(Photo credit: GoFundMe)
Many bullying stories involve children bullying other children for a number of reasons including differences, body changes, self-esteem issues, etc. But according to one lawsuit, a bunch of teachers and administrators bullied an 11-year-old boy to the point of committing suicide.
Chicago Public School teachers allegedly bullied fourth-grader, Jamari Dent, relentlessly over a period of time. Dent is a special-needs student who attempted suicide earlier this year due to their bullying, according to a recent lawsuit.
Dent tried to hang himself in February 2019 after a more than a year of chronic and violent bullying at the hands of students and staff members at two Chicago schools, according to the suit.
Jamari, who attended Evers Elementary before transferring to Woodson Elementary, survived the Feb. 18 suicide attempt, but the incident left him with permanent brain damage and other life-threatening injuries.
Tierra Black, the young boy’s mother, said he’s still hospitalized and using a ventilator to breathe. Doctors say he will more likely have to be on that ventilator for the rest of life. She said she begged teachers, school officials and the school district to protect her son, but her complaints were ignored.
“They were causing the bullying,” Black told ABC Chicago station WLS. “It started with the teachers, what went on with my son. There is no reason my son should be lying in a hospital bed. I asked for help. And I never get it. I never get it.”
Additionally, Black said there was an instance back in December where Jamari has been jumped in class causing bruises on his face. There was also a time his teacher grabbed him and scratched his arm.
“My son told me he wished he died four months ago,” Black told Fox News. “He’s tired of the teachers messing with him.”
Chicago Public Schools expressed their concern on the issue. Spokesman Michael Passman said, “This is a horrible tragedy, and the thoughts and prayers of the Chicago Public Schools community are with Jamari and his loved ones. The allegations that have been made are highly concerning, and the district is conducting a full investigation.”
The lawsuit claims the abuse only got worse after Black transferred her son. She said three teachers physically assaulted him on separate occasions: one teacher allegedly grabbed him by the neck and struck his face, and another allegedly choked him and rammed his head into a wall.
“With his and his mother’s continued pleas for relief to teachers and administrators ignored, J.D. saw no other way to stop the pain than to go into his bedroom, close the door, tie a bed sheet around his neck and hang himself on a coat hook,” according to the lawsuit, which identifies the boy only by his initials. “His suicide attempt was the result of over a year of chronic bullying and…
… violent conduct at the hands of teachers and students at Evers Elementary and then Woodson Elementary.”
Throughout the news, nowadays you hear more and more about bullying. Recent studies have shown an increase in suicide among Black youths over the past few years. A study published in the journal JAMA Pediatrics in 2018 also found that suicide rates for African-American children aged 5-12 were roughly twice as high of those of similarly-aged white children.
In the meantime, a GoFundMe campaign has been set up to help with Jamari’s medical expenses.
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