Bullying is incredibly devastating and detrimental for young children, but after bullying left a 12-year-old girl in the hospital, her mother is begging parents to check on their children [1]. Leigh Davey's daughter Eva was subject to the horrific actions of her peers in school and on Snapchat during school hours, and while the students are responsible for their actions [2], Leigh is calling the parents to action [3].
In a painful post on Facebook [4], Leigh explained how her daughter's school in Australia handled her situation and, spoiler alert, it wasn't appropriate. From the beginning, she defended Eva by approaching the parents of the bullies and had even talked to the kids themselves, "but been threatened by parents with harassment." She recalled that her school district doesn't expel because of bullying, because "every child is entitled to an education."
"What about our child's entitlement?" Leigh wrote. "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."
The horrific bullying caused Eva to be hospitalized; she "had a plan to commit suicide." And after witnessing her daughter's immense daily struggles, Leigh is speaking to parents who don't take responsibility for their children's actions when the district responds with "infant school punishment."
The punishment? "The school has a safety plan for the bullied child, our daughter, and the bully? She only loses recess and lunch privileges."
Leigh is begging fellow parents to take action for the sake of her daughter and other children struggling with bullies. "Please, in this awful age of social media (or anti social media as we call it) check your children's messages," she wrote. "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. Bullying affects the whole family, not just the bullied. It needs to stop and it needs to stop now!"
Over the last seven months, Eva is doing much better, but it doesn't change the fact that bullying is so prevalent and dangerous. Parents, take action [7], and if you're not sure where to start, check out this helpful guide for talking to your kids about bullying [8].