Emirati girl who shared video of bullying in a school wanted to spread awareness of the menace

Syed Shayaan Bakht, Staff Reporter

An Emirati girl who took the bold step of sharing the horrifying video of bullying at a Dubai school said that she just wanted the menace of bullying to stop.

Jawaher, 15, (surname withheld for privacy reason) also a school student, spoke to Gulf Today regarding the incident, which took place around two weeks ago. 

Jawaher said, “I never hesitated to do it but I wanted to share and spread awareness even though people said it sounds risky and some people thought I wanted to make money out of it. I never wanted any of it, I wanted people to know about what’s happening inside school. I really felt proud for posting it and tried my best… even students and the school texted saying that they’re really happy…”

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Jawaher believes that bringing such incidents to light will discourage and stop the perpetrators.

Gulf Today then posed this query to her: In the UAE, where 200 nationalities reside, and where everyone calls it their home, such things should not take place. Do you believe in this?

Jawaher responded, “I 100 per cent believe in this, Because Dubai and the UAE welcome all nationalities and make them feel like their home town by celebrating every culture…”

Jawaher, who goes by the Twitter handle @highdadyy, shared the video on the evening of Feb.9, triggering a Twitter storm.

She mistakenly tagged Repton School, which had nothing to do with the incident.

She later wrote on Twitter, “Please don’t send hate to #reptonschool it is not their fault. The video has nothing to do with them, I mentioned them by accident.”

Sources said two students were withdrawn from the school after the video surfaced.

The video showed graphic details of a student hitting another student, and pulling her hair.

The unidentified bully could be heard threatening the bullied student that if she told anything to anyone regarding the incident, she would be in deep trouble.

The video has made parents question the security of students in schools.