13-Year-Old Boy Commits Suicide After Saying School ‘Didn’t Do Anything’ to Stop His Bullies - Polidicks

[quote]He left a note saying his old friends stopped talking to him and didn't like him A 13-year-old boy from Staten Island, New York, took his own life on Thursday after being bullied by classmates at school. In teenager Daniel Fitzpatrick’s tragic suicide note, which was supplied by his parents to The New York Daily News, he claimed that his old friends at Holy Angels Catholic Academy had stopped talking to him and didn’t like him. “I gave up,” Daniel, who was scheduled to start at Brooklyn’s Xaverian High School in the fall, wrote on lined paper. “The teachers either they didn’t do ANYTHING!” he scrawled in the note. Daniel’s cause of death was hanging and the manner was suicide, New York medical examiner spokesperson Julie Bolcer confirmed to PEOPLE. Daniel’s father, also Daniel Fitzpatrick, posted a video to his Facebook page on Saturday to thank people for their support. In it, he condemns both the boys who allegedly “tormented” his son and the Catholic school that reportedly told him, “You’ll be fine… These things will pass” when the teen went to school officials for help. Holy Angels Catholic Academy has not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment. “Thank you to all the people out there for your support and condolences, your thoughts and your shares,” Daniel says in the Facebook video. “My son’s story is now out there for the world to see and for the world to know the pain that he went through. I miss my son very much.” “No parent should have to bury their child. No child should have to go through what my son went through.” “To the parents of the boys that tormented my son, all I have to say is I hope you never have to feel what my family is going through right now. You get to hold your children every night and day for the rest of your lives and their natural lives. I don’t get that anymore. Your little monsters took that from me and my wife,” he continued. Daniel’s mother, Maureen Fitzpatrick told the Daily News she recalled her son saying he wanted the bullies – who he names in his suicide note – to “know what they did to me and how I feel.”[/quote] [url]http://time.com/4451454/staten-island-boy-commits-suicide-school-bullies/?xid=time_socialflow_facebook[/url]

according to the note he even fought back and the bullying still didn't stop. we need better accountability for schools and bullying. it seems like there are so many cases where the school just refuses to do anything and never get into any kind of trouble for it.

I can relate. Schools do absolute jack, despite always reminding you to go to an adult for help. Real fucking shame it had to come to this.

A 13 year old hanging themselves? That's not right.

Cases like these always make my blood boil. Schools need to realize once they get reports of bullying they need to take strict and immediate action. No "kids will be kids" bullshit. If the school does nothing about it then the victim will do something about it themselves, and it'll most likely be through violence on their bullies or themselves. Back in middle school I had a bully who loved to torment me for some reason. Teachers always saw but never did anything about it. so one day he pissed me off and I smashed his head into the hood of a car. He didn't bully me anymore. And considering how I still hear stories about how much of a general asshole he is to people I'm still glad I did that. [editline]opiubhj[/editline] [QUOTE=A B.A. Survivor;50882709]A 13 year old hanging themselves? That's not right.[/QUOTE] If a kid has a ton of sources for anger and nowhere to let that anger out they turn it on themselves.

13 is a shit age

Schools do jackshit, because they don't want to: a)offend the kids/parents b)punish the kid too harshly c)want both parties to admit faults so that they can punish them equally d)want other parents to feel comfortable by not reporting about bullying In the end, you want to solve such problems, you have to either fight back and make sure the bully doesn't fuck with you, or get the fuck out and move into another school. I know this because this shit happened to me.

[QUOTE=Grandzeit;50882706]I can relate. Schools do absolute jack, despite always reminding you to go to an adult for help. Real fucking shame it had to come to this.[/QUOTE] To make matters worse, it was a religious private school which from my experience handles bullying even worse than public schools. At one Christian school I was only at for a year, I almost got expelled for trying to report a kid for bullying and another group of kids harassed a teacher to the point she quit. Religious schools and other private institutions are a lot less likely to seriously reprimand a child since they fear the parent may remove them from the school - and thus, lose the tuition they're making off that student.

I moved a lot so my bullies changed over the years, but the schools at best put them in detention and only suspended people if they did some real crass shit (although my last school before graduation arguably had the worst of them all). And one thing I learned is that detention is basically nothing to them. It's just some extra time wasted. Suspension? A free vacation. And unfortunately for this kid, fighting his bullies didn't make them back off either. "Holy Angels Catholic Academy" sounds way too much like the kind of place that would promote their self-image first and scoop the rotting shit festering inside under the rug. Maybe that's just me, though. It was a scummy situation, though, and that's a permanent mark against them people will remember in that area. Especially if it happens to be a place where everyone relatively knows eachother.

[QUOTE=Grandzeit;50882706]I can relate. Schools do absolute jack, despite always reminding you to go to an adult for help. Real fucking shame it had to come to this.[/QUOTE] I can relate, I went to a school and all that the teachers did was tell the bullies to stop bullying me. That made it worse, I moved schools and then it happened again (I joined halfway through the year, and some people from my new school knew people from the old school) It is a shit feeling to have people shun you for no apparent reason, and it's a disgrace that this school's authority didn't notice that he was struggling.

It's despicable how little schools or teachers do against bullying. I can relate to this. First day we were signing a bullshit "contract" (shitty piece of paper) on how to behave and not bully others and they tell you what to do when it happens to you etc. Within a week the bullies ofc emerge and no fucking teacher does anything useful against it. In my experience it was a teachers son who was an asshole so I was doubly fucked, because they would believe that kid over me. Being 13 years old is hard enough without dealing with bullies and I'm sad that this boy didn't see another way the get rid off them. I really hope those kids understand what they've done and the school makes sure this doesn't happen again.

Schools need to start being held responsible for shit like this, to be honest fucking deal with bullying or find replacements who care

"Anti-Bullying Policies" in schools are absolute bullshit.

I got horrible bullying due to my hair colour when I was in school and I went to the teacher and told them they where saying racist things to me, she proceeded to tell me I am not a race therefore what they say is not racist therefore she doesn't care. Proceeded to call said kids a N and punched them in the face and got kicked out of school for a month(prior to this I was getting 24/7 bullying and Fights arranged against me weekly)

Sucks that the only thing that really gets schools to do anything these days is bad publicity or threatening a lawsuit

Christ, this is just horrible. When I experienced some bullying in secondary school over here my teachers and principles actually did something about it and treated it seriously. I am really scared my school might have been the exception rather than the rule over here however, as I know one of my cousins was very badly bullied. School teachers and principals need to realise that their most important job is protecting children, especially from bullying. They need to deal with it head on and stop it. They also need to realise that if a child fights back that they can't punish them for defending themselves - that just teaches them terrible habits later on. These are teenagers for god's sake - they're already going through a head enough time with their friends, they don't need enemies too.

It's so fucking awful but it's true. My best friend dropped out because she was harassed even outside of school everyday and the school refused to do anything about it. To this day, she still has no diploma and no GED. It breaks my heart. [editline]14th August 2016[/editline] Our school system sucks ass. They don't teach you anything relevant to life, they don't get you enthused to learn. All they do is cram info in your head to regurgitate and forget it as soon as you test on it, because having better test scores than the neighboring schools is more important than shaping our next fucking generation

I got bullied like shit since the age of about 9. I've been bullied because of my skin color I've had people hold my head underwater in a pool and say they will stop bullying me if I change my religion I've had people sexually bully me I've had people bully me because I'm smart/different or because of my personality I've people torment me physically I've had people assume that I'm homosexual when I'm not and continuously make passes at me or talk shit about me personally (and yeah, from time to time I've been a shit-head to other people and been a bully) There is nothing that anyone can do to improve the situation. Children, teenagers and adults are all shit-heads and will work against you in whatever way that they can. If you're different, then you're different. Best advice: “You’ll be fine… These things will pass” There is very little that any establishment can do to fix shit like this, its a simple fact of life. Sure they can try, but there is always a grey area when it comes to people's personal lives and how far you want a school to be involved. In my case my school told my friend's parents that they shouldn't be friends with me because xyz. They told my parents that I shouldn't be friends with xyz people because of abc. Other than that you can try to fit in and fail at it. You get bullied for good reason usually, because you're smarter, because you're funnier and because you're better--the nail that sticks up gets hammered down. Better to stick it out and watch as all the people end up in dead-end, shitty jobs that they'll never enjoy and watch how dull they are. Matt Stone's view on bullying/Columbine has always been poignant (even if he later regretted doing it or whatever): [hd]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dYtOOtfQtM[/hd]

[QUOTE=Ignhelper;50882720]Schools do jackshit, because they don't want to: a)offend the kids/parents b)punish the kid too harshly c)want both parties to admit faults so that they can punish them equally d)want other parents to feel comfortable by not reporting about bullying In the end, you want to solve such problems, you have to either fight back and make sure the bully doesn't fuck with you, or get the fuck out and move into another school. I know this because this shit happened to me.[/QUOTE] This is why my family MOVED to get away from my high school. Some guy was hell bent on stabbing me in the neck because I dated his girlfriend before he did and he was insecure. There were other reasons to the move but it was mainly because I needed to finish high school with a clean record and just focus on the work to be done. If I had involved the school system, I'd get the same punishment he did (which has happened to everyone in that school that reported shit before)

It's exactly the same here in the UK, teachers don't do shit. I myself also attempted suicide. Being told by a doctor "You're lucky to be alive." isn't really what you want to hear after. The teachers really don't care. I worked hard and stuck to my guns for two years but after that I gave up, threw everything away and just started misbehaving, lashing out, fighting whatever just to try and fit in and stop the bullying. Nothing helped and all I have to show for my education is shit grades and failed college.

Don't understand why it's so difficult for schools to grasp the concept of bullying. Like... one person bullies the other, you punish the person doing the bullying and help the person getting bullied. It's not hard. There's no grey area. There's no "oh but they're just kids". There's no "both parties share at least part of the blame". There's no "ignore the bullies they'll get bored of it eventually". Bullies don't bully people to get a rise out of them, they do it to feel powerful. When the person getting bullied complains to school administration and they do nothing about it or cop out using one of the methods above, it simply empowers the bully more, leading to even more bullying. If this happened in society between adults, you can bet your ass that the "bully" would be getting a restraining order or even jail time for harassment. Yet because it happens in schools between children it's somehow okay? If anything it's more important to teach children the right lessons during their formative years, or they grow up thinking that harassing and assaulting others is completely okay.

I wonder how the bullies themselves feel now, like bad about it or good about it.

[QUOTE=Headhumpy;50883498]Don't understand why it's so difficult for schools to grasp the concept of bullying. Like... one person bullies the other, you punish the person doing the bullying and help the person getting bullied. It's not hard. There's no grey area. There's no "oh but they're just kids". There's no "both parties share at least part of the blame". There's no "ignore the bullies they'll get bored of it eventually". Bullies don't bully people to get a rise out of them, they do it to feel powerful. When the person getting bullied complains to school administration and they do nothing about it or cop out using one of the methods above, it simply empowers the bully more, leading to even more bullying. If this happened in society between adults, you can bet your ass that the "bully" would be getting a restraining order or even jail time for harassment. Yet because it happens in schools between children it's somehow okay? If anything it's more important to teach children the right lessons during their formative years, or they grow up thinking that harassing and assaulting others is completely okay.[/QUOTE] The "Zero Tolerance policy" is the bane of our educational system. You stick up for yourself and you still get punished even if you did nothing wrong. I don't see self defense as a fucking crime but apparently the schools do. God I fucking hate our school system, it's so worthless. [QUOTE=Bat-shit;50883500]I wonder how the bullies themselves feel now, like bad about it or good about it.[/QUOTE] I'm not a professional psychiatrist but in my experience, they're probably laughing about it. "Haha, that loser offed himself and we didn't even get into trouble!" Probably not the case but I have a really cynical view of bullies. I dealt with bullies through middle school and into high school. It didn't stop until I began muttering how much I'd fuck them and the school up (using words I really regret using) and the school FINALLY got involved, but only because I implicitly made a threat against them. Surprise, I get kicked out of school for the year and my bullies only got a week's suspension. The only positive things I can say about it is that I had time to cool off and when I finally came back, I had a reputation as an insane muther fucker so I was finally left alone. Plus the staff took any further complaints of mine VERY seriously. IF there is a moral to my story it's this. Don't lose your head because chances are you will be punished worse than your tormentors. You can't rely on the school system for jackshit. Make good friends and surround yourself with them. My friends are what gave me the strength to pick up the pieces and keep moving on. Yes it sucks, but school doesn't last forever.

[QUOTE=Bat-shit;50883500]I wonder how the bullies themselves feel now, like bad about it or good about it.[/QUOTE] I imagine they're coming up with every excuse to not have to admit to themselves that they are a waste of space and an active detriment to themselves and others.

how many suicides and school shootings do we need before people start recognising that bullying is a fucking pandemic

i think schools provide the environment perfect for bullying in the first place. it's way too spoonfed driven and teaches you absolutely nothing about the real world. if it were run truly like a support group and mentor lifestyle then it would be a better system. instead you're chucked into a jungle of ignorance where you have no outlet.

[QUOTE=Ignhelper;50882720]Schools do jackshit, because they don't want to: a)offend the kids/parents b)punish the kid too harshly c)want both parties to admit faults so that they can punish them equally d)want other parents to feel comfortable by not reporting about bullying In the end, you want to solve such problems, you have to either fight back and make sure the bully doesn't fuck with you, or get the fuck out and move into another school. I know this because this shit happened to me.[/QUOTE] I luckily was never chronically bullied, and most times I was able to defuse the situation, but one time I just got so pissed off by some guys bullying my friends by throwing food at them, so I pulled a knife. From what I heard some of them thought it was fake, but the guy I directly threatened knew it was real since I tapped it on his skin. They stopped eating in that area after that. In hindsight I should have reacted with less escalation, if the bullies decided to be less macho or if people around me ratted me out, I probably would have been expelled, but it worked. Actually looking back on it there was definitely bullying at my school, but there was generally a limit before it got out of hand. Thankfully while it would take a lot for teachers to get involved, students would usually stick up for each other. One time we heard that a group of assholes were bullying special ed kids in the quad, so we gathered a large group of people to deter them, either with words, threat of violence, or actual violence. Before we got there though the teachers stopped the bullies, but I don't think they punished them. Or if it was it was just a detention.

[QUOTE]The "Zero Tolerance policy" is the bane of our educational system. You stick up for yourself and you still get punished even if you did nothing wrong. I don't see self defense as a fucking crime but apparently the schools do.[/quote] Schools don't want to deal with something that takes more than some paper work and won't tolerate anything that makes them legally liable. A fine example is that when I was a sophomore I had a senior bully that went out of his way to make my life hell. When it came down to it he cornered me in the cafeteria between two tables for everyone to see and forced me to fight him, but since I threw the first punch I got a far greater punishment. This was also the better of the two high schools I went to. During our suspension time we met up and drank though, we're good friends now

[QUOTE=Conscript;50883772]Schools don't want to deal with something that takes more than some paper work and won't tolerate anything that makes them legally liable. A fine example is that when I was a sophomore I had a senior bully that went out of his way to make my life hell. When it came down to it he cornered me in the cafeteria between two tables for everyone to see and forced me to fight him, but since I threw the first punch I got a far greater punishment. This was also the better of the two high schools I went to. During our suspension time we met up and drank though, we're good friends now[/QUOTE] Considering schools are partially responsible for shaping the next generation of people, perhaps they SHOULD be held legally liable. Maybe then they'd actually start giving a fuck and start focusing on improving the school.

[QUOTE=Bat-shit;50883500]I wonder how the bullies themselves feel now, like bad about it or good about it.[/QUOTE] I've been bullied in my life and I have bullied others in life. Most of the time I'll say that bullying is an awful thing to do and would totally against it. But I can't help but notice that I bullied people myself, not physically though. But there were some absolute idiots at my class or at work. I can't help but to make fun of them and honestly I don't feel bad about it. Sometimes people drive you crazy. Overall though, bullying in school is fucking awful.