The case of Abbie Jarvis will make shocking reading to any right-minded person.
The innocent 12-year-old was allegedly attacked by another girl while a group of youths watched and filmed the incident on their phones. Abbie, who has autism, thought she was going to meet a friend in a local park in north Glasgow.
The reported ordeal saw her punched several times in the face and knocked to the ground. She spent two days in hospital as a result. Her brave mum Angela is right to speak out and condemn such senseless violence.
The parents of those allegedly involved in this incident must now take on the responsibility of dealing with this shocking behaviour. It’s on them to tell their kids that such despicable actions have no place in our society.
Bullying is a persistent menace in our schools. Fault lies firstly with parents and then with teachers to ensure it is stamped out. Angela is also backing a petition created by community campaigner Alex O’Kane, urging the Scottish Government to address the disturbing culture of youth violence in Scotland.
He believes the current system to tackle bullying is not working. Alex is correct to argue there has to be a perception of consequences to prevent and deter children from carrying out violence.
There are countless videos on social media channels of children attacking other youngsters while their friends gleefully film the experience. Ignoring this kind of behaviour won’t stop it. It must be called out at every opportunity.
Lead by example
The World Wide Fund for Nature’s Living Planet Report is devastating but sadly not surprising due to the lack of action from governments around the world to seriously combat climate change.
With the population of global wildlife plummeting by 70 per cent since the 70s, and predicted to get even worse over the coming decades, it is now or never if this generation is going to leave our grandchildren with a sustainable world.
Both the UK and Scottish governments have missed key climate targets in recent years. If we are going to lecture the largest polluters, like China and the US, then we need to get our own house in order first.
It is up to our governments to enact radical change to lead by example and introduce serious policies that can help to try to reverse some of the damage that has been caused to our planet. If not, then the next WWF report will be catastrophic.
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