Murgon mum’s shares daughters bullying pain in effort to combat abuse at school

A desperate mother said her daughter’s elation about starting high school quickly turned to terror and dread after she was targeted with cruel and relentless attacks, with other students reporting physical violence and their own suicidal thoughts.

A heartbroken mother said her little girl refused to return to class for weeks after her first year of high school took a nightmarish turn, leaving her the target of relentless bullying both in and out of school.

The woman said her lively daughter was beyond excited to enter her first year of Murgon State High School before things quickly took a devastating turn.

“My baby girl couldn’t wait to go to high school, she just thought she was on top of the world,” she said.

“But then after a few weeks she starts telling me, ‘I don’t want to go to school, they’re just going to pick on me. It’s heartbreaking.”

The woman said the rapid shift in her daughter’s enthusiasm about her education was a devastating sight, with the 12-year-old returning home in tears less than one term into her high school journey.

The young girl’s older sister told the South Burnett Times the bullying at school has been relentless, with the abuse against her little sister beginning at school and bleeding into the streets of Cherbourg when the girls go to visit their family.

“They’ll swear at her, threaten to hit her, call her motherf--ker, sl-t, b--ch, and wh--e,” the sister said.

“When we go down to Cherbourg they’ll walk the streets and try to look for her, and if they find her by herself they’ll hurt her. She doesn't like to walk the streets anymore.”

The woman said she witnessed this behaviour herself about a week ago when she took her children to visit their grandmother, with her daughter’s bullies showing up at the house.

“My baby girl ran inside and she was peeking out through the windows. That’s how frightened she was,” she said.

“My biggest goal for my children is for them to go to school and get a good education. But they can’t go to school or even walk the streets of Cherbourg without getting bullied.

“It’s just unreal how all of this is unfolding.”

The woman said she was aware her daughter wasn’t the only child being impacted by bullying at the school, telling of a girl who had a chunk of hair torn out of her head by three older students and another young child who recently admitted to wanting to take her own life.

Her niece has also been targeted, with the woman’s sister telling The South Burnett Times she was “dreading” her daughter starting Year 7 because she was already aware of bullying at the school.

The woman claims it’s common for older students to find younger girls after school and force them to fight each other, which left her older daughter with a black eye after she attempted to pull her little sister out of a fight.

She said she’d attempted to get help from the school and police regarding both the physical and mental abuse, but nothing has changed.

“Are they going to wait until something bad happens to one of these young girls or for a kid to take their own life because of bullying before they do anything?” she said.

“Right now this is something that can be prevented and we should be coming together as a community to stop it.”

A spokesman for the Department of Education said Murgon State High School does not tolerate violence or anti-social behaviour and has a range of proactive programs to prevent bullying and build resilience, such as the Resilience Project as part of the curriculum.

“This whole-school framework teaches expected behaviours and encourages students to make responsible and respectful decisions,” he said.

“The school also has a ‘phone free’ policy to reduce social media bullying, works closely with the newly established Cherbourg and Murgon Youth Hub, and has a range of support staff, including Guidance Officers, Youth Support Officers, Indigenous support Officers and a dedicated Deputy Principal for Student Wellbeing and Engagement.

He said the school also has access to a GP, counselling, psychologist and social workers.

“The department encourages any students, parents and carers to report any cases of bullying or misconduct to their school principal in the first instance, or their closest Department of Education regional office,” he said.

“Assaults outside of school grounds should be reported to the Queensland Police Service.”