boy, 12, kills himself after 'he was bullied

[PsychGrad]

52. Same here.

I work with kids in this age group and it's horrific what some of them are expected to endure - things we wouldn't expect a grown adult to endure. And bc he was a cheerleader? There is never a reason for bullying, but that's got to be one of the most stupid ones I've heard. I once had a girl, 14, who had been raped by a boy in the school, but we couldn't prove it, so, no charges. I worked with her and I KNOW she was telling the truth. Anyway, he was harassing her at the school after the fact, smugly because he knew she couldn't prove it happened and he wasn't going to have any consequences. I went to the Vice Principal and explained the situation (with consent from the girl beforehand to share the information) and the VP took action IMMEDIATELY. He directed the boy to stay away from her, and to not look at or speak to or about her in his school. When the boy continued - the VP made him walk outside of the school, with a teacher, during passing periods, and he had to eat his lunch with the VP every day - which meant he had absolutely NO contact with the girl (or other students) without supervision. It certainly wasn't protocol - but, it didn't violate any of the boy's rights either while keeping the girl (and others!) safe too. The boy, who I wish I could have worked with too, but didn't, actually ended up getting suspended and then kicked out for bringing a loaded gun to the school (nothing to do with the case I worked as far as we know) and I think he is in prison nowadays (this was YEARS ago).

Schools could do more, if they cared enough to do so.