2 hours Ago By Rhiannon Lewin
WARNING: Distressing content A heartbroken mother has revealed the horrific text her daughter allegedly received from another girl, which forced her to pull the student from an elite Sydney school. Mary* said her daughter had been attending Pymble Ladies’ College, an independent girls’ school located in Sydney’s Upper North Shore, but became increasingly unhappy when she was targeted by other students. “The bullying got really bad at the end of Year 6 and as she went into Year 7,” she told 7NEWS.
com.au. “I didn’t know girls this young were even capable of saying such things.
” Things escalated so badly, Mary’s daughter no longer wanted to attend school, and so the worried mum decided to look at her daughter’s phone. What she says she found reduced her to tears. “I found a whole heap of group messages .
.. these girls were being very, very mean,” she said.
“The worst one was from a supposed ‘friend’ that said ...
‘you should go kill yourself’. “And then they said, ‘so what are you going to do about it?’ “I get really emotional thinking about it ..
. because my daughter was just bottling it all up.” Mary went straight to the school principal to discuss the matter, however, said she was directed to others in the school hierarchy.
“I didn’t tell my daughter I was doing that ...
I didn’t want her to know because she hates confrontation, but the school needed to be aware,” she said. “But they were a bit dismissive ..
. they told me they would investigate, which they did, but there was no real outcome.” The school claimed the matter came down to just one student, who was spoken to.
“But she didn’t face any real repercussions and her parents then got angry that she was being questioned,” Mary said. “Even though the texts came from one student, there was a whole group of girls that were egging it all on ..
. and none of them seemed to face any repercussions.” After that, Mary says she was left with no choice but to pull her daughter from the school.
“We were desperate to move her to another school, so she moved to her local Catholic school, which has been amazing so far,” she said. Now, Mary is calling for better education about bullying, both in the schoolyard and online. “We shouldn’t have to wait for something tragic to happen,” she said.
The horrific story comes after another elite school in Sydney came into the spotlight when a 12-year-old student died in an act of self-harm last week. 7NEWS understands Charlotte took her own life after making allegations of relentless bullying while she attended Santa Sabina College in Strathfield. Santa Sabina College principal Paulina Skerman said the school’s “main priority is to support and care for students, their families and staff” as well as “support for this grieving family”.
“We are continuing to work with counsellors, Headspace and other experts to provide the fullest support,” she said in a statement. “Since last week, we have had onsite counsellors, our chapel has been available for prayers, and we have worked with Headspace who will be providing information sessions for parents and staff this week. Kids Helpline service manager, Tony Fitzgerald, advised all parents to provide their children with a safe space to discuss issues they were facing in life.
“We’ve all got a responsibility to check in on the welfare of our children,” he told 7NEWS. “It is important that we don’t shy away from having conversations around suicide.” 7NEWS.
com.au contacted Pymble Ladies’ College a number of times, but did not receive a response before deadline. If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
For further information about depression contact beyondblue on 1300224636 or talk to your GP, local health professional or someone you trust. *Name changed for privacy reasons.
