Schoolgirls' torment with no 'escape' as bullying 'robbed them of childhoods'

Angela Jarvis, 45, and Vicky Donald, 38, have told how both their daughters suffered physical and online abuse and that they felt there was no "escape" as it was "all day, every day"

The mums of two schoolgirls have told how their was no "escape" for their "tormented" daughters who were bullied physically and online.

Angela Jarvis, 45, and Vicky Donald, 38, are both calling for urgent action to address a mental health crisis among youths exacerbated by online harm and say that their children have been "robbed" of their childhood. Both their children suffered physical attacks. Angela's 14-year-old daughter Abbie was beaten at a skatepark in Glasgow in October 2022. She had been targeted online before being lured to the location in the city's Drumchapel and set upon by another girl.

Abbie was hospitalised for several days and has since been diagnosed with PTSD and her sickening assault was filmed by a group of onlookers before it was uploaded online. Angela and Vicky are backing Children First after the charity declared a "childhood emergency" in Scotland on Wednesday.

"I'm glad that people are recognising the impact online bullying and violence can have on children. Abbie was coming home after being bullied outside yet she had no escape because the torment would just move to being online," said Angela.

"There is no escape for these kids - most children have access to social media nowadays. With Abbie, she had to cut herself off from the world so she could try to move on and feel safe. There was no getting away from it for her. When children come home, that should be their safe space - it should be their haven. But with this surge in online bullying, they're being tormented all day, every day.

"Abbie couldn't feel safe at home because she couldn't shut the door on the bullying. It robbed her of her happiness and her childhood. The Scottish Government needs to come down hard on these social media giants who are turning a blind eye to online bullying and who are allowing violent clips of teens to be shared far and wide. We need better legislation for these social media companies to be monitored around the clock."

Vicky Donald, whose 13-year-old daughter, Kaylynn, was attacked on a bus on her way home from school in Ladybank, Fife, told how her daughter's online bullying hell - which ultimately led to her assault - changed her daughter "completely", reported the Daily Record.

Kaylynn, then 12, was left needing mental health support following the beating, which took place just three weeks after Abbie was attacked in Glasgow. Vicky said: "I welcome this national emergency and I commend Children First for recognising the impact online bullying can have on our children's childhoods. After Kaylynn's online bullying, which led to her school bus attack, she changed completely.

"She'll be 14 soon, but it feels like she is going on 40. She is no longer the sweet and innocent girl that I had sent to high school. She became cynical and I fully believe that the experiences of violence and online harm robbed her of her childhood.

"As a mum, it was heartbreaking to watch my child enduring worries some adults may not ever experience in their lifetime. The government needs to hold these social media companies to account, they are destroying the lives of our youths, stripping them of their childhoods.

"There is a direct link between online bullying and violence. If online bullying persists the way Kaylynn's did, eventually, it will lead to violence. There was a lot of online bullying before Kaylynn's attack and that link to violence needs to be tackled in Scotland."

Mary Glasgow, Children First chief executive, said: “These heartbreaking stories highlight the serious issues with cyberbullying, smartphones and social media that are fuelling this childhood emergency. Content showing such extreme and disturbing acts of violence should not be on social media. The big companies must take responsibility for this and put safeguards in place to stop our children and young people from seeing this.”