A furious mother, frustrated that her child’s school was doing ‘nothing’ to stop online harassment, decided to confront her daughter’s bullies in person.
Sapphire, an Auckland-based musician and mother of four, shared a video last month showing her confronting her daughter’s alleged cyberbullies at their school.
The footage shows Sapphire speaking to two girls while two adults, believed to be teachers, stand between them.
‘Why are you posting my daughter online? Huh?’ Sapphire asked one of the girls, who sat quietly behind an adult woman.
‘Do you know how many people die from suicide?’
A teacher then wedged himself between Sapphire and the pair.
He warned if Sapphire didn’t leave, he would call the police.
‘Call the police. I have proof she’s cyberbullying my daughter,’ Sapphire told him.
Auckland mother Sapphire was applauded after confronting her daughter’s cyberbullies
Turning back to the sitting girl, the mother continued: ‘Don’t fat-shame her online. Why [are] you quiet?
‘Do you know how many kids have died from cyberbullying? It’s not nice.’
Sapphire then turned her attention toward another female student, who stood to the side.
‘Why are you bullying my daughter?’ she asked.
‘She hasn’t posted nothing about you but you’re calling her a fat hippo online.
‘I have the screenshots. You sent it to everybody, this post.’
The male teacher moved to stand between Sapphire and both of the students and told her: ‘You can’t do this here’.
‘This is how I deal with it. What are the police going to do?’ Sapphire answered.
The teacher said: ‘I don’t know. What are you going to do?’
Sapphire shot back: ‘If I have to come back, it won’t be pretty.’
The shocking video ended with Sapphire walking away from the conflict.
Hundreds of Aussies applauded the mother for taking matters into her own hands.
‘This [is] exactly how it should be handled! This is how bullies get away with it. Those teachers are always protecting them and hiding bullying under the rugs!’ one wrote.
‘Sometimes parents of bullied children get so fed up that this is how they handle the situation,’ another said.
‘You go mama! Stand up against bullying. Parents of bullies, do better,’ another wrote.
‘It’s absolutely horrible, the things these bullies say and do. I’m so glad your daughter has an advocate to stand up for her,’ another said.
However, some commenters called out Sapphire for directly confronting the children.
‘Doing the same thing to the poor kid. Shocking behaviour as a parent,’ one wrote.
Daily Mail Australia contacted Sapphire for further comment.
Free, confidential help for people aged between five and 25 is available 24/7 at Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800.
