'I want to die': 8-year-old victim of bullying leaves heartbreaking letter to her mother
"Not one kid in the world should feel the way I feel when I get bullied," 8-year-old wrote in a handwritten note.
An eight- year-old schoolgirl from Tuebrook, Liverpool has left a heartbreaking handwritten note for her mother, wherein she admitted to being a victim of bullying and that she wanted to die.
Mum-of-two Naomi O'Neill was devastated after she found the note at the bottom of her eldest daughter Millie's bed.
She told the Liverpool Echo that Millie had been bullied for weeks, with one of the bullies telling her that he would "slaughter" her family. According to the mother, Millie is so afraid that she has tried harming herself in a bid to skip school and stay back home.
The heartbreaking content of the schoolgirl's letter reads, "I am sad because I think it is not fair, because they just keep on bullying me and the way it makes me feel."
She continued, "Not one kid in the world should feel the way I feel when I get bullied. It makes me sad, I feel different, weird, not important, angry, dumb and hurt. There is a lot more but I don't want to write it."
On the other side it says, "Please help me stop getting bullied."
Ms O'Neill spoke to The Liverpool Echo about her daughter's bullying ordeal and the note she left. The mum-of-two said, "I went in to make her bed and I found the note at the bottom of the bed. I couldn't believe it. You could tell it's been written in a rush as if she's panicking, she usually has beautiful handwriting, it was as though she just couldn't face school.
"I sat her down and asked her what was wrong and she told me about the bullying - she just said 'I want to die'. You don't expect to hear things like that from an eight-year-old girl," the Liverpool mum explained recalling her daughter's heart-breaking words.
Naomi has also noticed worrying changes in her daughter's behaviour, such as going off her food, not wanting to wear certain clothes, and wanting to alter her appearance.
Head of Lister Junior School, Simon King, was "shocked" upon hearing about the note. King said, "We are shocked, saddened and obviously really concerned about the note. We met with mum earlier today to discuss the issue and she informed us that she wishes for Millie to go to another school, which is very sad as only last Thursday she told a member of our staff how happy Millie was at the present time."
"We take bullying extremely seriously and although there have been a couple of minor disagreements with her classmates since she joined us in September 2016, they have always been sorted out amicably," he assured.
According to statistics by National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children [NSPCC], there were over 24,000 childline counselling sessions with children about bullying in 2016/17 and more than 16,000 young people are absent from school due to bullying.
The Samaritans provides a free support service for those who need to talk to someone in the UK and Republic of Ireland. Visit Samaritans.org or call 116 123 (UK) or 116 123 (ROI), 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Visit this website to find a support phone number in your country.
If you or someone you know is suffering from depression, please contact a free support service atMind.org.uk or call 0300 123 3393 (charges apply).
