Bullied Castlemilk teenager wants to share his story
Declan’s story focuses on cyber bullying
A Castlemilk teenager will take his anti-bullying message into classrooms after his story moved the prime minister
Declan Duncan allowed his local MP Stewart MacDonald to share his story of horrific online bullying with his colleagues in the House of Commons.
It saw Theresa May call on social media providers to crack-down on those who use the internet to cause harm to others.
Declan, 17, told the Reformer earlier this month that he had been subjected to a torrent of abuse at school and online when he revealed he was gay at a young age.
The former Castlemilk High School student was too afraid to go to school after an online petition was created to “run him out of Castlemilk”.
A second incident, organised on Facebook, urged people to attack the youngster with tomatoes and eggs at the school gates.
But now, after speaking out to the press and elected representatives, Declan says he wants to speak to young people to make them aware of the harm caused by online bullying.
He said this could be a positive outcome following years of torment.
“Since I shared my story with Stewart I have had a lot of positive responses,” Declan said, “and it has grown my confidence a lot.
“I want to be a role model for young people experiencing bullying and I want them to have someone to look up to, to see that I have been brave enough to speak out and they can do it too.”
Explaining he’d like to build on the momentum created by Theresa May’s comments, Declan added: “I’m in the middle of preparing my presentation now so I’m hoping to have that completed next week and then I’ll contact the schools as I hope to get in there as soon as possible. I’m hoping to go to my own school, Castlemilk High School first.”
Declan’s story was first highlighted by Stewart McDonald MP who learned of the teenagers experiences during a meeting with the LGBT group at Castlemilk Youth Complex.
Mr MacDonald spoke about Declan during a debate on cyber bullying at a House of Commons committee and when he raised it again during prime minister’s questions, the story moved Mrs May.
She said she recognised that social media could be “abused and ill-used by people who wish to bully others”.
She warned multi-national social platforms that they had to address the issue, preferably through their “terms and conditions” rather than government action.
She added: “There are members of this house who have suffered significantly as a result of bullying and trolling on social media.
“The Home Office is well appraised of this as an issue, has been over the years.”