Mother Shares Gut-Wrenching Photo of 12-Year-Old Daughter After School Bullying Won't Stop
As a mother of a 12-year-old girl, it’s heartbreaking when my daughter comes home from school with stories about middle school bullying.
Sometimes it’s normal “growing up” lessons, but other times kids take it too far. Thankfully, we have an open relationship with the administrators at her building, who work hard to protect the kids and address issues immediately after they’re brought to their attention.
Social media makes that battle even more difficult. For schools and for parents.
It’s one of the reasons why as parents we have decided to not let our daughter use social media yet. After seeing how it harms some of her friends, she’s actually told us she’s thankful she doesn’t use it.
Unfortunately, for some families, their schools are not as proactive, and there are parents who simply turn a blind eye. Tragically, that can lead to children harming themselves or even taking their own lives.
Recently, a brave mother named Leigh Davey shared her daughter’s story with Love What Matters. And as I read the words, my heart broke putting my own little girl in her daughter’s place.
“Our beautiful girl has been subjected to some awful bullying at school. It’s been a very private 7 months for us, dealing with this, immediate family only,” Davey wrote.
“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.”
“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.”
Davey continued, “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 snap chat. 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.”
“Last week, we spent over 5 hours in A&E with psychiatrists, doctors, and nurses, because our girl ‘had a plan to commit suicide’. On Tuesday, I am in court applying for a VRO against a 12-year-old to keep her (the bully) away from our beautiful girl—all because parents don’t accept responsibility for their children and schools can only do so much.”
“Please, in this awful age of social media (or anti-social media as we call it) check your children’s messages. Their devices are a privilege, nothing more, nothing less, so please make sure they are being polite and respectful in their messages. Teach the children to ‘talk’ not use text or social media to air their differences.”
Davey is right. It’s our job as parents to teach our children to use social media, respectfully. It’s easy to hide behind a screen and not take responsibility for what we do or say. But the words we choose and the photos we share do matter.
“Bullying affects the whole family, not just the bullied,” added Davey. “It needs to stop and it needs to stop now! Please feel free to share.”
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