by Lynn Moon
When you were in school, do you remember someone saying something nasty to you? Were you ever tripped in a hallway only to hear others laugh about it? Maybe you had your books knocked from your arms, and the person who did it refused to allow you to pick them up. What would you do if you logged onto a social media site and found horrible, nasty lies about yourself? Now consider these things happening every day of your life, not just once or twice, but every day. Then add on the humiliation, inner turmoil, and shame and guilt. If it would be hard for an adult to cope with, how could we expect a young child to deal with it on a daily basis?
Years ago, our escape from our bullies was the sanctuary of our bedrooms. Once we slammed that door, the outside world would disappear. For the children of today, the widespread use of social media follows them everywhere, barging its way into the privacy of their own homes. Children learn to feel helpless and lost. It is not something they are born with. Once a child crosses the threshold of no return, the child experiences long bouts of sadness, hopelessness, worthlessness, and in some cases, the feeling of being a burden to their family and friends. These children honestly believe that the world would be a better place without them. Once a bully pushes their victim to the brink of suicide, the only solution for these children, these victims, is to stop the pain in any fashion that is available—a fall from a tower, strangulation with a belt or scarf, pills to fall asleep and never wake up, or a bullet to the head. When the child reaches this state, words will not make a difference. It is at this point that the child needs professional help, and finding the right help is not easy and can be quite expensive. In most cases, help unfortunately comes too late.
If you discover that your child is being bullied, do not remain quiet. Yell and scream until someone takes notice. Remove your child from the school if you must. Your child’s life is more important than anything, including math. You must do everything you can as a parent to keep your child safe and alive. Report the abusers (bullies) to the authority. Hire a lawyer if necessary. Keep your child at home, until something is done.
Many who read this novel will not agree that any of this is happening. Some will say that the police would put a stop to it, or that a social service department would never act against a child. Maybe these naysayers are under the impression that parents have control over what their child experiences in school. If these statements or beliefs were true, then the children listed below would still be with us today. These little angels are gone and will forever be missed by their loved ones. Although I never met any of them, they have touched my heart in ways I cannot explain or understand. Please, I ask that you look up each child and learn their story. The children are listed by the year of their death, and then in alphabetical order by last name. Not every child that committed suicide because of bullying is on this list. There are just too many to list them all.
Kelly Yeomans, age 13, in 1997
Dawn-Marie Wesley, age 14, in 2000
Morgan Musson, age 13, in 2001
Nicola Ann Raphael, age 15, in 2001
Ryan Patrick Halligan, age 13, in 2003
Megan Meier, age 13, in 2006
Tylor Long, age 17, in 2009
Hope Witsell, age 13, in 2009
Tyler Clementi, age 18, in 2010
Phoebe Prince, age 15, in 2010
Sladjana Vidovic, age 16, in 2010
Jamey Rodemeyer, age 14, in 2011
Felica Garcia, age 15, 2012
Audrie Pott, age 15, in 2012
Amanda Todd, age 15, in 2012
Kenneth Weishuhn, age 14, in 2012
Jadins Bell, age 15 in 2013
Devin Brown, age 13, in 2013
Rehtaeh Parsons, age 17, in 2013
Rebecca Ann Sedwick, age 12, in 2013
Hannah Smith, age 14, in 2013
Joshua Unsworth, age 15, in 2013
Daniel Briggs, age 16, in 2014
Emilie Olsen, age 13, in 2014
Amber Caudel, age 12, in 2015
Zoe Johnson, age 13, in 2015
JJ Anderson, age 12, in 2016
Daniel Fitzpatrick, age 13, 2016
Destiny Gleason, age 14, 2016
Jackson Wyatt Grubb, age 9, in 2016
Dejah Jones, age 14, in 2016
Shania Sechrist, age 15, in 2016
Brandy Vela, age 18, in 2016
Evan Ziemniak, age 12, in 2016
For more information on how to stop bullying or where to go for help, please visit these great websites:
http://www.a4kclub.org/
http://www.absencesaddup.org
http://www.adcouncil.org/
http://www.americanspcc.org/bullying
http://www.barethebully.org
http://www.bullying.co.uk/
http://www.compassionit.com/
http://www.dare.org/bullying
http://www.guardchild.com/cyber-bullying-statistics/
http://www.meganmeierfoundation.org
https://www.nobullying.com
http://www.nveee.org
http://www.rebeccasstandagainstbullying.com
http://www.ryanpatrickhalligan.org/
http://www.standforthesilent.org http://www.pacer.org/
http://www.stompoutbullying.org/
http://www.stopbullyingnowfoundation.org
http://www.thebullyproject.com
http://www.tylerclementi.org
http://www.violencepreventionworks.org/public/bullying.page
http://www.workplacebullying.org
https://www.worldofchildren.org
These are not the only sites available to parents or children. For more resources, conduct a thorough Internet search, or talk to your family counselor or physician.