Ministry to probe claim over Gozo girls' school

The education authorities are not aware that female students in a secondary school in Gozo were pulling down each other's panties as a joke and plan to investigate.

An Education Ministry spokesman said when contacted yesterday the authorities were not aware of this practice and would look into the claim.

Police sources looking into an incident at the Agius de Soldanis girls' secondary school, Victoria, where two girls allegedly undressed their classmate and tried to shove a chair leg up her backside, said it was common practice in this school for girls to pull down each other's panties "as a joke".

The incident allegedly happened towards the end of last month.

Two 13-year-old girls are expected to be charged with defiling a fellow student on school premises.

It was the parents of the victim who reported the matter to the police, claiming their daughter was assaulted by two students in an empty classroom during break time.

A ministry spokesman said the perpetrators were immediately suspended so that investigations could be carried out and they were being monitored by the school guidance teachers.

The incident has undoubtedly traumatised the student and her family. In fact, she and her mother have accepted counselling offered to them by the Education Department's Child Safety Services. The victim is not attending school and her parents are considering a different educational placement.

Roberta Zahra de Domenico, a clinical psychologist and family therapist, said any form of bullying could have a short- or long-term effect on the victim's psychological health.

She explained that the more extreme the bullying, the bigger the trauma and the consequences. In the short term, the victims could experience anxiety and fear, perhaps finding it difficult to sleep at night or experiencing nightmares.

They could also experience sadness or anger and long-term consequences if they suffered in silence without seeking help.

If the bullying was prolonged, then the effects could be more intense and other aspects of the teenager's life could start to suffer, she said. If the teenager was in constant fear, then it would be very difficult for him or her to concentrate on scholastic work and academic performance could suffer.

"The bullied teenager usually ends up suffering from low self-esteem and possibly experience a lack of trust in other peers out of fear these too might resort to bullying them," Dr de Domenico said.

"I think the most important thing is to pass on the message that all forms of bullying are unacceptable and those being bullied should speak out if they are experiencing any form of bullying. Help is at hand and the earlier a teenager seeks it, the better the chances of overcoming the effects of bullying."

While condemning the action of the alleged perpetrators, she said these were troubled adolescents who needed help too.