Posted on 09/08/2022 4:32:55 PM PDT by Morgana
he young boy who took his own life as he started school in North Carolina on Tuesday has been identified, as his heartbroken mother revealed he had been bullied for years and urged her fellow parents to teach their children to be kind.
Austin Pendergrass, 13, took his own life in a bathroom at Wendell Middle School on Tuesday on his first day of eighth-grade.
He was found dead by two students, prompting school officials to send everyone home, claiming there was a 'medical crisis.'
Pendergrass' family has now confirmed he died of suicide after years of bullying.
'The signs were there, but the bullying it was so bad,' his grieving mother, Jessica Pendergrass told WNCN, revealing he had been bullied since he was in sixth-grade.
'It was so bad last year with kids just taunting him, hurting him,' family friend Jalia Harris said in a video taken at a vigil Wednesday night.
He was able to enjoy the summer, his mom told WRAL, but as soon as he went back to school on Tuesday, the bullying started again.
'It's sad for us,' Harris said in the video, 'but this should be an eye-opener for everyone.'
'Just teach your kids to be kind, because kids can be so cruel,' Jessica Pendergrass added.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
“A good ass kicking works.”
Especially when it is directed toward select teachers and principals!
I agree. Mom had a responsibility to get the kid out of there.
Nope, didn't make before the "beat-up the bully" fantasy freepers shit on this kid.
I think she was saying to try not to raise bullies (not that her target audience will listen)
Of course. They were taught full spectrum morality from the Christian perspective.
I also taught them to shoot, use hand and machine tools, and all sorts of other things. Both boys and girls got that treatment.
All five of those little pukes are adults out on their own now.
Time for wrongful death suit.
How many times were you hospitalized?
One of mine- the worst was Kg teacher. Teachers can be bullies. Hello. I took the kid out in two days. Out of another school next year. They teachers let her wander the parking lot after school 6 years old bed neighborhood
Outttt!!!
Home school
I tell kids - girls do not have a family with a guy who cannot provide so you can stay home w the kids if you need to or want to
Period. Otherwise you’re slaves to your boss
My boss was my kids.
Private school, public. Catholic. All the rounds
You have no leverage if they don’t think you’ll pull your kid and your 30k out
1st day of HS the report of a bully. Principal the next day stealth visit the kid still doesn’t know The victim cannot know the parent went to bat. The other kids would be ruthless. Principal said thanks for telling me- Did
the principal want to know details. Nope
Next day kid was expelled. I think it was do you want Tge kid expelled? Or do you want to pull him out?
Otherwise we would have gone
The principal knew they had to choose. Keep the bully or the victim. That’s all. No emotion. No excuses. Choose one or the other. Now.
I ao not know. There are no words for this, there is no way the awful pain will ever really go away for mom, dad, sister, etc, The people who were responsible most likely thought of it as just ‘fun’. Casual cruelty is such an easy thing to get into. But this is just beyond tragic and into a universe of meaningless cruelty for its own sake.
If only this boy had had a father at home.
When I was a kid, bullying was just a part of life at school. Some kids are just jerks. I never heard of anyone killing themselves over it though. Society seems to be raising kids who aren’t very robust mentally.
Today?
It’s been going on for decades to people who have been paying attention.
I was getting into street fights at my bus stop in 1982 with kids. What made them stop bullying me was when I took a baseball bat to the head of a 5th grader.
It was a different world then.
No parent should send their kid back to a school where he has been relentlessly bullied. I can’t imagine sending a kid back into that.
I had a real bully in grade school i got the last laugh 35 years latter i had an affair with his wife
what exactly did he do ???
25 years bad math
As they get older, I would imagine the kids who did the bullying might be a bit scared to sleep at night, knowing that they took the life of a 13 year old who had his entire life ahead of him and had probably done them no wrong of any type. Very sad.
I can’t figure out why she didn’t pull him out of there...but still...the kids who are responsible should face consequences of some sort. This is HORRIBLE.
That is my question.
You are suppose to protect your children. Sending them into a place where you know they are tormented is just wrong.
Yes, something is wrong with these kids and also schools. These cases keep happening repeatedly.
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