published27. June 2022, 04:46
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A gang of seven girls bullied and terrorized 13-year-old Anja* and her school. The mother was also threatened, the two had to move. Two main perpetrators have now been convicted.
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A gang of seven girls bullied a 13-year-old for months via Snapchat, but also in real life.
–20min/Michael Scherrer
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–Cyberbullying is a problem that overwhelms many schools and parents, according to one expert.
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–The girls shared photos on platforms like Snapchat.
–20min/Michael Scherrer
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The last few years have been hell for FB* (53) and her daughter: daughter Anja* has been bullied at school by a seven-strong gang of girls since the 4th grade. The transition to secondary school did not improve the situation – on the contrary: the perpetrators switched to the same school.
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Intimidation and cyberbullying have gotten so bad lately that Anja hasn’t dared to walk to school for months. “Photos and videos of her were shared via Snapchat, she was exposed and humiliated,” says B. Anja only spent the breaks in the staff room, she had to go to the toilet, and a teacher accompanied her. Insults were spray-painted against them on a wall in the skate park.
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“They also threatened others”
Other students were also terrorized by the gang: “They threatened them: if someone even spoke to my daughter, he or she would be next,” says B. to 20 minutes. Most of the students no longer dared to speak to Anja, she was completely isolated.
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Again and again she called the school management, says B. “But they told me they had nothing in their hands, they couldn’t do anything.” Daughter Anja continued to suffer, developed depressive symptoms and has had to see a child psychologist ever since.
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“We didn’t want to see why we should give in”
“Of course we could have moved and changed schools. But we didn’t want to see why we, as victims, should give in instead of the perpetrators being punished,” says B. Then, in mid-January, the sad climax came: “The girls threatened my daughter to pour petrol over her and set her on fire,” says B. in tears. The girls also called their mother and said she was facing the same fate. “They insulted me in the worst possible way and made wild threats. That was enough for me, »says B. On the same day, Saturday January 15, she went to the police and filed a complaint.
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The girls filmed the threats but deleted the data. There was no evidence. “It was only thanks to the courageous testimony of another girl from school that the two main perpetrators were quickly identified and taken to the police station for questioning on Wednesday,” says B.
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Two 13-year-olds convicted
In the meantime, the two then 13-year-old girls have been sentenced with a penalty order for threats and verbal abuse. B.* is glad something was done against the perpetrators. But the help came too late for her and her daughter: “I applied and took my daughter out of school. We have moved and Anja can continue the upper school at our new place of residence. Unfortunately, her grades have not been good enough for the Kanti since all the incidents.” However, B. hopes for her daughter that she can make a fresh start in the new place.
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She goes public with the story to raise awareness of bullying and cyberbullying and to draw the attention of other victims to it. “It’s not about badmouthing anyone or making accusations. But I would have liked more support throughout the process, especially from the school management and the school president,” says B.
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For Pascal Kamber, specialist adviser on bullying at www.hilfe-bei-mobbing.ch, one thing is clear: “Actually, it shouldn’t even get to the point where laws from juvenile criminal law have to be applied. Troubleshooting should have started much earlier.” But he also knows: “Due to a lack of resources and excessive demands on many sides, it unfortunately always comes back to that. Politicians, schools, teachers and parents are lagging behind developments in the areas of bullying and cyberbullying in particular.”
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*Name known to editors
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are you or is someone you know affected by (cyber)bullying?
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