WAG Bianca Austin, the wife of former Southampton striker Charlie Austin, expressed fury after her 16-year-old daughter was excluded from school for punching her bully in the face.
She claimed that her daughter was punished more severely than the girl who was bullying her. Austin stated that her daughter had endured weeks of being called names before the incident.
Bianca Austin tweeted that she called the school to find out what punishment her daughter’s rival was given, and was told she was only verbally abusive.
She later tweeted that her daughter had received two days in-school exclusion, while the other child had gone to class. Her tweet was seen by 1.9 million users of the social media site, and it ignited a debate over using violence to retaliate against child bullies.
Mrs Austin, 35, tweeted that she was proud of her daughter for punching her bully in the face. The tweet was met with mixed reactions from her 11,000 followers.
Some followers praised her daughter for standing up to her bully, while others criticised her for promoting violence. Mrs Austin defended her daughter’s actions, stating that the bullying had been wrecking her mental health and affecting her GCSE studies.
The National Bullying Helpline advises parents and carers who do not think teachers are taking satisfactory action to contact their local authority. It reminds them that they have a ‘statutory duty’ to ensure all children in schools are safe at all times.
»WAG’s daughter excluded for punching bully, while bully remains in school«