A COUNTY Carlow mother has spoken of her devastation after her schoolgirl daughter suffered at the hands of bullies for more than a year.
The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, relayed her heartbreak as she watched her teenage daughter suffer nearly a year-and-a-half of torment at school.
The abuse spiralled from isolation to text messages to physical injury, with the young girl eventually being removed from her school.
Her tearful mother has bravely spoken out urging parents to be aware of what is happening to their children.
“I just want to help other families, other parents; children must be protected,” she said. “If it is not my child today, it is someone else’s.”
Speaking about her own experiences, she said her child was “slowly segregated” from her group of friends to the extent that she eventually ended eating her lunch alone in the school toilets.
“We are not the only ones; I know there are other children out there getting bullied.”
The bullying has had a devastating effect on both her daughter and herself but they are intent on putting their lives back together.
She openly admitted to fearing her young daughter would drop into a spiral of depression.
“Things happen; suicides happen because of these sort of things,” she pointed out.
Speaking about how schools deal with bullying, the Carlow mother has issued a plea to principals and teachers to review their policies.
“Schools just need to sort it out. Watch the children, watch what is going on,” she urged. In her own case, she felt not enough was done to protect her daughter, despite the school being alerted to her plight.
As much as she wants the parents of bullied children to pay attention to their needs, she also wants the parents of bullies to stand up and take note.
“I would plead with parents to sit down and talk to your kids for their own sake, because if there is a problem, you need to sort it out before it is too late or before something happens.