Internet bullies’ vile post that said young teen had killed herself
‘How insensitive, how horrendous’
A MOTHER has spoken of her horror after bullies posted an ‘abhorrent’ message on social media falsely claiming that her daughter had killed herself.
Victoria Williams, 35, said she was sickened when she saw the photograph of 13-year- old Seren on the instant messaging site Snapchat.
Beneath her picture, which had RIP Seren scrawled across it, was posted a tribute, which read: ‘This gorgeous, independent, strong and loving girl took her own life due to years of depression and serious bullying.
‘I have been her friend for so long and her family and I are absolutely heartbroken. Seren meant the most to all of us and all of us love you so much angel.
‘This message has been passed on by me on her social media so everybody is aware of why she will not be replying or posting. Thank you for everything you have done for us and what joy you have brought. RIP my beauty.’
Mrs Williams, a hairdresser who runs her own salon in Wrexham, north Wales, said it was impossible to see from the post, which had been shared by scores of different people, exactly who had crebelieves ated it. But she said her daughter had been having problems with bullies at school for several weeks. She and her husband, Danny, 39, an aircraft fitter and former professional footballer with Wrexham FC, have reported the ‘vile’ post to police, who are investigating.
The case comes just days after another mother revealed she had put her tenyearold daughter on ‘suicide watch’ after internet trolls launched an ‘ugly or not’ Instagram poll about her.
Mia-Lili Bennett wanted to ‘end it all’ after the cruel post, which featured a photograph of her face with the words ‘Who thinks she is ugly?’ was posted on Instagram. More than half of those who saw it had responded ‘Hell ya’. As in Seren’s case, Mia-Lili’s mother, Corrinia, 33, the post was created by school bullies.
After being alerted to the post about Seren’s fake death, furious Mrs Williams, who has two younger daughters aged five and ten months, wrote on Facebook: ‘My daughter Seren is not dead, she has not killed herself. This is the kind of thing some kids will do these days to others, make up a vile Snapchat post saying that someone has killed themselves. How insensitive, how horrendous, how hurtful to both my daughter and to me and her father.
‘I know that my daughter Seren would never ever do this to someone else as she knows right from wrong and has compassion for the feelings of others. Luckily, I’ve done a good job in forming her personality and I’ve given her coping skills to help her deal with the actions of lesser people she will unfortunately come across.’
Mrs Williams said she has access to Seren’s phone passwords and had been carefully monitoring her social media use ever since. She added: ‘I was really gobsmacked when I saw the post. This is a different type of bullying, it is very manipulative as youngsters are judged by their social media accounts and the amount of ‘friends’ and followers they have.’
Peter Agnew, head teacher of Darland High School in nearby Rossett, where Seren is a pupil, described the post as ‘abhorrent’ and vowed to take action if the perpetrator was found to be among his pupils.
‘We take the social and emotional wellbeing of our pupils very seriously,’ he said.
‘Social media postings such as these are abhorrent and we have a comprehensive teaching programme that educates our pupils on how to behave and stay safe when online. We will continue to work closely with Seren’s parents and the police to identify the perpetrator and, if he or she is found to be a pupil at Darland, we will take appropriate action.’
Messaging site Snapchat claims it has a zero-tolerance policy on bullying and a spokesman said it took its commitment to protecting users ‘extremely seriously’.