Recently, 11 year old Tysen Benz killed himself because of a prank played by his 13 year old girlfriend, according to Fox 8 Cleveland.
The report states that Benz killed himself after his girlfriend played a prank stating through text messages and social media that she was going to kill herself.
The catch is, though, that this girl never planned on doing anything of the sort.
Benz, however, didn’t know this and decided to take his own life.
Earlier in March, a young girl named Vylit took her own life after struggling with being bullied, according to Q13 Fox.
Her parents had contacted the school district several times about their daughter being bullied, but the school district didn’t comment on this statement due to privacy laws.
That same month, Jaqwanta Lamar Goodley, a 12 year old boy, took his own life as well due to bullying, claiming that if he didn’t take his own life someone else will, according to KATC ABC 3.
Goodley’s mother was cited in the article as stating, “Teasing him, calling him names, saying if he wouldn’t kill himself, they were going to kill him; that affected him. I wish he would’ve came out and talked to me.”
In March, once again. Julio “Junior” Ortiz, 11, took his own life due to bullying as well, according to NBC 5 Dallas Fort-Worth.
Mayra Rodriguez, Ortiz’s mother, encouraged parents to look for the signs that their children may be being bullied. She claimed that just days before Ortiz took his own life he was showing signs of aggression she had never seen from him before.
Going back just another month prior, eight year old, Gabriel Taye, took his own life due to bullying, according to WLWT 5.
Parents felt that Taye was a victim of bullying as well as inaction by the Cincinnati Public Schools who claim that there was no bullying last August through December.
Words have an impact on people both through verbal bullying and online bullying. Today’s students cannot escape the bullies when they go home as they’re faced with the daunting idea that the bully could attack them on social media.
There are plenty of healthy ways to get your emotions out, but belittling others to the point where they feel as though their life is not worth living is not an option. And, just telling kids to toughen up isn’t an option either. Until you’re in the shoes of the child you have no idea what they are going through.
We cannot grow complacent and just watch bullying happen. We need to take action, starting with raising children that their words have power and implementing anti-bullying programs that are actually enforced and work into the school system both public and private.
How many suicides is it going to take before we realize we have a problem?
These kids have so much more life to life and so much to offer the world, but they’re not getting the chance to do so all because of harmful and hurtful words and behavior.
Their lives are ending before they have even started—just let that one sink in for a moment.
