Even Famous Children Can Be Victim to Bullying

"Diving Prodigy Tom Daley admits to being school bullies' target"
This weekend Tom Daley performed badly after he was quoted talking about his school bullies. He said in an interview he had been bullied for a long time, but that it had gotten worse after the Beijing Olympics last year where he and his former diving partner did not live up to the huge expectations of the British public. He says he tries not to go out during breaks and he and the four friends that he does have, try to find a far-off corner of the field where they can be without anyone seeing them. Tom has gotten to a point now where he says he does not care about it that much anymore since he is out of school a lot.
Tom Daley became famous last year when he was a poster boy for the British Olympic team. Impressing people mainly with his performances outside the pool he became a global star with even a major fan base in China.
The story behind his success is one of sacrifice, mainly made by his father, who gave up his job for his boy’s career in sports. When Mr Daley was diagnosed with cancer, it was hidden from Tom.
Even though Tom has not managed to win a medal, the new British diving performance director still describes him as a “genius”. Even though Tom and his new diving partner Max Brick did end last this weekend, they still managed to reach their goal, which was to break the 400-barrier, with a score of 411.84 points. This is higher than what Tom and his former partner Aldridge scored in the Beijing Olympics. Tom and May have only been training together for a week, which makes their performance somewhat more impressive. Their main goal this year is the World Championships in Rome in three months' time.

For the whole article, please look at:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2009/apr/19/tomdaley-diving

This article shows that even though this young boy is considered a hero by most Britains, he is bullied by his classmates and even by the younger children. This should make us think about the nature of bullying. What makes a child vulnerable to bullying? Tom Daley was called a “diver boy”, which he is. He did not mind too much about that, but it was a sign. Eventually, when everyone had seen the young boy loose at the Beijing Olympics, the bullying got worse. The other children started throwing things at him. Although the other children could not do what Tom had done, they think him a loser for not winning any medals. Tom was vulnerable because he had lost. Besides, he also did not have an easy home situation. His dad is his biggest supporter, but also his ill father and yet another weight on Tom’s shoulders to perform.
If his home situations and the pressure of being a famous sportsman of whom a lot is expected would not break a 14-year-old up, the bullying will.