‘I Did Things No Father Should Ever Have To Do’: 10-Year-Old Indiana Boy Kills Himself After Months Of Brutal Bullying

Daily Caller ^ | May 15, 2024 | BENJAMIN SZWEDIUK

[Red Badger]

A 10-year-old boy in Indiana killed himself after a two-year bullying campaign which his parents claim his school failed to stop, despite contacting school officials 20 times in a year.

Sammy Teusch, aged 10, of Greenfield, Indiana, died by suicide on Sunday, May 5, according to an interview his parents, Sam and Nichole Teusch, gave to 13 News WTHR. They claim Sammy, one of four siblings, took his own life after enduring constant bullying which had become increasingly physical and which Greenfield Intermediate School had done little to address.

Sammy’s parents claimed in the interview that the bullying started two years ago at elementary school with verbal taunts and then progressed to physical assaults. His parents presented several pictures of bruising as evidence of the alleged assaults. “They were making fun of him for his glasses in the beginning, then on to make fun of his teeth. It went on for a long time… He was beat up on the school bus, and the kids broke his glasses and everything,” his father said, according to the New York Post.

Sam Teusch claims that he had been in contact with his son’s school 20 times in the last year regarding the ongoing abuse, but that nothing effective had been done. “I called the school, and I’m like, ‘What are you doing about this? It keeps getting worse, and worse, and worse.'” The superintendent, Dr. Harold Olin, claimed, “no bullying report was ever submitted,” when 13 News reached out to the school about the allegations, but the father maintains, “they knew this was going on.”

The Teusch family is being strongly supported by their local community in their time of grief, according to an article by local publication The Daily Reporter. “The past two or three days we’ve probably had 1,000 people here and I probably knew 20 of them … There was a giant man that barely fit through that door who came in here and just had tears flowing down his face, and he gave me the biggest hug,” Sam Teusch told the paper.

Dozens of tributes have been left for Sammy at a tree in the family’s front yard, and hundreds attended the boy’s funeral at Brandywine Community Church in Greenfield, including the local Freedom Riders and Christian Motorcycle Club, who offered their support, according to a post by WTHR porter Chase Houle on Twitter.

[Tired of Taxes]

An increasing number of young children have committed suicide in the last ten years or so.

Young children have been bullied for generations, but I don’t remember hearing about young children committing suicide years ago.

I doubt the bullying is worse today. There must be another factor causing the increase.

Heartbroken for this boy and his family...

[Tired of Taxes]

"In Jr HS, everyday I had a gang of about 10 follow me around. One guy would sharpen his pencil every class and stab me in the back when the teacher turned her back. A couple of guys would take turns bashing my head into lockers. Twice I want to the office to get help. Nothing happened."

What I remember is that some teachers (and coaches) would join in on the bullying, and sometimes they instigated it. Many children are bullied. I was bullied in grade school. I was a girl, and the boys were the worst bullies. I remember one group following me home. In those days, most parents didn't call the school to report bullying. They told us to learn to handle it.

Now, when I look back at photos and videos of myself as a kid, especially in that awkward stage, I laugh at myself. What keeps me up at night are the few times when I was the one who was mean to someone else.

But, I don't remember hearing about young children committing suicide over bullying in the old days. There's an increasing number today. What is going on? Where are these children even getting this idea?

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Yeah, strange that detail is missing.

Except of course it isn't.

Right there in the excerpt even. Did not even have to go to the article to find out.

I wonder why certain people just seem incapable of RTFA?

[PeterPrinciple]

Where were that kids that should have stood up to the bully?

I befriended many that were picked on in my youth.

[joethedrummer]

lol.

Not gonna write the story of my entire school life here..

Yes, our ferals moved in packs. Had some teeth knocked out of my mouth by them too. Glasses broken, my stuff muscled away from me, etc…

YOU are attempting to bully here too. The only way is to STAND UP TO THEM.

Too bad you have to hide behind a keyboard.

[Jonty30]

Bullying has changed. It goes beyond words or physical abuse. James Dobson noted that bullying today is geared towards causing people to be stripped of their individuality and the bully is hoping the person they are bullying commit suicide. They aren’t just doing it and the person kills themselves as a result. They are driving their bullying with the intent of causing it to happen.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

If you think I am a bully because I pointed out the story beats in your little tale you have obviously never actually met a bully.

There by proving my point.

[Tired of Taxes]

"the bully is hoping the person they are bullying commit suicide. They aren’t just doing it and the person kills themselves as a result. They are driving their bullying with the intent of causing it to happen."

I see... In the old days, the bullies wanted to make kids cry, or they pushed them around to make themselves feel superior. Now, they push kids to commit suicide?

Also, come to think of it, another difference today is that bullies use social media, but the parents made no mention of that as a factor in this case.

[absalom01]

Yeah, strange that detail is missing. Except of course it isn't. Right there in the excerpt even. Did not even have to go to the article to find out. I wonder why certain people just seem incapable of RTFA?

I wonder why certain people just seem to have so much trouble with reading comprehension.

The article explains how this child was bullied. Not why. Unless you think that this kid was the only one with glasses, or teeth.

But you don't think that. You just don't want to admit that there's an obvious answer that the media absolutely positively won't cover.

Yup, it's a mystery.