Despite being what her father described as looking “bruised and battered”, one of the two 11-year-old girls allegedly assaulted after disembarking a school bus in Shepparton last week refused to miss an important day at school a few days later, on which she and her Year 6 cohort were to receive their leadership badges.
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She and her best friend, also 11, and also in her final year of primary education at a different Shepparton school, had been on the bus together on Monday, May 25.
It was their regular Monday afternoon routine.
They would catch the bus together to one of the girl’s homes where they would prepare for dance class later in the day.
But, last Monday, they didn’t make it to their dance class.
Instead, they were nursing wounds and being interviewed by police after being allegedly attacked by a group of eight older girls who had followed them off the bus in Guthrie St and around the corner into Varcoe St.
A video circulating on the internet, allegedly filmed by one of the eight secondary school students, shows the primary school students being repeatedly hit as they screamed for the onslaught to end.
While police reported the 11-year-olds sustained minor injuries and did not require hospital treatment, the father said his daughter had been thoroughly checked out and required CT scans.
He said she was still getting headaches four days after the incident.
“It looks like nothing too serious, no underlying injuries, more just on the surface, a few bruises and stuff, but yeah, the mental stuff's going to be the tougher stuff, I think,” the father said.
The mother and stepfather of the second girl refuse to watch the widely spread video, which they said they believed had been posted on Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube.
The stepfather said while the girls avoided serious injury, he was worried others could end up more seriously hurt if people who used violence against others weren’t educated or punished “appropriately”.
The parents agreed that on the surface their daughters appeared to be coping better with what had happened than they themselves were.
They said they were upset, sad, shocked, angry and concerned that justice for the alleged assault on their children might not be served.
“I think she’s just sort of in the mind frame of trying to block it out,” the father of the first girl said.
“You know, she’s just trying to survive, I guess, like all of us are at the minute.”
Both girls have siblings.
The second girl’s younger sister would have also been on the bus that day had she not been ill and off school.
The father of the first girl said he didn’t have a lot of confidence in the court process, despite the evidence in the circulating video, but hoped the incident would be well publicised for community awareness.
“Whether it’s a good outcome for us, or it ends up not being a good outcome for us, we still want it to be public and just get the community behind us that this is not okay,” he said.
“It might be too late for our kids now, it’s happened, but for any other kids, you know, that want to walk home at four o’clock on a Monday afternoon, they all deserve to be safe to do that.”
The repercussions extend further than uncertain safety and fear of repeat attacks.
Whole family routines will change as transport to and from school and bus travel is reconsidered.
While the first girl may still travel on her regular bus to her home four days a week, the one she used to take to her friend’s house on a Monday will no longer be on the timetable.
And it will no longer be on the timetable for the second girl and her sister either, even though it’s in their neighbourhood.
The parents believe the older girls were on the bus again the next day.
“The victims are the ones having to rearrange things,” they said.
“It’s a little bit backward.”
The second girl’s stepfather said he too wanted the community to be well aware of what had happened.
“Regardless if I want to see the video or not, it needs to be addressed,” he said.
“This needs to be heard. The community needs to hear it. They need to see it. It needs to be something that’s the attention of every individual.
“Our daughter got up, her friend got up, the next person might not.
“There are laws for a reason and there shouldn’t be loopholes; it should be sealed tight to an extent to where the slightest wording or the slightest claim ... you didn’t know any better because of X, Y, Z can’t be an excuse.
“You knew better, you just didn’t do better.”
The father of the first girl said the community support so far had been heartening.
“There’s a lot of people offering the girls things like come and get your hair done, others come get your nails done, and just being able to pass that on to the girls and say, you know, there is still some good in the world,” he said.
The mother of the second girl agreed.
“The support from the community and, just the outrage from everybody is, you know, I wouldn't call it a silver lining, but it gives you a little bit of faith in humanity,” she said.
St Brendan’s Primary School principal Joel Brian said in a statement from the school that the school’s immediate focus was on supporting its affected student and her family.
“We are providing ongoing wellbeing support,” the statement said.
“While the incident occurred outside of school hours, our priority remains the safety and wellbeing of every student. We have made support available to any students who may feel unsettled and are reinforcing messages about safe travel practices and respectful online behaviour.”
Goulburn Valley Grammar School principal Mark Torriero echoed the sentiment about his school’s student.
“We are providing support to the student and their family and will continue to do everything we can to assist them during this difficult time,” he said.
“As a school community, GVGS is guided by values of care, respect and ensuring the safety and wellbeing of every student. We also recognise that incidents of this nature can impact other students and families, and appropriate wellbeing support is being made available to any students who may be affected.”
Greater Shepparton Secondary College executive principal Barbara O’Brien said her school was assisting police with their investigation, “as well as taking appropriate disciplinary action”.
While the school was unable to reveal the nature of the disciplinary action, due to privacy reasons, a new law that came into effect in Victoria last June, gave school principals greater powers in their response to incidents that happen off school grounds.
From day one of Term 3 last year, principals were given authority to suspend or expel students when their behaviour outside school or online puts fellow students and staff at serious risk, a power that was previously restricted to within the school gate.
“The behaviour that occurred does not represent the values of our school and is not representative of the behaviour of the vast majority of students at the college,” Ms O’Brien said.
Victoria Police has provided no further updates on the incident.