Often times, well-intentioned parents shield their children from the realities of life. Understanding the difference between protecting your kids from the real world, and preparing them, is a fine line parents must learn to walk. We all want to see our kids succeed in school, in sports, and in life. But we often parent in ways that can stunt maturity. Knowing when to protect kids from harm and when to allow them to fail, will protect them from devastating consequences in the real world. This unfortunate family mourned after their 10-year-old daughter, IsabeIIa, took her own life just days after she told her mother 6 chilling words.
The mother reportedly told her family that she was bullied at school. The poor child made her family aware of the fact that she was being picked on by other children. PauIa, IsabeIIa’s grandmother, said: “We are going to be her voice, we are going to ring this bell as loud as we can because we are going to stop this bullying. That little girl had spark, that little girl had hopes and dreams.” The girl’s family say the 10-year-old reported being “belittled and bullied” at school.
“As any parent would, we reported this abuse to her teachers, the school administration, and the district administration,” IsabeIIa’s mom, Britany, said “Nothing. Nothing was done to protect her. Children did not have their behavior corrected so the torment of this child continued day after day.” Britany also explained that there had been no signs that her daughter was planning to take her own life. “I didn’t know she thought like that, I was so involved with her at school,” she said. Isabella’s grandfather, Gregory, reportedly said: “She had told her mom ‘she loved her and she loved God’ and that was the last time they spoke. Then she was found.”
“You don’t know what a child is going through mentally.” The School District, meanwhile, released a a statement promising to investigate the allegations of bullying: “We, like everyone, are devastated by the death of this child. Our hearts go out to the family. FES has worked extensively with the family and will continue to provide help to them and others impacted by this tragedy. We take all incidents and reports of bullying seriously. At this point, the incident we are aware of involved another student. The teacher and administration responded quickly and appropriately. As with all allegations of bullying, our investigation will continue.”
