Girls, 11, quizzed for knife threat on Facebook

A number of girls in a southside Cork City primary school have been questioned by gardaí after a girl was threatened with a knife via a Facebook page.

The victims and the bullies were about 11 years of age. Abusive messages threatening “to smash her tiny head so hard it will explode” were also posted.

Gardaí in Blackrock are investigating the cyberbullying case, which came to light in recent days after a parent discovered the page.

The posts sent by the schoolgirls were aimed for the most part at a child who did not attend their school.

Boys were also egging the girls on to physically fight — offering to bet on the outcome.

“Gwann fight. 10 on you,” wrote one.

In response, another of the children posted: “G’wan fight herrr you’ll be on the echo like those 2 girls.”

Last month, there was controversy in Cork when a video went viral of two first-year girls from Christ King Secondary School fighting.

In the case of cyberbullying, it is understood counselling has been organised for the main victim and that the bullies have also sought help from experts.

All the children involved have spoken to gardaí and the offensive comments have been removed from the website. Blackrock gardaí last night confirmed they had “spoken to a number of parents and children about an online incident following a complaint from a parent”.

Detectives are liaising with school management.

The school’s principal would not comment on the bullying, saying: “It was not a school matter but a community matter.”

This particular page was being used by a group of girls in sixth class and a number of boys had also been invited onto it.

Facebook rules stipulate that no child under 13 should be using the website.

The girl against whom the threats were made had not been invited onto the page and it had not been intended that she see the comments, but she was named in them.

Last night, one parent said: “It is appalling to have children worrying that they will be killed with a knife and that they will have their head smashed off the ground, but what really has upset everyone is that there was such ganging up... against one child.”

However, another parent in the school said the bullies were also victims.

“This was appalling, but this was done as a result of this other girl bullying them. It’s not clear-cut. There’s a history there.”

Earlier this week, a principal in a southside Dublin primary school told the Irish Examiner that an internal school survey had shown that 100 of their 450 pupils were on Facebook.

They sent letters to parents informing them of their responsibility to monitor their children online and also warning them that they were too young to be on the site.

In recent months, the families of two Irish girls who died by suicide have attributed their deaths to online bullying.