A mother has been left outraged after her daughter was shamed for being too thin.
Her 10-year-old had been hanging out with friends when they made a comment about her appearance.
Recently, the Year 6 student fell out with her old friends and joined a new group.
“She has now made friends with some other lovely girls and everything was fine. Until today,” the mother said.
‘Thin as a stick’
But a friend from her previous group shattered that peace.
“One of the girls in the group she used to be with came up to her and said such girl said my daughter was ‘thin as a stick’ and told her to eat more,” she recounted.
The mental health nurse was left furious, drawing on her career experience.
“I’m absolutely livid,” she said.
“I have young girls with eating disorders. Quite a few of these patients of mine have had weight comments made to them at a young age, thus creating a lifelong battle with food.”
‘Just as harmful’
Turning to a parenting forum, she sought advice.
While her daughter wasn’t fat-shamed, the mother still worried about the impact of the comment on her body.
“To me, it’s potentially just as harmful and I’m so angry,” she explained.
Frustrated, the mother took the matter to the deputy principal, insisting action be taken.
“I want to text the girls mom’s and tell them what their nasty little sods [kids] have said, but I don’t know if it’ll make things better or worse,” she revealed.
Now, she’s wondering what she can do to prevent it happening again going forward.
The forum’s comment section was divided by her reaction.
“It’s an unkind thing to say but honestly you will do yourself no favors if you contact the girl’s mom directly,” one mother warned.
“You are going to look like an idiot if you go turning one random comment into a big school incident,” another said.
“I think you might be spiraling slightly down the eating disorder rabbit hole. Don’t make a big deal of it at this stage,” a third added.
The mother agreed that her reaction may have been excessive.
“Maybe I am overreacting. I just know firsthand how devastating body shaming comments can have on girls, especially at this age and it scares me,” she shared.
“It probably has upset me more than my daughter.”
