"Children should be able to live a life free from bullying and harassment and it is time that we all took a stand against this." - Katherine Jenkins
Children are born innocent; no child is born with a bad heart. Thus whatever character they exhibit is a reflection of society and the people around them.
Another child in the United Kingdom has committed suicide after being a victim of bullying at school.
The mother of the deceased, Eugenia Williams, found her daughter, Maddison “Maddie” Whittsett in her closet after the young child hanged herself.
Williams had planned to go on a mother-daughter bonding trip to their family's favorite restaurant when she found her body.
According to the parents, Maddie was suffering from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and was bullied at school as a result, she often complained that her friends at school called her names like “stupid” and “dumb”, which she didn't like and made her sometimes distaste going to school.
The parents claim that young Maddie had taken her life as a result of a bad day at school.
“We talked to one of her friends and Maddie had apparently had a bad day. The friend said Maddie was bullied and she looked sad while she was being bullied,” Whittsett’s stepfather, Jimmie Williams said.
“She just wanted to be your friend. She wanted to be everybody’s friend and wanted everyone to be happy,’’ he said. “We saw that in everything she did.”
The parents said they are sharing the story because they want to use the case of their daughter to preach against bullying in schools and for parents to look beyond the smiling faces of their children and check out for warning signs always.
“Maybe you can see if anything is going on. Look for changes in attitude. Changes in behavior. Support them and be there for them,” Jimmie said.
In January this years, another 9-year-old named A’layah Weatherspoon committed suicide by hanging herself from her brand new bunk-bed with a leather belt around her neck. She died two days later.
A’layah was a third grader at Cooley Elementary School in Waterford, and was bullied at school.
Recent reports reveal that Suicide rates for black boys increased 95 per cent over a two-decade span. In 2016 alone, at least 48 black children between the ages of 6 and 14 took their own lives, the study revealed.
This issue has to be taken seriously because it is wrong in every way.
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