A Cranbourne North father wants more action to be taken to tackle bullying in school after his daughter Sarah, pictured, became a victim of it. 75842Picture: Stewart Chambers
By Bridget Cook and Emma Sun
WHEN Cranbourne North father Mark heard the news of 14-year-old Melbourne girl Sheniz Erkan taking her life this month due to bullying, it hit home hard.
Mark, who did not want his last named used, said his 14-year-old daughter had also been a victim of endless schoolyard torment and cyber-bullying – but luckily for Sarah it was not too late to seek help.
Sarah has attended two schools in the City of Casey in her two years as a high school student, and has harmed herself after suffering from depression due to being bullied.
Mark said he had chosen to speak out about the issue of bullying in schools after hearing about the suicide of Sheniz as he wanted more to be done.
Mark said he was concerned of the welfare of his daughter and other students who might be in a similar position.
“I’m scared she’ll kill herself,” he said.
“This is my last straw, I feel helpless at the moment, unless I do something.”
Sarah said she did not want to go to school and dreaded getting up every morning.
“I was bullied every day, and I didn’t feel like going to school because it was too tormenting for me to go and see what would happen,” she said.
“I didn’t really want to get out of bed because I was too scared to go and feel like that.”
Sarah has since sought counselling, which, she said, has helped.
“I don’t want to go back because I’ve made so much progress into becoming a better person and for me to go back there will bring me down again.”
Mark said he wanted something to be done to curb bullying.
“The population in the City of Casey, and Cranbourne in particular, is growing and you only have to look at the houses that are going up and the young families that are moving in, that bullying is not going to go away,” he said.
“It’s only going to get worse, unless we stop these bullies.”
Mark said one of the major problems was cyber-bullying, something Sarah also faced being tormented over Facebook, receiving abusive messages and comments. She has since deleted the people from her page.
“I think Facebook has a lot to do with it, that’s their way of communicating now,” Mark said.
“Kids don’t speak face to face anymore, they speak over a screen, but the consequences aren’t there, they’re in the schoolyard.”
Cyber Safety Solutions director Susan McLean said all nasty comments needed to be reported to Facebook and schools should deal with the problem.
“The school should be involved – it’s no use bemoaning the fact you’ve got programs; you’ve got to take control and act,” she said.
“Schools need to be providing a comprehensive cyber safety program and have a cyber safety policy which needs to be backed up by the education of teachers and students.
“Schools should not turn a blind eye to this, and it is their obligation to intervene and act when members of the community are involved.”
The City of Casey has a Youth Support Program for young people who need someone to talk to and assist them when things are difficult to manage.
Manager youth and family services Colette McMahon said if a young person was concerned, upset or worried about things that are going on at school, home, with friends, the youth support worker can assist the young person to take some positive action.
“The service is free and is available to young people age of 12 to 25 years who live, study, work or have a strong connection to the City of Casey,” she said.
“Advice and support is available for teachers and family members who have concerns about young people.”
The council also recently released its Youth Strategy 2011-2016.
The Youth Support Program can be contacted on 9705 5200 or alternatively information is also available from the Youth Services website, www.insideinfo.casey.vic.gov.au.
Readers seeking support and information about suicide prevention can contact Lifeline on 131114.
