I hate bullies.

Bullying can be detrimental to your mental health at any age. When you are in school and its the people you are supposed to be friends with, it can lower self esteem horribly. I have been on this journey called bullying for many years, I have experienced it, I have done it and now I am witnessing it being done to my daughter daily without any means to stop it or help her get through it.

When it first began I did what any normal parent would do and I spoke to the school she was in, they moved her around classes and took her out of the form tutor she was in to remove her from the bully’s line of fire but it still continued. I then removed her from this school entirely as it was getting to the point she was having anxiety attacks on the way to school for fear of violence, threats or constant name calling.

Once she had settled in to her new school and had made a couple of friends that when the harassment started online. They could no longer get to her at school and she had withdrawn from going out to socialise so the online harassment continued.

Several months had passed under lockdown and it seemed that had new things to entertain themselves with yet one week ago it all began again…. constant name calling and put downs, messaging friends and family because she had blocked them all on every level and every platform so at my wits end I called the police. The officers that came to our house and sat and read through all of the messages were lovely, very sympathetic and tried very hard to remind my daughter that she has just as much right to go out and have fun as they do. I can not express my gratitude to these two officers enough, my daughter felt comfortable enough opening up to them and talking to them about her issues and they told her that they would always be there to protect her if she needed it.

I wish I could sit here and tell you everything is wonderful now but it isn’t, they still walk past the house shouting things at her window, they still talk about her to anyone they can and they still insist on messaging her friends. I am just hoping that it eases the pressure of my daughter for a while, that she feels she can go out and socialize without fear of violence or threats. My only concern is her, how she feels and what ways she can express herself without fear of ridicule or second guessing everything she does because a hurtful group of girls just don’t know when to quit, I just try to tell her you can only control yourself, you are not responsible for their actions, only your own, just be the good, kind and caring person you are and the right people for you will find there way.

Is there any other way I could have handled this? does anyone have any advice? I feel the police was my last straw and if it doesn’t stop where do I go from here? I feel a bit stuck between a rock and a hard place. Blessed Be.