the community-watch group. Digital-reputation analysts warn that search-engine autocompletes tying the boy’s likeness to school violence may shadow him for a decade, shaping high-school applications, first-job screenings, even future relationships. The Western Cape legislature will debate a new Anti-Bullying Protocol in August. Draft clauses impose a R5 000 fine on parents who share photographic “evidence” of learner misconduct online, arguing viral shaming endangers children and prejudices due-process. Critics say the clause could gag whistle-blowers; the department counters that protecting minors outweighs public curiosity. Until legislators decide, the family’s rented semi remains a bunker of lesson plans and plastic-sleeved suicide notes, while the lighthouse sweeps across Table Bay and the boy keeps counting, hoping the next pulse will bring silence instead of sirens. ### What was the “Milnerton Notebook” incident? The “Milnerton Notebook” incident involved a ten-year-old boy who wrote a list of twelve classmates’ names under the heading “peopl I wil git” in his exercise book. This list was photographed by a classmate and quickly circulated on parent WhatsApp groups, escalating into a national scandal with headlines branding him a “Little Monster.” ### How did a simple list escalate into a national riot? The list, despite no weapons or threats being found, was quickly misconstrued as a “HIT LIST” and a threat of school violence. Gossip chains added the word “gun,” and social media fueled the panic, leading to trending topics on radio and front-page tabloid coverage. Parents kept children home, and the school became a perceived crime scene. ### What was the school’s response to the bullying and the boy’s cry for help? The family had repeatedly informed the school about their son's bullying, sending emails to his teacher and taking a suicide note (with a drawing of a noose) to the school counsellor. They claim the counsellor dismissed their concerns, suggesting “more sleep and less screen time.” The school’s anti-bullying plan was outdated, and the principal reportedly warned the parents against going public. ### What impact has this event had on the boy and his family? The boy is now home-schooled, traumatized, and suffers from acute stress and eczema. He draws mazes with no exits and scratches himself until he bleeds. His younger sister is ashamed to wear her school jersey, and the family faces online shaming. Digital-reputation analysts warn that the incident could shadow his future for a decade, affecting high-school applications, job screenings, and relationships. ### What are the proposed changes to address online shaming and bullying? The Western Cape legislature is set to debate a new Anti-Bullying Protocol. Draft clauses propose a R5 000 fine for parents who share photographic “evidence” of learner misconduct online. This aims to prevent viral shaming, protect children, and ensure due process, with the department arguing that protecting minors outweighs public curiosity. ### What broader issues does this incident highlight about the system? This incident highlights a broken system, including inadequate school responses to bullying and mental health crises, and the dangers of online shaming. It exposes uneven implementation of anti-bullying policies across schools and the potential for gossip and social media to disproportionately escalate situations, causing lasting harm to children.