Bullies made girl ‘want to die’

TORMENT: Mother outraged as teenage pupils continue to target her daughter

A schoolgirl has told how bullies “made her want to die” after months of torment.

Lara Dalrymple, 13, said a small gang of teenage girls at her school were making life hell for her, her friends and other pupils.

Problems came to a head when she was attacked in the playground and left with a scratched eyeball. She was given antibiotic drops to treat the eye.

Afterwards, an image of the attack was posted on social media with the message: “Best fight ever” followed by a series of laughing face emojis.

Doctors said a fingernail narrowly missed Lara’s pupil, which could have left her severely visually impaired.

The family called police, but officers said because it happened on school grounds it would be best handled by teachers.

Lara’s mum Ashleigh said she has struggled to get a meeting with school staff since the attack last week.

“I just want teachers to have more power to stand up to these bullies,” she said. “We tell them about what has happened, and we just get told: There’s only so much we can do.”

Miss Dalrymple said: “This has been going on for seven months. It’s not just Lara. I posted a bit about this on Facebook and I got loads of replies from other mums who said they were going through the same thing.

“I’ve heard from other parents who have had to move school because the bullying was so bad.”

She said she had made a formal complaint to Perth and Kinross Council.

Lara said she had been happy at school before problems began last year.

“On Wednesday last week, I was with my friend and these girls were following us around,” she said.

“They just grabbed me and this girl started pushing me. She was scratching and kicking me.

“All this has made me want to die. I’ve done some very stupid things because of this.”

She said: “These bullies seem to get away with what they’re doing, they think they’re unstoppable.

“The teachers say they’re trying their best, but it just doesn’t seem to be working.”

A local authority spokeswoman said: “Perth and Kinross Council takes allegations of bullying within its schools extremely seriously and has an antibullying strategy in place.

“Our schools actively work to reduce bullying and address concerns however we are unable to comment on individual pupils.”

Picture: Steve MacDougall. Lara Dalrymple said she had been happy at school before problems began last year.