It seems every week now, a new story is surfacing of a child who died by suicide after being bullied at school and via social media.
Today I bring you a plea from another mom, Leigh Davey, who wrote the following post as her bullied child lie in a hospital bed, thankfully still alive.
I promise you, friends, I HATE writing these stories. I also promise you I will keep writing them until I no longer have to.
One way to prevent stories from these from happening is to STOP giving kids access to smartphones and social media at such a young age. Listen to what this devastated mom wrote from her daughter’s bedside and shared on Facebook:
“Our beautiful girl has been subjected to some awful bullying at school. It’s been a very private [seven] months for us, dealing with this, immediate family only.
In this age of social media, children (because they are children) think it’s ok to send hateful messages (to me also along with their parents who won’t take responsibility) without consequences. I’ve had calls from these children calling me an old hag because I’ve defended our daughter, approached parents and pleaded with them to talk with their children and ask them to stop. I’ve even approached the children themselves, but been threatened by parents with harassment.
The WA department of education doesn’t expel children from schools for bullying, as they say: ‘Every child is entitled to an education.’
What about our child’s entitlement?
She’s been sent home numerous times after self harming at school. She’s not allowed a pencil sharpener as she takes the blade out and cuts herself.
The WA department of education also told me: ‘You should teach your child how to be resilient against bullies.’ Yes, they said that.
Our girl has had a video taken of her sitting at her desk at school, legs slightly open, with a lovely caption about the smell. It was posted to snapchat. I spent 90 mins with the police as they tried to determine if it was photographing and distribution of pornographic material. Yes, a 12-year-old can be prosecuted if the content breaches certain criteria. Sadly our daughter’s didn’t, but she was subjected to weeks of ridicule. Repercussions? The girl who posted the video lost her playtime. The person who took the video? Nothing, because no one would tell who it was.