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Peterborough teen is victim of Facebook hate group
Thirteen-year-old Amy-Louise Paul said she was in shock after being told that another girl had created a We Hate Amy-Louise page on social-networking site Facebook described as "for all the people who hope she would die already".
Thirteen-year-old Amy-Louise Paul said she was in shock after being told that another girl had created a We Hate Amy-Louise page on social-networking site Facebook described as "for all the people who hope she would die already".The Arthur Mellows Village College pupil could not understand why the girl had formed the group and is so horrified that she has not been able to read the distressing comments herself and now dreads
going into school.
But the brave teenager has made the decision to speak out about her ordeal to highlight the emotional impact cyber-bullying can have.
Amy-Louise, of Ploverly, Werrington, Peterborough, said: "I was really shocked. I want there to be more awareness of the consequences and show what cyber-bullying does to people and how it makes them feel.
"I have been back to school since because I don't want the bullies to think they have won."
She added that the experience had helped her make up her mind on her future career and that she wanted to be a solicitor to help people get justice.
Her mother Lisa (41) has notified the police, who have started an investigation, but she is now worried about how it may affect her daughter.
She said: "She is petrified to go to school, has withdrawn into herself and she feels that the girl is not getting punished for what she has done.
"Her dad and I can't concentrate and sleep with one ear open, hoping our daughter hasn't done something stupid in her bedroom. I feel we need to bring this issue to the forefront. It's affecting my daughter.
"She keeps it inside but the bullies don't understand the hurt they are causing."
The school in Glinton was alerted by a parent a day before Amy-Louise found out about it last week.
Headteacher Mike Sandeman has held a meeting with her parents and told her that the girl who had created the site would be disciplined at school.
He told the ET that he couldn't comment on individual cases but took reports of cyber-bullying seriously.
Children's charity, the NSPCC is calling for parents to help their children stay safe in cyberspace as part of Anti-Bullying Week this week.
NSPCC head of child protection awareness Chris Cloke said: "Cyber-bullying is one of the worst, most menacing forms of bullying because it can be so hard to escape. It can follow children around 24 hours a day, targeting them whenever they are online or on their mobile phone, even at home.
"It is especially worrying that some children are still not reporting it. I would urge any young person to tell someone they trust."
FACTFILE... on the cyber-bullying issue
CYBER-BULLYING hit the headlines this week after two teenage girls were convicted of manslaughter after their violent bullying drove a vicar's daughter to jump to her death from a window.
Rosimeiri Boxall (19) leapt from the third-floor flat to avoid further abuse from her tormentors.
A jury at the Old Bailey found Oluwafemi Ajose and Hatice Can guilty on Wednesday. Mobile phone footage, recorded half an hour before Ms Boxall's death in May 2008, shows her slumped on a bed being slapped and punched by Ajose as Can eggs her on.
In the days leading up to Ms Boxall's death her clothes had been set on fire, air freshener sprayed in her face and she was threatened with having bleach poured down her throat.
Related links:
Bullying advice and information - BBC Newsround
news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/specials/bullying/default.stm
Bullying UK charity - Help and advice for victims of bullying their parents and school - www.bullying.co.uk
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