Bullying To The Point Of Physical Violence

Last Tuesday, a teenaged girl was assaulted by four other girls at the playground of Langholtsskóli, and the attack was captured on video. The perpetrators had been bullying and threatening the survivor long before this happened. The school where she had been transferred to last year, Austurbæjarskóli, reportedly knew about the bullying but did nothing in response.

RÚV reports that the girl, who previously went to Langholtsskóli, was at the school with her friends when she got a text message asking her where she was. Some minutes later, a car showed up with four girls — two of whom are students at Austurbæjarskóli — who started to harass her to the point of serious physical violence.

The attack was recorded and shared widely on social media. The viciousness of the attack has sparked anger and sadness in the reactions from the general public.

“This is the worst case of bullying and this matter is our priority right now,” detective Benedikt Lund told reporters.

The father of the girl in question criticised the lack of guidance the school offered before it got this far.

“My daughter has been going to school irregularly because of the bullying,” he said. “It had been going on since before Easter. I contacted the school administration and we had a meeting but it did not change anything.”

In response to coverage of the attack, Austurbæjarskóli principal Kristín Jóhannesdóttir issued a statement to the press, saying in part, “We will not allow bullying at our school and we encourage parents to stay in touch with us or the psychologists that are willing to help us and our students.”