An Edinburgh mum says her daughter is having sleepless nights after being threatened and bitten by fellow girls at a local nursery.
The mum claims her daughter, who is four, came home one day saying two girls threatened to bring a knife into nursery and cut her before biting her arm on the second last day of term, leaving a huge bruise.
As well as the troubling threats, the youngster was supposedly made to lick dirt of one of the bullies fingers after they forced her head down. As a result, the girl has been left terrified to go into nursery.
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Speaking out about the incidents and how they have been handled by the nursery in question, which is run by Edinburgh Council, the mum has called for more protection for her daughter and for the parents of those responsible to intervene.
The parent, whose identity has been kept anonymous, said: "This has been going on since early April. It has gone from bullying to direct threats. How do five-year-olds even know about threatening someone with a knife?
"The horrible things my daughter has been called and threatened with has never come from us as parents, she is really scared and says she keeps dreaming about the bullies and can hear their voices in her head.
"We had a fun day before the end of term and the girls responsible were sitting next to us and we had to leave as my daughter was so upset. The only time I saw their parents was at the fun day but I didn't want to cause a scene.
"I feel like my daughter has been singled out and they keep telling her if she agrees to be their friend they will stop harming and threatening her but they keep doing it."
The mum said when she first was told by her daughter about several incidents she put it down to typical behaviour at that age, but then the youngster started coming home upset and refusing to go in.
On June 27, the nursery phoned the mum to tell her that her daughter had been bitten. As it was the same day as the end of term fun day, the mum was already on her way to the nursery.
When she got there, her daughter said it was the same people who had done it to her. Images shared by the mum show huge bite marks on her daughters arm that was reportedly present for a week.
She continued: "My daughter is having nightmares. In May she came home visibly upset because the girls have told her they’re going to get a knife and stab her in the back and she’s not allowed to phone the police. I spoke to the nursery and they said they’d encourage more positive language.
"Just a few days later she came home shaken and refusing to go back the next day, the following morning was horrendous but eventually I was able to get her to open up. The girls had told her that they where going to bring a knife to nursery that day and cut her face.
"They then began to hit and bite her, pull her to the ground by her hair, call her a “fat f****** pig” and “ugly” and telling her if she lets them be her friend just for today they won’t hurt her or be mean to her anymore.
"When my daughter was going and telling her teachers what was happening, they weren’t doing anything about it, she was being took inside and told to stay inside and play away from them, during what was the hottest month on record, while the girls got to stay outside and play.
"My daughter is having to suffer at the hands of their actions when she should be having fun with her friends and family, making happy memories with her new baby sister but instead is left petrified while they get to spend their summer with no consequences for what they have done to her."
Tommy Sheppard, SNP MP, who the mum also contacted, has expressed his desire to write to the council regarding the incidents mentioned.
Councillor Joan Griffiths, Education, Children and Families Convener, said: “We will continue to do all we can to promote positive behaviour and ensure pupils across all nurseries are supported in their relationships and have respect for themselves and others.”
