British Columbia
Parents of a former Crofton House student say their 13-year-old daughter became suicidal and started self-harming after becoming the target of other students at the school.
Former Crofton House student became suicidal, parents allege, after incessant bullying from other students
Karin Larsen · CBC News
·
Vancouver restaurateurs Natalie and Uwe Boll have filed a civil claimagainst an exclusive private girls schools alleging the bullying their 13-year-old daughter endured at Crofton House drove her todevelop suicidal and self harming behaviour.
Natalie Bolltold CBCNews her daughter is no longer at the school.
"She wentfrom this little girl who loves Harry Potter and who's kind of quirky to absolutely broken and lost," said Boll.
In a statement, Ena Harrop, head of Crofton House,said the school "does not agree with the characterizations of the events as portrayed in the lawsuit andwill provide a robust legal defence of the allegations."
- School ViolenceCellphone videos of school fights prolong conflicts, experts say
The documents filed in B.C. Supreme Court allegea student at the school — identified as the "Crofton Student" — started making disparaging and racist remarks to the daughter when the girlswere both in Grade 6, telling her things like she should get plastic surgery to look more white.
According to the claim, the Crofton Student had gained direct admission to the school without having to undergo entrance interviews. She often bragged that her mother was friends with the school's board of directors and attended exclusive donor events reserved for "rich" families.
'Malicious gossip, racist remarks'
The claim says theCrofton Student's bullying escalated the next school year with the spreading of malicious gossip about the daughter,to the point that "a great proportion of the Grade 7 class became involved in propagatingdisparaging rumours..."
"In addition to racist remarks about [the daughter's] mixed race heritage, CroftonHouse students spread homophobic rumours and hateful gossip about [her] sexuality," reads the claim. "Crofton House did not intervene sufficiently, or at all, to cease the spiraling racism, bullying and homophobia..."
- School Violence'I felt constantly attacked': Bullied Montreal teen recounts the toll high school years took on her
According the claim, Natalie Boll approached the school a number of times to express concern about her daughter's treatment. Onone occasion, adirector allegedly saidthat her daughter was socially awkward and was, herself, to blame for the bullying and alienation she was experiencing at Crofton House.
In January 2019, abusive social media posts against the daughter began escalating with messages like"everyone at Croftonhates you," "kill yourself" and "drink bleach," according to the claim.
Some of the messages were sent on the app Tellonym, which was linked to the girl's Instagram account. Tellonym is free to download and allows people tosend anonymous messages to and about other people.
- So-called honesty app Sarahah being used to bully peers
The claim says when the daughter started Grade 8 in September 2019, "the bullying continued frequently and unabated ... [The daughter] was being jeered at and called a 'skid' and a 'lesbian,' as she walked down the hallways."
A Crofton adviser suggested that the daughter join extracurricular groups such as the debate club to fit in, according to the claim.
Xanaxoverdose
Around Sept. 30, 2019, an older student gave the daughter Xanax, advising it would help her not care about the bullying. The daughter passed out at school andwas taken to UBC emergency where doctors administeredNarcan. While there, previously undiscovered cut marks were found on her arms from where she had been cutting herself, according to the claim.
The daughter was put on suicide watch and sent to Children's Hospital where a doctor advised that she not return to Crofton House.
The claim says that Crofton House"incubated an environment in which homophobia, racism, harassment, bullying and the recruitment of others to bully was commonplace."
It says the school was negligent in maintaining sufficient student safety, "... resulting in the endangerment of [the daughter's] life."
None of the allegations have been tested in court.
Mother petitions against anonymous apps
Last week and completely separate from the lawsuit, Natalie Boll started an online petition calling for the banning of anonymous appsTellonym and YOLO.
She said her daughter was bullied and harassedover both platformsand believesthe apps are abreeding ground for hate andencouraging self harm and suicide.
Both are free to download from the Apple App Store and Google Play.
Sarahah, a hugely popular social media app that allowsanonymous messaging, was dropped by Apple and Google after an Australian mother started a petition against it, alleging it facilitated cyberbullying and self harm.
Corrections
A previous version of this story incorrectly quoted the statement of claim about a student's admission. In fact, the statement of claim said the person referred to as the Crofton Student gained admittance without undergoing entrance interviews.
Dec 17, 2019 2:51 PM PT
CBC's Journalistic Standards and Practices|
About CBC NewsCorrections and clarifications|Submit a news tip|
Related Stories
- Top stories from British Columbia
- First ride-hailing company in B.C. gets green light — and it's not Uber or Lyft
- DHL ordered to pay B.C. couple almost $10M US after they were hit by truck on Oregon highway while cycling
- 'A very pernicious system': After decades of inaction, could psychotherapy finally be regulated in B.C.?
