Public support for Vancouver mom filing bullying lawsuit against elite private school
Posted December 18, 2019 6:47 am.
Last Updated June 24, 2021 10:03 am.
*Name has been changed
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A mother from Vancouver is getting support from the public after going to the media with claims her daughter was the target of relentless bullying at an elite private school.
Jane’s* lawsuit against Crofton House and petition are attracting a lot of attention, as are accusations her daughter was driven to suicidal thoughts after enduring more than a year of bullying at the school and through anonymous apps.
Jane says “the past 13 months have been hell for my family,” with her daughter targeted on apps like Tellonym and YOLO with messages like “KILL YOURSELF” and “DRINK BLEACH.”
According to Jane, the now-13-year-old girl overdosed in a school washroom and has been hospitalized twice for “self harming.”
“Over the summer, while we were abroad, my daughter started to get more messages on the YOLO app, including ones talking of gang rape. I immediately deleted the app and all the messages,” she writes on the petition she posted on Change.org, demanding apps that allow anonymous comments be banned. “No child should have to be subjected to this type of harassment.”
She and her husband’s Twitter and Facebook feeds are full of support for the family, but also include some accusations from others claiming to have been targets of or witness to bullying at Crofton House dating back to the 1970s, portraying a climate of elitism, bullying, racism and homophobia.
In an emailed statement to some media outlets, the school says it disagrees with how the events in Jane’s case have been characterized and it will provide a robust defence against the accusations.
