The bully boy, 12, who reformed

CARL Drury was a bully who used to pick on the smaller, more vulnerable children in his school.

He didn't know why he did it, but he made life a misery for his classmates by pushing them around.

But thanks to the help of the teachers and specialist bullying mentors he is now helping others who get victimised.

It is remarkble turnround for the 12-year-old pupil at Ruffwood school in Kirkby.

It is a school with a positive approach to handling the bullying problem - with the reuslts to prove it.

Carl showed all the classic features of a bully.

He already had a history of bullying at his primary school when he arrived at Ruffwood.

He had problems settling in and in dealing with some of his classmates.

So he opted for the defence mechanism - bullying.

He also suffered from that schoolyard menace - peer pressure.

"I was always a bit of a bully at primary school," he admitted.

"I'm not really too sure why I used to pick on people. I didn't enjoy it, but my mates would encourage me and I always went along with it."

Carl's problems were spotted early on and he was ushered into the arms of a learning mentor at the school.

Now the reformed bully sits on the student committee for his year group and, among other things, helps victims of bullying.