The family of a young teen who was viciously attacked in Navan, Co. Meath, has called the event, which was captured on camera and shared online, horrific. The attack on the 14-year-old left a shoeprint on his forehead and resulted in broken teeth, significant bruises, and a concussion.
The young man was trying to flee as a group of students from the same school viciously assaulted and kicked him when he was only a few yards from a family house.
“No 14-year-old should be hit like this by anything,” one of his relatives remarked. He is merely a young boy who happened to run into family while traveling.
“What happened today disgusts, disgusts, and disturbs us. A youngster was being attacked by a few people as others recorded the incident and uploaded it online. It’s abhorrent and incorrect.
He was bold and did a wonderful job, but I don’t think the incident’s transience or shock entirely overwhelmed him.
While what happened to him cannot be changed, I hope that something can be done to prevent similar suffering for other children. “What happened now is out there,” I said.
A senator from Dublin claimed that the video, which subsequently went viral on social media, will “trigger” other kids who are being bullied.
Images of the adolescent being attacked by classmates as he attempted to cross the lawn that have been circulating Irish social media, according to Fine Gael Seanad children’s spokeswoman Senator Mary Seery-Kearney, are distressing.
The senator further stated that the pictures will “trigger” kids “across the country” in his interview with RTE radio this morning.
Those who have experienced bullying worry about if it will be escalated to that amount and broadcast online, as well as the fear that they will be the next target.