An Elsies River High School meisie tried to kill herself after allegedly being bullied at school and told she is “ugly”.
Her parents say they are angry at the school and the Western Cape Education Department for failing to take action after they raised the issue with the principal months ago.
The Grade 9 girl was hospitalised after taking an undisclosed amount of tablets last Monday afternoon “to escape the pain”.
She has since been discharged from hospital but says she doesn’t want to return to school as she fears being tormented further.
Grade 9 Elsies High bully victim still recovering from her suicide attempt
“It started with three girls and a boy calling me names during my orals, they would say I look sick,” the teen says.
“Everyone in class would laugh at me.
“I got pushed down the stairs in front of everyone.
“I’ve already accepted that I’m ugly because they are always poking fun at how I look.”
She says things got so bad that she decided to commit suicide last week.
“I told myself there is a better place away from all this. I knew that if I did this I’d go to hell but hell can’t be worse than what I’m going through.
“Primary school was fun when we laughed and made jokes but on high school I became the joke.
“I felt alone, even my friends left me because they didn’t want to be part of this ugly girl being bullied thing.
“Last week I came home and wanted to talk to my mommy but she wasn’t there at the time and so I took as much tablets that I can find.
“I was tired of my reflection, tired of hitting my head against the wall, tired of banging my wrist against the mirror, crying myself to sleep at night.
“I can’t remember what happened after that, but I woke in hospital.”
Mom says WCED failed her bullied daughter
Her angry mother says the WCED failed her child.
“This started last term already and I’ve been to the school a few times to find help,” she says.
“Two months ago I spoke to the principal, she said my daughter would be placed in a support group in the new term, and also get a social worker to speak to her but nothing was done.
“It’s now come to the point where my child tried to end her life because of the bullies.
“On Monday I called her to come eat supper, she didn’t come and so I went to her room to see what she was doing.
“Her eyes were swollen shut and her body was lame, I knew she had harmed herself.
“I rushed her to hospital and then discovered she took a heap of tablets. When we got to the hospital the doctors struggled to revive her.
“They told me she would have been dead if we didn’t act sooner.”
WCED spokesperson Bronagh Hammond says the case has now been reported to the District office and a psychologist has been informed.
WCED: Bronagh Hammond