Not Good

*sigh*

Over the weekend one of the girls in my class, along with two girls from the private primary down the road, dragged an older girl out of her house and pretty much bashed her unconscious, broke all the windows in her house and stole various stuff from the family.

The bashed girl's family (including 5 and 7 year old girls from our school) have fled town for their own safety. The girl herself survived with a lot of bruises and a broken nose and has been discharged from hospital. The three girls involved in the bashing will be charged with aggravated burglary and assault occasioning grievous bodily harm.

These girls are twelve years old.

I've been trying my heart out all year to get this girl to understand that she is responsible for her actions, understand that other people have significant rights that cannot be messed with, understand that life is beautiful and special and should be treasured not thrown away. But when her mother is an alcoholic who regularly gets up in peoples' faces and has been known to bash people (she even threatened me once), what can you say to make a difference?

I'm just feeling broken. This girl is quite intelligent and creative and in a good environment she would have blossomed and could have done great things. Now? If she ever comes back from this and makes good in her life then she will be one of the extremely rare lucky ones. A GBH charge at 12 does not make for a bright future.

:-(