Randi Kaye | BIO
AC360° Correspondent
Editor's note: Bullying is in our schools, and it's online. Why do kids do it? What can be done to put an end to it? Don't miss an "AC360°" special report in collaboration with PEOPLE Magazine, "Bullying: No Escape," all this week at 10 p.m. ET on CNN.
(CNN) – At age 13, Hope Witsell struggled in middle school. Not because her class work at Shields Middle School in Ruskin, Florida, was challenging, but because Hope was being bullied.
Her friend, Kyla Stich, told CNN that fellow students would "walk up to her and call her 'slut,' 'whore,' and they would sometimes, they would call her 'skank' and just be really cruel to her."
Another friend, Lexi Leber, said, "We had to make like a wall, we had people surrounding her, and she had to be in the middle because people would come by and try to hit her and push her into a locker or something.
"She was afraid to walk alone, she was afraid someone would do something to her, like verbally attack her, so she would always have someone with her," Leber added.
This all started in the spring of 2009 during the last week of school.
Friends and family say Hope had "sexted" a picture of her breasts to her boyfriend. Another girl from school, they say, got her hands on the photo and sent it to students at six different schools in the area.
Before Hope could do anything to stop it, that photo had gone viral.
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My neice goes to this school and was constantly being bullying. Even though my she would go and tell the principal about what was going on. She was being picked on, was called all kinds name, being threatened. They would do nothing to help her. It got to the point where she is now transferring to another school because of this. After what happened with Hope Witsell commiting suicide you think they would be aggressively trying to prevent something like this happening to other kids but they're not. No child should have to go through this. I hear Principal Anna Voida and her administration let the kids control the school. Something needs to be done with this staff!
This is so sad, heartbreaking.
I experienced bullying as a child and it left its mark, i missed alot of school, i just wouldn't go, i would hide somewhere till school was over, when i look back, i still cannot understand why anyone could be so cruel, why would so many wait for me after school, even the school didn't do much, they'd talk to them, but it made it worse.
Hi;
This bullying sickens me. I am a nurse of 30yrs within the Psychiatric population and presently Corrections/Psychiatry.
I personally feel technology has contributed to the easy availability to "bully" someone.
The cell phones, texting, webcams, phones that take pictures – Facebook is my biggest complaint.
Tell these kids to shut their cell phones off – Only use them to talk to people they need in an emergency.
GET OFF Facebook. People at work have bug me to "get on Facebook" I will not until I retire
I have watched co-worker's – bring up pictures to show me – which I know the person would not want to show to the world – yet they were acceppted as a "friend"
Tell these kid's – just go back to basics – If someone really wants to talk to you or see you – they will find you.
Their life will be so much easier if they just shut those phones – whatever off – go and enjoy life.
Meet people face to face – those are your true friends – Bully's get to hide under the "web" Do not have the pride to speak to you face to face.
Thanks
Nancy
I will never understand what possesses people to exert their force onto other people. Why is it so important to have that kind of control over another human being. It's cruel and has real consequences. We all need to teach out kids how to deal with both ends of bullying. How to deal when being bullied and how to avoid becoming a bully. I think it's in the parenting. Parents should know that your children are what you teach them to be, both through example and acceptance of their behavior. I really hope that the parents of the kids who bullied hope understand the part they had in this.
This story mad me cry. Are people this cruel? She was only 13. 13, she had her whole life infront of her. I just want to know why the teachers didn't notice? How could they not see Hope being pushed around in the hallways?
Why didn't her friends stand up and talk to a higher authority? This could have been prevented. Another question I have to ask is, why was Hope the only one getting suspended? She was the one being harassed everyday, and not one teacher helped her. Some people don't always know how to stand up for themselves. They need other people to give them alittle help. PS. The parents should have been contacted immediately after, they found the cuts on her. All she needed was someone to stand up for her, and help her realize her own importance.
One way we can stop bullies – PICTURES! We need to start posting PICTURES of the people who are bullying! Everywhere! They are so brave when they are not known outside of their school and have plenty of backup – If their pictures were posted online so we can all see them they might not be so brave and "cool".
What do we expect to happen...kids live in a world today where pretty much everything that they are exposed to (tv, radio, social networking) promotes cruelty and rewards arrogance. People being kind to one another is rarely ever seen on tv or in the papers.
Laws won't fix this problem and we shouldn't defer to the legal system to fix a problem that is easily cured.
Parents, stand up to your children, tell them "no". Take back control. Remind them that they are chidlren subject to your rules. Teach them that every action they take impacts someone else. Teach them that the person that they are picking on is a human being.
First of all, let me express my condolences to the family members of the victims. My heart goes out to them deeply. I have to say this and some people may not like it. What is going on with our young people committing suicide these days? When I was in middle school, I too was teased/bullied. But I never ever contemplated killing myself. I thought of other constructive ways of combating those bullies by studying martial arts, boxing, etc. at the local community center. I built my self esteem up to learn to ignore ignorance and I finally felt at peace. To all the youth out there thinking about suicide, DON'T DO IT! Your too young to think you have the whole world on your shoulders. Enjoy and cherish life!
Perhaps the time has come to stop protecting young kids because of their age. If they are proven to have bullied another child, the bully should be held accountable and punished in proportion to the harm done to the victom.
As a former bully, I can confess it was all about protecting my own weak self esteem. I recall beating other kids up when I was 5. It turned from physical to verbal around 9th grade. It wasn't until I developed my own healthy self esteem that I learned to put that crap away for good.
It is learned behavior. We get smacked around (physically or verbally or both) when we're little. It makes us feel small, worthless, and afraid. We see the other side of that interaction as bigger, stronger, more in control, and so we make the mental leap that in order for us to feel bigger, stronger, and more in control we need to be on the delivering end of the beatings.
Once we find ways to feel strong and secure through means other than verbal or physical beatings, we begin to attach our self esteem to those (more healthy) things and can break the cycle of harrassing & beating people around us.
The only regret I have in life (even in light of all my stupid decisions) is of those times when my words or actions brought hurt to other people.
peace,
-mike
How did the parents react when they found out about the picture? Of course, they were upset but did they say to her, "Ok, now that the damage is done, what is going on with you? Let's try to fix this together." That could have given her the confidence to stand up to the immature children. This story is upsetting on so many levels, this has me worried about my own children.