12 Year-Old Boy Commits Suicide Because of Bullying
Joel Morales hanged himself in the bathroom of his family’s apartment on Tuesday night.
Chastised for everything from his “braininess” to the death of his father, the 12-year-old Harlem resident took his own life because he could no longer endure bullying. Despite her efforts, Joel’s mother could not find a safe place for her son.
“In some heartbreaking stories involving a young person’s suicide, it’s later revealed that the parents didn’t realize the severity of a child’s bullying. That’s not the case here. According to the Daily News story, Morales’s mother Lizbeth Babilonia had her son transfer schools to escape the physical abuse and taunts, contacted the police after four boys knocked on Joel’s door and threw sticks and a pipe at him when he opened it, and unsuccessfully sought to have New York Housing Authority officials move her and Joel to another housing project.”
Read more at NYMag and the Daily News.
From FAMU to this latest incident, bullying seems to be getting worse.
What kind of intervention is necessary to enact real change?
Sound off below!