A 14-year-old girl is not going to school because she is being bullied on Facebook, Tallaght District Court heard on Friday.
The girl’s mother was before the court for not sending her daughter to school. The case was before Judge Patricia McNamara for a progress report.
The mother, who has an address in Tallaght, is accused of failing to comply with a school attendance notice to ensure her daughter attend a local secondary school.
A solicitor for Tusla, the child and family agency, which is taking the case, told the judge significant progress had been made in the last term of school. But when the new term started in September, the girl’s attendance was “extremely poor” with an absence rate of 50 per cent. He said he was aware there were contributory factors.
The woman’s lawyer, Michael Hennessy, said the girl had been bullied on Facebook and the school was investigating it.
The judge told the girl: “The best thing is not to go on Facebook.”
Tusla’s solicitor said an alternative education programme had been put in place but the girl would have to attend school.
The judge adjourned the case to December.