Cyber-bullying victim kills herself
Cyber-bullying too much for girl
The Gauteng department of education has dispatched a team of psychologists to Doornpoort primary school in Pretoria after a 13-year-old pupil committed suicide after being cyber-bullied. Spokesperson Steve Mabona said the psychological unit – together with Sinoville police’s social crime prevention unit – was dispatched yesterday to provide counselling and pastoral care to the family of the deceased as well as the school community.
The girl committed suicide at home on Monday after a video of her naked started doing the rounds on WhatsApp among her schoolmates. Mabona said preliminary investigations revealed that the pupil was allegedly being bullied by a grade 7 pupil who had threatened to distribute the video depicting her naked. “The deceased learner reported the bullying to her life science educator after school on Thursday, 14 February 2019, however the accused learner had already left school. “The following day, the diseased learner was absent from school, on ly for this unfortunate incident to occur before necessary disciplinary processes unfold,” Mabona said. The matter was still under investigation and necessary action will be taken against all implicated learners, he said. Sinoville Crisis Centre (SCC) spokesperson Sonja Carstens said after the material started doing the rounds on numerous school WhatsApp groups from last week, other pupils started teasing the girl. SCC CEO Colleen Strauss said the girl had been traumatised and had asked her teachers for help. The girl was afraid to go to school and her mother met with the school principal on Monday morning. Later that morning, her mother found her body at home.
“This heartbreaking incident is a wake-up call to everyone working with children. Children experience emotions much more severely and can be very impulsive. They don’t have the knowledge to realise in the spur of the moment that everything will be OK tomorrow‚” Strauss said.
“This incident could have been prevented. There is always help. Suicide is not the solution.”
Strauss said bullying and sarcastic remarks are common among children. Education MEC Panyaza Lesufi has already sent his message of comfort to the family of the pupil for its lost. “We hope that the family will find comfort in the knowledge that we too share their loss. No words are enough to express our sorrow at a loss of a child,” said Lesufi. Mabona said the department has a policy of zerotolerance to bullying or any form of misconduct.
He urged schools in the province to enforce their codes of conduct to deal with bullying and other disciplinary matters.
‘ ‘ A video of her naked started doing the rounds