13-year-old Nikki from Breda was harassed, gossip was spread about her via a Gossip Girl account on TikTok and she was dragged through the gym locker room by her hair. Nikki was seriously ill for a long time and then became the target of bullying at her high school. Nikki’s mother feels powerless and believes that the school is not doing enough to stop the bullying. “You want to see your child happy. This simply shouldn’t be possible.”
Last year Nikki started secondary vocational education at Curio Prinsentuin Van Cooth in Breda. “She really enjoyed it,” says her mother Martine. “But after a few weeks I received a phone call that a peer had pulled her through the gym locker room by her hair. There was no real reason, the girl said she didn’t like her face and that she had the right to do that.”
According to the mother, the school immediately took measures and the girl was suspended. But that did not solve the problems, the bullying continued.
Then Nikki got sick. For a long time it was unclear what exactly was going on. Hospital examinations revealed that it was an autoimmune disease. “She had a fever for more than six months and could barely go to school. She did her homework at home,” says her mother. “Thanks to medication and the right treatment, she has now recovered, but it was a tough time.”
In September, Nikki returned to school, happy that she could resume her normal life. But from day one she has again been the victim of intense bullying. “Ugly comments and threats are being thrown at her, it doesn’t stop. “We’ll grab you and we’ll film it,” she was recently told. And you see that, due to peer pressure, more and more children are gradually participating,” says Martine.
Last week, after much hesitation, Nikki decided to vent to a counselor at school. She told me about the bullying and that she is very scared. This led to more threats, also via social media.
“Strawberry is completely angry and wants to clap mango and the mother.”
Nikki was then targeted by a video on a ‘Gossip Girl account’ on TikTok: “Two girls from the second are having a fight, we call them strawberry and mango. Mango is going snitching and said things that didn’t even happen, so Strawberry got really angry and wanted to start clapping Mango and the mother,” the video says.
With a Gossip Girl account, gossip is posted on TikTok and these rumors then spread like wildfire among other students. Names are not mentioned, but everyone knows who it is about.
Martine is very worried. “I want it to stop and my daughter to be able to live her life as a carefree girl again,” she says.
“My child’s safety is anything but guaranteed.”
She has now been in contact with the police and various authorities. But according to Martine, the school also needs to act much more actively. “I was told that they are doing their best behind the scenes to solve it, but in the meantime Nikki is at home because she no longer dares to go to school. Last Tuesday she walked out of class in tears and sat upset in a park for hours. I feel powerless, this just shouldn’t be possible.”
“My child’s safety is anything but guaranteed,” she continues. “Of course I am aware that Nikki needs to become stronger and more resilient. But something needs to be done about this situation.”
Pieter de Rooij, education director of pre-vocational secondary education Curio Prinsentuin Van Cooth, says that he cannot comment on the situation surrounding Nikki due to privacy. However, he does say: “I can very well imagine that parents are concerned about their child, and as a father I am too. If we notice things such as bullying or other behavior that makes children feel uncomfortable or unsafe, we will go with all our efforts. involved in conversation. In any case the children and their parents, possibly also the rest of the class and the teachers.”
“Then we look at what we can do about it. We know from experience that not only the student who is being bullied has problems, but also the person who is bullying often has something going on that deserves attention.” The school also tries to prevent bullying behavior to a minimum.
* For privacy reasons, we do not use Nikki and Martine’s real names.