It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 15 years to the day since Reena Virk was murdered.
Her case was a watershed moment at the time, casting new light on bullying and teenage violence.
Yet how much has really changed in the years since?
Reena’s mother, Suman Virk, believes bullying has actually become more widespread.
Fourteen-year-old Reena Virk was the original bullying poster child.
It was in the Gorge Waterway where her badly beaten body was found, eight days after she disappeared.
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She was invited to a teen drinking party at the Craigflower Bridge Friday night, November 14th, 1997.
She was swarmed, beaten and drowned. Her killing became a national cause célèbre.
“For so long we were consumed with the legalities of dealing with a murdered child,” says Suman Virk. “The courts prolonging the case. It is kind of like you put your feelings and your grief on hold. And I am finding that now I am feeling more of the impact of losing Reena. I am struggling more now and missing her more as time goes on.”
Warren Glowatski was convicted of second degree murder and given a life sentence. Kelly Ellard was convicted in her third trial.
In the years after Reena’s murder, bullying has been front and centre for years despite all the meetings, forums, talks and websites.
Suman Virk says she thinks bullying has only gotten worse in the last 15 years, not better.
“I am sad to say that the severity and frequency of bullying is increasing instead of decreasing. And I think we are also all shocked by the means that young people are using to bully their pears with cyberbullying and other things that were not there when Reena was killed.”
Since losing their daughter, Virk’s parents have spent a lot of time talking to children about bullying and youth violence. But they say more needs to be done because clearly the anti- bullying message is not getting through.
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