''Bad Behaviour: A Memoir of Bullying and Boarding School'' is a 2015

memoir A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autob ...

by Rebecca Starford describing her experiences with bullying at boarding school as a teenager. It was adapted into a four-part television drama miniseries released in 2023.

Plot

Starford chronicles her experience attending a prestigious

boarding school A boarding school is a school where pupils live within premises while being given formal instruction. The word "boarding" is used in the sense of "room and board", i.e. lodging and meals. They have existed for many centuries, and now extend acr ...

in Australia she refers to as Silver Creek. At 14, Starford spends a year living on a rugged campus in

the bush "The bush" is a term mostly used in the English vernacular of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, where it is largely synonymous with hinterlands or backwoods. The fauna and flora contained within the bush is typically native to the regi ...

and staying in Red House with 15 other girls. She is drawn to bully, Portia, and is briefly taken in by her, but ultimately rejected and

bullied Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

. Portia and some of the other girls, including Starford, bully another student, Kendall. After ten years, Starford returns to Silver Creek. In her adult life, she attempts to come to terms with her experience as a student at Silver Creek, including her mother's absence and her experiences with

same-sex attraction This page lists common initialisms relating to LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer) people and the LGBTQ community. Key Variants of LGBTQ * 2SLGBTQI+ * GBT or GBTQ – variant omitting "lesbian", typically when referring ...

Development history

Starford began working on ''Bad Behaviour'' 4 or 5 years before its release. She kept a diary while attending boarding school and used this diary to write the book.

Publication history

''Bad Behaviour'' was published in 2015 by

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

Reception

''Bad Behaviour'' was released to generally favourable reviews. Starford has been praised for her honesty about herself, particularly about her complicity in bullying.

Adaptation

''Bad Behaviour'' was adapted into a four-part television drama

miniseries In the United States, a miniseries or mini-series is a television show or series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. Many miniseries can also be referred to, and shown, as a television film. " Limited series" is ...

on Stan, written by

Pip Karmel Philippa "Pip" Karmel (born 27 March 1963) is an Australian filmmaker. As a film editor, she has worked exclusively with director Scott Hicks in a notable collaboration from 1988 through 2007; their work together includes the 1996 film '' Shi ...

and Magda Wozniak and directed by Corrie Chen. It was released in 2023. The character inspired by Starford, played by

Jana McKinnon Jana McKinnon is an Austrian-Australian actor. Early life and education McKinnon was born to an Austrian mother and an Australian father. She grew up in both countries, but did all her schooling in Austria. Career McKinnon began acting as ...

, had her name changed to Jo.

References

{{Authority Control Australian memoirs LGBTQ autobiographies 2015 non-fiction books Books about education Works about school bullying Works about adolescence English-language non-fiction books Allen & Unwin books