Aged seven, Nikki Rainy-Brown’s daughter uttered the words every parent dreads. The bubbly, sassy little girl from Fife wanted to die after three years of relentless school bullying.
Two years on Nikki says her daughter – who we are not naming – continues to be physically, verbally and emotionally bullied by a girl at her school.
The bullying, she says, began as verbal taunting in P1 at Kings Road Primary School – her daughter was told she was ugly and unlovable – and had turned physical by P3.
Nikki, from Rosyth in Fife, says school staff witnessed her daughter being punched in the face by her tormentor.
However the school, she said, was not forthcoming with details about how the bullying was being resolved.
This is a view echoed by a majority of our survey respondents who shared concerns over how schools dealt with bullying.
A short time later, her daughter was assaulted again, and again teachers saw the incident, according to Nikki.
“The girl had held her by the throat against a fence,” Nikki explained.
“We were walking home after school one day and my daughter said to me ‘mummy, I just want to die because I just want this to be over. If I wasn’t here then this wouldn’t be happening to me.’
“No parent wants to hear that from any of their children at any age but I certainly never wanted to hear it from my seven-year-old daughter.
“I was absolutely bereft when we got home. I was so upset.”
Nikki described a decline in her daughter’s mental health.
“She was quite a bubbly, sassy wee girl. She’s not argumentative and we’ve never had any warning from the school that she had instigated what was happening to her.”
Afraid to leave the house
The two girls have now been separated, she said, with the perpetrator placed in a new class and a rule implemented preventing them from being in the same section of the playground.
But Nikki says the bullying continues and she is contemplating moving her child to a school in a new catchment area to avoid them meeting at secondary school in a few years.
She says her daughter is now being targeted in the playground and the local park, which has left her at times too afraid to leave the house.
Nikki said: “My daughter, who is being bullied, has had to stay in despite doing nothing wrong.
“They are not allowed out to the playground together and one has to stay in while the other is out.
“We have had enough and her migraines are getting worse which is causing her to take time off school.
“She was hyperventilating at the thought of having to go to school because she was terrified of what might happen.”
‘Actions need to be taken against them’
Friends have also distanced themselves from her daughter because they fear being targeted.
Restorative measures, Nikki said, are simply not working after several years of bullying.
She said: “It’s so wrong that I have to watch my daughter go through this because the school keep saying there’s nothing they can do.
“Two weeks ago, my daughter was pushed into a wall – again witnessed by a teacher.
“The girl knows she can do what she wants because no one can do anything to stop her.
“We need to take away that these children are so young. If you have a child that behaves this way continuously then they need to be punished.
“Actions need to be taken against them. We seem to be more about conversation and making excuses for why they act this way but schools need to start reviewing how they deal with bullying.
“Our question is ‘what will it take to happen to our child before our school takes the matter seriously?’
“Or is it a case of relieving the school of the nightmares by removing her from school?”
‘Bullying in any form is unacceptable’
Head teacher at Kings Road PS, Lynn Colagiacomo, commented: “We would never provide information on individual pupils to protect their privacy.
“However, we have a robust anti-bullying policy at our school and we take all allegations of bullying extremely seriously.
“Bullying in any form is unacceptable and we have a number of systems in place to support children and help them to feel safe. I would urge anyone who is feeling threatened or vulnerable to report this to someone they trust and we will take the appropriate action.”
Anyone who witnesses bullying should report the incidents to a relevant authority, such as teachers, police or parents.
Scotland’s anti-bullying service RespectMe offers guidance for young people who are experiencing bullying and their parents and teachers.
If you feel like the bullying you witnessed at school or online was a hate crime, you can also report it to Police Scotland via 101.
Childline support young people with any worries they may experience, including mental health and bullying.
They can be contacted confidentially on 0800 11 11 or use their free 1-2-1 counselling service.
Read more from our bullying series
- Bullying in schools: Our survey reveals 9 in 10 parents do not think schools can effectively tackle it
- Bullying advice: How to help children who are being bullied
- Types of bullying: What is classed as physical, sexual and prejudicial bullying?
- Autistic Angus teen terrified to go to school after pupil threatens to ‘kill him’
- How to report bullying to school and the police
- OPINION: I attempted suicide after years of bullying – schools need to take it seriously
- Devastating effects of bullying on children in the short and long term
