This is heartbreaking. An 8 year shouldn't even be knowing about the concept of suicide. Can't even begin to imagine what the thoughts this sweet sweet boy would be having in the moments leading to it. Rip sweet angel.
https://www.fox19.com/2020/12/29/family-yo-cps-student-who-died-by-suicide-wins-key-court-battle/
The school failed the child on literally every level. They are just as liable as the bullies and I hope every one of them that knew about the bullying lost their jobs and pension. They actively lied to his mother about the bullying, refused to let her review video footage and downplayed his injuries. And the one documented time he fought back he was reprimanded. Truly vile and disgusting people.
Tbf if my 8 year old son came home once with the injuries described in the article I’d pull my kid out of that school immediately. Let alone multiple times. Don’t care to hear about means to do it either, this is your child. You figure it the fuck out.
That’s true. The story that got me though was the kid being knocked out on the bathroom floor for 7 minutes and the school nurse just saying he fainted but was fine.
Which is wild because fainting for 7 minutes should be an immediate 911 call. Healthy people don’t faint for an extended amount of time like that. I have a condition known for fainting and my doctor wants to see me if I stay down longer than 30 seconds.
Have you seen Season 2 of True Detective? Bullying happened to Colin Farrell’s son and Colin Ferrell (who was a police detective) went to the kid’s house and beat the crap out of the dad.
While I can understand it. In situations like that it could also lead to that dad either beating his wife or kid or him going to Colin with a gun.
So violence is a human response but also might spiral. Subjectively especially today.
There’s more than one side to everything but I completely get what you’re saying. It seems like this mom may not have been given the decency of knowing what was going on with her child.
Some kid choked my kid out at school and hit his head against a wall and we raised hell to protect him. Our kid also came home and told us what happened and we believed him and followed up.
When I was about that age, I didnt know what suicide as a word but I remember getting in a whole heap of trouble for saying I wanted to get hit by a car and die. I knew it wanted to go out myself, I knew what it meant to die. But the word definitely didn't exist for me back then. I just wanted to escape the pain.
It's just a feeling you have. For me it started around 11. I just wanted to experience nothing. I just wanted to sleep forever. I'm lucky I made it through.
Thank you so much. I'm finally happy about it too. I want people to know there is a way through this. I feel devastated for the people that are suffering with these feelings.
A child, at only 8 years old, shouldn't even have thoughts like that. Even if they had some sort of feeling, like you said, they wouldn't know what they were or what to do about them. This kid was failed at every level in his life.
I know all about suicidal thoughts but you were also 3 years old than this kid. That's a huge number at that age. You were hopefully, way past this kid, in your emotional development. A child at the age of 8, should not ever have any type of suicidal ideations, and they should definitely not act on them. They shouldn't even know how to act on them.
I was under 8, which I remember because my parents were still married. I didn’t know the word suicide, but I knew that I wanted to die and could accomplish it by smothering myself with blankets and being unable to breathe. I didn’t want to suffer any more doctors or bullying. I was so tired. My dad told me to go ahead and do it then. I’m glad I didn’t, also glad that I don’t speak to the man anymore.
3 years means nothing when you're being bullied at school and you go home and get abused by your family.
Took me 30 years to move through those thoughts.
No child should ever have these thoughts. You believe an 11 year old trying to drown themselves is in a better situation?
You cannot develop emotionally if you are surviving every day. I'm not saying this isn't tragic. But NOBODY should feel like they need to hurt themselves. It goes against our human instinct.
Was your original question rhetorical? You said you can't understand how a child can even think like this. I'm telling you exactly how. You can't imagine it. So I'm helping. I think you should feel blessed that you have nothing to contribute.
You're acting like you're the only person who knows about this. My brother was locked down when he was 9 years old. I know all about the mental health field. I don't understand what you think you're contributing.
I truly believe in this having early childhood education background and being a parent and aunt to many children. My instinct tells me a bully told him to kill himself and even went past that by telling him HOW to do it. This was said to him in the most belittling way possible.
I was 8 the first time I tried to kill myself. I’m in my mid 30s now. I tried to drown myself in the bathtub. Glad I didn’t succeed. I was raised in the US, loved but in a broken home, otherwise relatively sheltered. I can remember saying things like, “I wish I’d never been born!” Or wanting to go to sleep and never wake up for as long as I can remember. I’ve been in therapy since 1st or 2nd grade. Sometimes it’s purely chemical and it’s just exacerbated by situational circumstances.
I feel so badly for this kid.
Rest in peace, Gabriel.
The thought process can be as simple as “I want to disappear. Well, grandma died and she disappeared.” Plus, we spend a lot of time teaching kids how not to die by avoiding drowning, injuries, cars, etc. A child that wants to disappear can use that knowledge and they may not even realize it’s permanent if they don’t fully grasp the concept of death yet.
I recently found my diary from when I was around 8/9 and I had written suicide letters in it to my family members. I was a chunky kid and did get bullied. I think at that age I couldn’t comprehend that things would change or that I would change. We just don’t have the brain development at that age to think about future repercussions. Still though, I can’t imagine being able to go through with it at that age either. My heart just breaks reading this and looking at his sweet face. Precious boy, I’m so sorry.
Fellow chunky kid. I was 9 and staring at the road near my school, thinking about running into traffic to get hit by a car. I'm happy you're still around 💜
I’m thrilled to know you are too. Being a kid is freaking hard. I hope I’m doing my nieces and nephews justice but man… I don’t know who or what could have gotten me out of my own head at that age
Gosh everyone who replied- you are all wonderful and I’m glad you’re also still on this planet to help others out and just to live your best lives. Being a kid is hard, it gives me such hope to know so many good humans exist. All
the love and happiness to you all, sincerely.
I grew up abused at home and bullied at school. I was around 9 when I left a suicide note in my desk at school. The only reason I stuck around was because I didn't want my siblings to be alone at home with our abusive parents. Life is better for us now, though. I know there are some very young people on reddit, so I will say to hang in there if for no other reason than spite. It really does get better with time and lots and lots of therapy.
Day by day. You, too! It does always get better, but the wait the last few years for that better has been too long. I’ve been finding awe in a local park where I can get “lost” amongst large old trees and just soak in the outdoors. It’s incredibly healing but I haven’t made the effort enough. We’re in dark times,
It’s hard when you’re not alone, but are at the same time. When those closest to you don’t understand - it feels very much like being alone. I have a family who loves me and children who’d be indelibly scarred which has kept me alive more than once. After a suicide, the chances of more in the family has always been on my mind and kept me here. It’s a beautiful life and we all need to keep reminding ourselves of that however that happens for each of us. ♥️ Thanks for the love everybody.
Its not that clear, but children express the feeling that their parents would have been happier if they died. Its also often connected to high pace of life of adults.
And that’s the major turning point in suicidal ideation that is very tough to come back from: Once distorted thinking sets in and people *genuinely believe* that their loved ones will be better off without them?
Shoot…Forget about it… That’s hard to come back from.
I read an entire book on suicide called “Night Falls Fast” and that crossing over into a space where you actually believe the world will be better off really is THE turning point from ideation to actual attempt.
A kid doesn't have the emotional tools to deal with stressful things like bullying or parents' neglect/abuse, they just know that it's painful and that they cannot stand it. So not really a surprise if they develop suicidal thoughts as alternative
I did not know what suicide was until I was much older. My mother explained it to me. At an early age, some people died from suicide. I was quite inquisitive. At that age, my main focus was having a good dinner, lunch and snacks! Catch some good cartoons and going outside!
I work at a school. In one of our mental health awareness trainings the facilitator talked about children this age and their understanding of Santa, the tooth fairly, etc. That’s when it really hit me how young these children are and how they perceive things and it made it even sadder :(
When I was 4y/o I wrote my parents a note that I was going to the "woods to get ded" and slipped it under their door while they were sleeping. Mommy told me she found it when she woke up, raced to find me, and I was just playing with my toys like nothing. When asked, they couldn't get my reasoning for the note, I had already forgotten or just didn't want to say ("I don't know" was my answer).
Also, games online frequently encourage said behavior. I have a girlfriend whose son was 8 and the same thing happened, but it was after being sent a tutorial on hanging. The stuff you see teaching will make you realize that by kindergarten, the already labeled troubled students having fits are yelling things like “I wish I was dead” and the teacher is just having to document it because the kid says it frequently when they get in trouble. Has a domino effect and I wish more parents were aware.
I tried to hang myself at 9. Personally, after being religiously indoctrinated, I believed a just god would forgive me and let me be somewhere where I would be happy and where I would not be bullied. I did not understand the implication that what would’ve probably happened would’ve been a devastated family and an eternity of nothingness
I was diagnosed with major depression at around his age, and this is also when the bullying got bad for me and when the suicidal ideation started. Kids, even younger, can start to think of suicide. And at the time, I don't think I even understood that I was being bullied, because to me, bullying was hitting me and pushing me around, not isolating me and whispering under their breath and giggling whenever I was around, moving away from me if I came too close, so if any adult asked if I was getting bullied, I would say no. I just thought there was something fundamentally wrong with me that everyone else knew about.
My heart hurts for this young boy and for his family, so, so much.
I went through a depression when I was around 8 or 9 years old and of course I didn't know at the time that's what it was, and suicide did not come to mind per se, but I can say now as an adult I'm 52 reflecting back on it, i wouldve been considered clinically depressed had a doctor seen me. But my depressive thoughts I completely internalized my parents would have had no clue that anything was wrong. And little kids nowadays are probably exposed to Concepts they shouldn't be.. But I too am struggling with this concept of kids so small even thinking about taking their own lives.
I don't claim to have suffered anywhere close to this little boy. But I must say that I have never seen people as evil as some other kids through my childhood. When adults are evil, I can usually make sense of it, how it benefits them, why they do it. Children like that, on the other hand, always seem to be evil just for the enjoyment of it. Cruelty for the sake of cruelty.
I'm not even sure if "evil" really is a thing. It sounds silly. But those eyes I've seen on some kids in kindergarten and elementary school, I don't think I've seen since. I've thought a lot about it throughout my life. The best explanation I have is that it's the first time those kids experience what it's like to have power over someone else, and they don't have any moral qualms yet over exercising that power.
Yes. When I was a child, my bullies were sometimes incredibly cruel, and it was sort of dehumanizing, like it's not that they didn't consider my feelings but that they regarded me even less than an ant under their feet. They just enjoyed my suffering for the hell of it. Adults can be like this too, but it's more rare to be this blatant and unabashed imo
And worst of all, no one is going to fucking arrest a child for doing that. Adults at least already have a set of laws dedicated to stopping and punishing their cruelty, and most of the time they wouldn't do it cause they understand the severity of their actions, and they value something else over minute sadism
It would be a miracle if the bullies' parents were decent, upright people that try to teach their kids out of bullying, but for kids like that, it's most likely their parents are just neglectful/abusive or straight up enable such actions. And adults don't have a proper way to stop such actions without exercising force, and even that can be risky. Touching a bully with entitled parents may just be the ticket for some teachers to lose their job
It's not that easy tbh. One of my biggest bullies through hs was a boy who had type I diabetes and his parents loved him to death. The exact problem was that nothing was ever his fault, due to his illness he could get away with almost everything at home, and at school it really showed. I don't think bullies are always victims themselves, I feel like sometimes people just like the power and feeling big and strong compared to their victims.
Yes. By 4th grade I remember telling my mom I wanted to die, as I was bullied pretty badly in school. I went to a rich white kid school as a brown middle class girl and it was hell. No kid should want to die. I would never wish my experience on another
My first suicide attempt was at about five or six years old. I tried to drown myself in my aunt and uncle's swimming pool. I don't remember the reasoning, but I do remember the thoughts of "I'm gonna go swim to the deep end and drown". My sister and cousin were both with me and my sister swam to get me once they saw me struggling in the deeper side of the pool. I haven't actually told anyone in my family about the fact it was intentional, they just think it was an accident
[Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death for kids](https://www.cwla.org/increased-suicide-rates-among-children-aged-5-to-11-years-in-the-u-s/) between the ages of FIVE and eleven in the US.
Our society has a full on disease.
It is so heartbreaking to know that someone that young would take his own life. When I was 8 I just wanted to get home to watch my favorite cartoons or play outside with my friends. Suicide wasn't anything I knew about until I was a teenager. Suicide is such an important subject to me. To me it's the most horrible way to die. You should never feel like there is no other way. RIP to him and I hope his family finds some kind of peace with everything.
I got bullied for my voice growing up. Rlly fucked with me growing up everyone saying I sounded high. Made me not ever want to talk tbh and I honestly don’t unless I feel comfortable
I'm sorry. It sucks that these childhood traumas have the power to follow you forever like that. I hope you find a way to let it go and feel safe using your voice.
That baby should not have known about suicide at his age. His family are in my heart during this troubling time. Yall, ask your kids about their day and please listen to them. I couldn’t imagine losing my child to suicide because other kids are assholes for no reason.
And this is why as a parent of a 5 month old if my child is bullied ill take matters into my own hands. Teach my girl self defense and have her deal with it. She will never get in trouble for ending an encounter with a bully. Idc if she gets suspended. I am not putting my faith in a school to protect my child when this happens over and over again
Ive become desensitized to a lot of fucked up shit on this app, but I can’t deal with these stories of kids taking their own lives. I cant look at these beaming pictures of theirs thinking about what happened to them and what they chose to do.
There was that poor 10 year old boy that made news online around a month ago too that took his life after being bullied too. Looked like the sweetest little dude in the world. Boils my fucking blood how these schools and adults time and time again fail these poor kids and enable their abusers. I cant stand it man
So infuriating. Also, the mother fought in court since 2017, not only having to deal with the loss of her son but with a relentless system that denied help for him.
My heart is broken. That poor, poor innocent angel.
I’m about to be 46. I was bullied all through elementary and high school. I have crippling anxiety, depression and PTSD. I barely leave the house. As someone who goes out of their way to make others feel good, I don’t understand why kids (and some adults) are like this.
The boy even got reprimanded for fighting back and defending himself. The same usual story. It's so fucked up.
If this happens in my country, the bullies and their families would already have gotten their names exposed on the internet. Fuck bullies.
I don’t know how bullying is around the world but it is bad in the US. And it seems the bullies have all the rights and the bullied are somehow supposed to just deal with it.
Which they do — by suicide. A life gone too soon because the people empowered to do anything did not.
Stories like this make me sick to my stomach. This poor baby had his entire life ahead of him and made a permanent spur of the moment decision out of fear and hopelessness. Schools need better ways to deal with this sort of thing because it seems like suicide victims are getting younger and younger due to bullying. We dealt with bullying twice when my son was the same age as this boy. He had a kid in class who made the mistake of messaging my son on his Xbox cussing and threatening him. As soon as I read it I printed everything out and took it straight to the school and the school called the kid's parents and had us all meet together. Surprisingly the parents were nothing like their kid and they were very sweet and understanding and told us right in front of their son that it's not okay what he was saying and we never had another issue with him again. Kids shouldn't have to be scared to go to school, it's infuriating. My son was never scared but I had knots in my stomach every day wondering how far the other kid's threats were going to go. I've never been in a fight or dealt with bullying but I witnessed a ton of fights starting in middle school and it's always been something I didn't want to happen to my son. I was friends with a girl who was jumped in high school and she got knocked out after being slammed head first into a locker and suffered permanent brain damage, she still talks very slowly. A kid in my middle school was jumped and beat with locks. At the time, my school had carpeted hallways and classrooms, the blood stained the hallway carpet and was there the rest of the year.
it's hard to wrap my brain around it. that a child so young would even know what the S-word is. i have so many questions. will Google this story now.
this is so sad. lil man was probably an empath and would've grow up to be an amazing adult but won't get the chance because of bullies tearing him down everyday. tragic all the way around
I have an eight-year-old daughter. There were older kids relentlessly bullying her on the school bus to the point where she would come home in tears every day. I called to school principal and the transportation after the first day it happened, and on the following day it continue to happen so I called the supervisor for the whole school district to make sure something got done about it. Schools don't care.
The fact a child so young felt a pain so deep to take his own life is devastating and destroys me.
Children can be so cruel and not even realize the consequences of those actions. I hope this boy is at peace.
8 year olds shouldn’t even know what suicide is! Everyone failed this little boy. I hope his soul gets reincarnated into a baby born into an amazing family full of endless love and happiness
This is so tragic. How does an 8 year old even comprehend/know about suicide in the first place.
Also, hard to not feel like this child was let down by the adults in his life, particularly parents/guardians. I would imagine this child was never talked to about loving himself, no matter what anyone says. Did nobody ever talk with him about the idea of resiliency? About confidence? How about bullying in general…the reasons why weaker people do it to others to mask their own insecurities?
We really NEED to teach children today to be stronger, and give them the reasons why. The world is a tough place…yes, even potentially when you are as young as 8. Let’s give children the tools they need to navigate this space.
RIP little one.
I was in elementary school in the 90's and one of my classmates tried to kill himself by eating stuff he was allergic to on purpose.
Talking and bumper sticker mottos doesn't solve everything.
8 years old is far too young to make such a irreversible decision. This is insane that he even knows this is an option: to opt out. Our society is messed up beyond all repair. That poor young soul…
Fuck, they're getting younger and younger by the day. Like they're kids for fuck's sakes, they shouldn't know how to end their life, let alone feel like they should.
As someone who lost someone they loved and cared for to suicide, my deepest condolences to his family. I miss and love you everyday, can't believe it's going to be 10 years without you in my life; life has not been right since we lost your beautiful kind soul, till we meet again my love.
Only eight?! wtf…there should be zero tolerance in all schools for bullying, even though kids find a way. Parents need to strongly instill human decency in their kids!
This is an unfathomable tragedy. He had his whole life ahead of him!! What a horrible loss.
This is so heartbreaking. It's so unnecessary. This little boy felt cornered and didn't see a way out. I wonder if his parents knew if they tried to help him? Now they have to go on living with the fact that this is what happened this poor little boy he was so beautiful.
THIS KILLS ME, AT THAT AGE ,WHY IS THERE BULLYING GOING... THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE PARENTS OF BULLIES... IF YOUR GONNA BE A PARENT,TEACH YOUR KIDS TO LOVE THE DIFFERENCE IN OTHERS, NO ONE IS BETTER THAN ANYONE... ALSO PARENTS STOP GIVING KIDS PHONE AND TABLETS AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE...GO OUT DO STUFF WITH YOUR KIDS.. MAKE TIME OR DONT HAVE THEM.. CHILDREN THIS YOUNG SHOULDNT HAVE TO WORY ABOUT BEING TREATED SO BAD.. YOUNG HANDSOME BOY GONE WAY WAY TO SOON.. I PRAY FOR HIM AND HIS PARENTS
This is heartbreaking. An 8 year shouldn't even be knowing about the concept of suicide. Can't even begin to imagine what the thoughts this sweet sweet boy would be having in the moments leading to it. Rip sweet angel.
https://www.fox19.com/2020/12/29/family-yo-cps-student-who-died-by-suicide-wins-key-court-battle/ The school failed the child on literally every level. They are just as liable as the bullies and I hope every one of them that knew about the bullying lost their jobs and pension. They actively lied to his mother about the bullying, refused to let her review video footage and downplayed his injuries. And the one documented time he fought back he was reprimanded. Truly vile and disgusting people.
What? Horrific, is there an ongoing criminal case about this?
No criminal charges were ever filed.
Updates https://www.nytimes.com/2021/06/05/us/gabriel-taye-cincinnati-bullying.html https://www.cincinnati.com/story/news/education/2022/11/21/carson-elementary-school-installs-gabe-taye-memorial-bench-cincinnati/69667957007/
Our negligence played a huge role in your son’s death. But we hope this bench helps. CPS is such a joke.
Tbf if my 8 year old son came home once with the injuries described in the article I’d pull my kid out of that school immediately. Let alone multiple times. Don’t care to hear about means to do it either, this is your child. You figure it the fuck out.
That’s true. The story that got me though was the kid being knocked out on the bathroom floor for 7 minutes and the school nurse just saying he fainted but was fine.
Which is wild because fainting for 7 minutes should be an immediate 911 call. Healthy people don’t faint for an extended amount of time like that. I have a condition known for fainting and my doctor wants to see me if I stay down longer than 30 seconds.
Have you seen Season 2 of True Detective? Bullying happened to Colin Farrell’s son and Colin Ferrell (who was a police detective) went to the kid’s house and beat the crap out of the dad.
IN FRONT OF THE FAMILY. I don’t condone this but… I’ll bet his son wasn’t harassed anymore.
While I can understand it. In situations like that it could also lead to that dad either beating his wife or kid or him going to Colin with a gun. So violence is a human response but also might spiral. Subjectively especially today.
Very good point here.
There’s more than one side to everything but I completely get what you’re saying. It seems like this mom may not have been given the decency of knowing what was going on with her child. Some kid choked my kid out at school and hit his head against a wall and we raised hell to protect him. Our kid also came home and told us what happened and we believed him and followed up.
And nothing will happen to them. No consequences
Yep. They’ll just settle it with millions of taxpayer dollars.
These type of people make me want to become a vigilante.
Watching the newcasters fuck up that boys name was infuriating. Fuck all the people that failed them. I hope his death haunts them.
I agree! I don’t even know how a child that young even knows the concept, let alone the means.
When I was about that age, I didnt know what suicide as a word but I remember getting in a whole heap of trouble for saying I wanted to get hit by a car and die. I knew it wanted to go out myself, I knew what it meant to die. But the word definitely didn't exist for me back then. I just wanted to escape the pain.
😢🌺
No kidding. I couldn't believe this either!! How does that little guy even know WTF suicide is?? This world is getting so crazy.
It's just a feeling you have. For me it started around 11. I just wanted to experience nothing. I just wanted to sleep forever. I'm lucky I made it through.
We’re glad you’re here!!
Thank you so much. I'm finally happy about it too. I want people to know there is a way through this. I feel devastated for the people that are suffering with these feelings.
A child, at only 8 years old, shouldn't even have thoughts like that. Even if they had some sort of feeling, like you said, they wouldn't know what they were or what to do about them. This kid was failed at every level in his life. I know all about suicidal thoughts but you were also 3 years old than this kid. That's a huge number at that age. You were hopefully, way past this kid, in your emotional development. A child at the age of 8, should not ever have any type of suicidal ideations, and they should definitely not act on them. They shouldn't even know how to act on them.
I was under 8, which I remember because my parents were still married. I didn’t know the word suicide, but I knew that I wanted to die and could accomplish it by smothering myself with blankets and being unable to breathe. I didn’t want to suffer any more doctors or bullying. I was so tired. My dad told me to go ahead and do it then. I’m glad I didn’t, also glad that I don’t speak to the man anymore.
3 years means nothing when you're being bullied at school and you go home and get abused by your family. Took me 30 years to move through those thoughts. No child should ever have these thoughts. You believe an 11 year old trying to drown themselves is in a better situation?
I never said anything like you're saying. 3 years at the ages of 8 and 11 is a huge difference in their emotional development.
You cannot develop emotionally if you are surviving every day. I'm not saying this isn't tragic. But NOBODY should feel like they need to hurt themselves. It goes against our human instinct.
Look, I'm sorry you had problems but quit making this about yourself.
Was your original question rhetorical? You said you can't understand how a child can even think like this. I'm telling you exactly how. You can't imagine it. So I'm helping. I think you should feel blessed that you have nothing to contribute.
You're acting like you're the only person who knows about this. My brother was locked down when he was 9 years old. I know all about the mental health field. I don't understand what you think you're contributing.
I truly believe in this having early childhood education background and being a parent and aunt to many children. My instinct tells me a bully told him to kill himself and even went past that by telling him HOW to do it. This was said to him in the most belittling way possible.
I was 8 the first time I tried to kill myself. I’m in my mid 30s now. I tried to drown myself in the bathtub. Glad I didn’t succeed. I was raised in the US, loved but in a broken home, otherwise relatively sheltered. I can remember saying things like, “I wish I’d never been born!” Or wanting to go to sleep and never wake up for as long as I can remember. I’ve been in therapy since 1st or 2nd grade. Sometimes it’s purely chemical and it’s just exacerbated by situational circumstances. I feel so badly for this kid. Rest in peace, Gabriel.
This type of thing makes me feel ill. The thought of suicide should never enter a child’s mind.
[удалено]
Developmentally 5 years is when kids become aware of death
How do they even know what to do?!
The thought process can be as simple as “I want to disappear. Well, grandma died and she disappeared.” Plus, we spend a lot of time teaching kids how not to die by avoiding drowning, injuries, cars, etc. A child that wants to disappear can use that knowledge and they may not even realize it’s permanent if they don’t fully grasp the concept of death yet.
I was in elementary school in the 90's and one of my classmates tried to kill himself by eating stuff he was allergic to on purpose.
I just don’t understand how someone who is basically still a baby would think to do that. I can’t even fathom what his family went through.
I recently found my diary from when I was around 8/9 and I had written suicide letters in it to my family members. I was a chunky kid and did get bullied. I think at that age I couldn’t comprehend that things would change or that I would change. We just don’t have the brain development at that age to think about future repercussions. Still though, I can’t imagine being able to go through with it at that age either. My heart just breaks reading this and looking at his sweet face. Precious boy, I’m so sorry.
Fellow chunky kid. I was 9 and staring at the road near my school, thinking about running into traffic to get hit by a car. I'm happy you're still around 💜
Used to grab my mom’s kitchen knives and think about how bad it would hurt to chop off the chub.
with you both. glad to see we are still here and that we were not alone in our thoughts. thanks
I’m thrilled to know you are too. Being a kid is freaking hard. I hope I’m doing my nieces and nephews justice but man… I don’t know who or what could have gotten me out of my own head at that age
As did I suffering from dyslexia & just feeling stupid & worthless. Happy you’re still here with us ♥️
Gosh everyone who replied- you are all wonderful and I’m glad you’re also still on this planet to help others out and just to live your best lives. Being a kid is hard, it gives me such hope to know so many good humans exist. All the love and happiness to you all, sincerely.
I grew up abused at home and bullied at school. I was around 9 when I left a suicide note in my desk at school. The only reason I stuck around was because I didn't want my siblings to be alone at home with our abusive parents. Life is better for us now, though. I know there are some very young people on reddit, so I will say to hang in there if for no other reason than spite. It really does get better with time and lots and lots of therapy.
Sorry to break it for you, but recently it has been noticed that even 3 year olds have suicidal thoughts.
I first tried to self harm at five or six.
Me too. My first “real” attempt was three days after I turned 12, but I was self harming long before that. I hope you’re doing okay. 💛
Day by day. You, too! It does always get better, but the wait the last few years for that better has been too long. I’ve been finding awe in a local park where I can get “lost” amongst large old trees and just soak in the outdoors. It’s incredibly healing but I haven’t made the effort enough. We’re in dark times,
That’s really sad. Hope you are doing better now.
I’m glad you’re still here with us. You are never alone.
It’s hard when you’re not alone, but are at the same time. When those closest to you don’t understand - it feels very much like being alone. I have a family who loves me and children who’d be indelibly scarred which has kept me alive more than once. After a suicide, the chances of more in the family has always been on my mind and kept me here. It’s a beautiful life and we all need to keep reminding ourselves of that however that happens for each of us. ♥️ Thanks for the love everybody.
Especially when they’re too young to understand the severity of their actions
Uh wut. How
Its not that clear, but children express the feeling that their parents would have been happier if they died. Its also often connected to high pace of life of adults.
And that’s the major turning point in suicidal ideation that is very tough to come back from: Once distorted thinking sets in and people *genuinely believe* that their loved ones will be better off without them? Shoot…Forget about it… That’s hard to come back from.
That is an excellent point.
I read an entire book on suicide called “Night Falls Fast” and that crossing over into a space where you actually believe the world will be better off really is THE turning point from ideation to actual attempt.
I need to slow down.
Oh my lord that’s so sad
A kid doesn't have the emotional tools to deal with stressful things like bullying or parents' neglect/abuse, they just know that it's painful and that they cannot stand it. So not really a surprise if they develop suicidal thoughts as alternative
I did not know what suicide was until I was much older. My mother explained it to me. At an early age, some people died from suicide. I was quite inquisitive. At that age, my main focus was having a good dinner, lunch and snacks! Catch some good cartoons and going outside!
I work at a school. In one of our mental health awareness trainings the facilitator talked about children this age and their understanding of Santa, the tooth fairly, etc. That’s when it really hit me how young these children are and how they perceive things and it made it even sadder :(
When I was 4y/o I wrote my parents a note that I was going to the "woods to get ded" and slipped it under their door while they were sleeping. Mommy told me she found it when she woke up, raced to find me, and I was just playing with my toys like nothing. When asked, they couldn't get my reasoning for the note, I had already forgotten or just didn't want to say ("I don't know" was my answer).
Also, games online frequently encourage said behavior. I have a girlfriend whose son was 8 and the same thing happened, but it was after being sent a tutorial on hanging. The stuff you see teaching will make you realize that by kindergarten, the already labeled troubled students having fits are yelling things like “I wish I was dead” and the teacher is just having to document it because the kid says it frequently when they get in trouble. Has a domino effect and I wish more parents were aware.
I tried to hang myself at 9. Personally, after being religiously indoctrinated, I believed a just god would forgive me and let me be somewhere where I would be happy and where I would not be bullied. I did not understand the implication that what would’ve probably happened would’ve been a devastated family and an eternity of nothingness
I was diagnosed with major depression at around his age, and this is also when the bullying got bad for me and when the suicidal ideation started. Kids, even younger, can start to think of suicide. And at the time, I don't think I even understood that I was being bullied, because to me, bullying was hitting me and pushing me around, not isolating me and whispering under their breath and giggling whenever I was around, moving away from me if I came too close, so if any adult asked if I was getting bullied, I would say no. I just thought there was something fundamentally wrong with me that everyone else knew about. My heart hurts for this young boy and for his family, so, so much.
I was 6 years old my first attempt. Had the thoughts long before I had the opportunity.
I tried to kill myself at 7. Didn't work obviously.
I went through a depression when I was around 8 or 9 years old and of course I didn't know at the time that's what it was, and suicide did not come to mind per se, but I can say now as an adult I'm 52 reflecting back on it, i wouldve been considered clinically depressed had a doctor seen me. But my depressive thoughts I completely internalized my parents would have had no clue that anything was wrong. And little kids nowadays are probably exposed to Concepts they shouldn't be.. But I too am struggling with this concept of kids so small even thinking about taking their own lives.
This is absolutely heartbreaking. This poor, sweet little boy and his family
This just shattered my heart. This poor, sweet child. He deserved so, so much better.
This is heartbreaking. How does an 8 yr old even know how to go about that. So sad
Little kids are so cruel to each other 💔
I don't claim to have suffered anywhere close to this little boy. But I must say that I have never seen people as evil as some other kids through my childhood. When adults are evil, I can usually make sense of it, how it benefits them, why they do it. Children like that, on the other hand, always seem to be evil just for the enjoyment of it. Cruelty for the sake of cruelty. I'm not even sure if "evil" really is a thing. It sounds silly. But those eyes I've seen on some kids in kindergarten and elementary school, I don't think I've seen since. I've thought a lot about it throughout my life. The best explanation I have is that it's the first time those kids experience what it's like to have power over someone else, and they don't have any moral qualms yet over exercising that power.
Yes. When I was a child, my bullies were sometimes incredibly cruel, and it was sort of dehumanizing, like it's not that they didn't consider my feelings but that they regarded me even less than an ant under their feet. They just enjoyed my suffering for the hell of it. Adults can be like this too, but it's more rare to be this blatant and unabashed imo
Yeah and adults have a lot more saving face than kids who tend to be very blunt
And worst of all, no one is going to fucking arrest a child for doing that. Adults at least already have a set of laws dedicated to stopping and punishing their cruelty, and most of the time they wouldn't do it cause they understand the severity of their actions, and they value something else over minute sadism It would be a miracle if the bullies' parents were decent, upright people that try to teach their kids out of bullying, but for kids like that, it's most likely their parents are just neglectful/abusive or straight up enable such actions. And adults don't have a proper way to stop such actions without exercising force, and even that can be risky. Touching a bully with entitled parents may just be the ticket for some teachers to lose their job
It’s because it’s all they’ve ever known. Hatred is taught
It's not that easy tbh. One of my biggest bullies through hs was a boy who had type I diabetes and his parents loved him to death. The exact problem was that nothing was ever his fault, due to his illness he could get away with almost everything at home, and at school it really showed. I don't think bullies are always victims themselves, I feel like sometimes people just like the power and feeling big and strong compared to their victims.
Those kids grow up to be MAGA cultists.
Yes. By 4th grade I remember telling my mom I wanted to die, as I was bullied pretty badly in school. I went to a rich white kid school as a brown middle class girl and it was hell. No kid should want to die. I would never wish my experience on another
We all are 🖤
we suck as humans 💔
Every time I hear of someone making that ultimate choice it breaks my heart; but when it's someone so young a small piece of me dies.
There's no way this baby "made a choice". He just over that he didn't want to hurt anymore and didn't know what what to do.
Unfortunately, i feel this is the case in many or most suicides. They do not want to die, they want the pain to stop.
He would’ve turned 16 this year back in February. Hope his little soul is at peace🥺.
I didn’t even realize an eight year old could be suicidal. Poor kid, that’s just awful.
My first suicide attempt was at about five or six years old. I tried to drown myself in my aunt and uncle's swimming pool. I don't remember the reasoning, but I do remember the thoughts of "I'm gonna go swim to the deep end and drown". My sister and cousin were both with me and my sister swam to get me once they saw me struggling in the deeper side of the pool. I haven't actually told anyone in my family about the fact it was intentional, they just think it was an accident
[Suicide is the 8th leading cause of death for kids](https://www.cwla.org/increased-suicide-rates-among-children-aged-5-to-11-years-in-the-u-s/) between the ages of FIVE and eleven in the US. Our society has a full on disease.
It is so heartbreaking to know that someone that young would take his own life. When I was 8 I just wanted to get home to watch my favorite cartoons or play outside with my friends. Suicide wasn't anything I knew about until I was a teenager. Suicide is such an important subject to me. To me it's the most horrible way to die. You should never feel like there is no other way. RIP to him and I hope his family finds some kind of peace with everything.
I got bullied for my voice growing up. Rlly fucked with me growing up everyone saying I sounded high. Made me not ever want to talk tbh and I honestly don’t unless I feel comfortable
I'm sorry. It sucks that these childhood traumas have the power to follow you forever like that. I hope you find a way to let it go and feel safe using your voice.
That baby should not have known about suicide at his age. His family are in my heart during this troubling time. Yall, ask your kids about their day and please listen to them. I couldn’t imagine losing my child to suicide because other kids are assholes for no reason.
No! OMG. I have a 8 year old child. This breaks my heart. How is this possible?
Sweet child 💔
And this is why as a parent of a 5 month old if my child is bullied ill take matters into my own hands. Teach my girl self defense and have her deal with it. She will never get in trouble for ending an encounter with a bully. Idc if she gets suspended. I am not putting my faith in a school to protect my child when this happens over and over again
What? 8 years old? Damn.
Ive become desensitized to a lot of fucked up shit on this app, but I can’t deal with these stories of kids taking their own lives. I cant look at these beaming pictures of theirs thinking about what happened to them and what they chose to do. There was that poor 10 year old boy that made news online around a month ago too that took his life after being bullied too. Looked like the sweetest little dude in the world. Boils my fucking blood how these schools and adults time and time again fail these poor kids and enable their abusers. I cant stand it man
Schools still don’t do shit about bullied kids.
I'm sorry for him. I have thought about suicide since early childhood. I know partially what he went through.
I can't even believe such a thing is possible. The world is cruel.
I’ve seen the worst gore shit on the internet and still nothing has fucked me up more than this and katelyn davis.
So infuriating. Also, the mother fought in court since 2017, not only having to deal with the loss of her son but with a relentless system that denied help for him.
How sad. How does an 8 yr old even think about suicide?
man I hate this world
Yep. And being alive gets worse every day. I will not be reincarnating. Fuck. That.
Did you men reproduce? I want kids but am horrified by the things other kids can say and do. Rest easy to this young soul
Heartbreaking.
When I was 10, one of my classmates took his own life too. I couldn't comprehend it at that age and I still can't (at 38).
Wish I could sit with lil bro and drink some juice and talk to him 😔
My heart is broken. That poor, poor innocent angel. I’m about to be 46. I was bullied all through elementary and high school. I have crippling anxiety, depression and PTSD. I barely leave the house. As someone who goes out of their way to make others feel good, I don’t understand why kids (and some adults) are like this.
The boy even got reprimanded for fighting back and defending himself. The same usual story. It's so fucked up. If this happens in my country, the bullies and their families would already have gotten their names exposed on the internet. Fuck bullies.
Rest in power, beautiful boy. I’m sorry this world was so shitty to you. You deserved better. ❤️
Damn!!!! RIP little man.
That poor child. Makes me so angry
poor sweet boy
This poor baby. Breaks my fucking heart.
Beyond tragic. His poor family…. Rest in peace angel 🕊️
Sweet angel.
I don’t know how bullying is around the world but it is bad in the US. And it seems the bullies have all the rights and the bullied are somehow supposed to just deal with it. Which they do — by suicide. A life gone too soon because the people empowered to do anything did not.
Absolutely heartbreaking. What a cute kid with such a contagious smile.
This is heartbreaking. Just read up on the story. It’s so sad no one tried to help him.
6 years old is when suicide entered my mind. It's never left. It's never won. This story made me cry at work..
Stories like this make me sick to my stomach. This poor baby had his entire life ahead of him and made a permanent spur of the moment decision out of fear and hopelessness. Schools need better ways to deal with this sort of thing because it seems like suicide victims are getting younger and younger due to bullying. We dealt with bullying twice when my son was the same age as this boy. He had a kid in class who made the mistake of messaging my son on his Xbox cussing and threatening him. As soon as I read it I printed everything out and took it straight to the school and the school called the kid's parents and had us all meet together. Surprisingly the parents were nothing like their kid and they were very sweet and understanding and told us right in front of their son that it's not okay what he was saying and we never had another issue with him again. Kids shouldn't have to be scared to go to school, it's infuriating. My son was never scared but I had knots in my stomach every day wondering how far the other kid's threats were going to go. I've never been in a fight or dealt with bullying but I witnessed a ton of fights starting in middle school and it's always been something I didn't want to happen to my son. I was friends with a girl who was jumped in high school and she got knocked out after being slammed head first into a locker and suffered permanent brain damage, she still talks very slowly. A kid in my middle school was jumped and beat with locks. At the time, my school had carpeted hallways and classrooms, the blood stained the hallway carpet and was there the rest of the year.
Poor baby!
it's hard to wrap my brain around it. that a child so young would even know what the S-word is. i have so many questions. will Google this story now. this is so sad. lil man was probably an empath and would've grow up to be an amazing adult but won't get the chance because of bullies tearing him down everyday. tragic all the way around
I wish I’d never even seen this 💔💔💔💔
So sad. Rest in power. Hope those responsible learn and somehow a positive can come from tragedy.
What a sweet smile. Bullying sucks man, RIP.
Literally in tears. This is astoundingly heartbreaking. What a precious boy.
Wow. That is awful what has this world come to. An 8 year old should not know what suicide is let alone die by suicide 😞 rest in peace little guy
I hate people
My problem is I'm going to want to square up with that child..I need to grow tf up 🤣
I have an eight-year-old daughter. There were older kids relentlessly bullying her on the school bus to the point where she would come home in tears every day. I called to school principal and the transportation after the first day it happened, and on the following day it continue to happen so I called the supervisor for the whole school district to make sure something got done about it. Schools don't care.
The fact a child so young felt a pain so deep to take his own life is devastating and destroys me. Children can be so cruel and not even realize the consequences of those actions. I hope this boy is at peace.
If I was a parent of one of the bullies I would make sure they knew the results of what they did and how they destroyed that family’s life.
Rip
God no :(
I hate to upvote this but it needs to be seen. My heart just breaks for him and his family. Sweet boy. He deserved better.
8 year olds shouldn’t even know what suicide is! Everyone failed this little boy. I hope his soul gets reincarnated into a baby born into an amazing family full of endless love and happiness
This is so tragic. How does an 8 year old even comprehend/know about suicide in the first place. Also, hard to not feel like this child was let down by the adults in his life, particularly parents/guardians. I would imagine this child was never talked to about loving himself, no matter what anyone says. Did nobody ever talk with him about the idea of resiliency? About confidence? How about bullying in general…the reasons why weaker people do it to others to mask their own insecurities? We really NEED to teach children today to be stronger, and give them the reasons why. The world is a tough place…yes, even potentially when you are as young as 8. Let’s give children the tools they need to navigate this space. RIP little one.
I was in elementary school in the 90's and one of my classmates tried to kill himself by eating stuff he was allergic to on purpose. Talking and bumper sticker mottos doesn't solve everything.
Sad sad sad and more sad !!!
Oh my heart
8 years old is far too young to make such a irreversible decision. This is insane that he even knows this is an option: to opt out. Our society is messed up beyond all repair. That poor young soul…
What a nightmare for Gabriel and his family. I wish him vengeance.
He’s adorable. May he rest in paradise
Fuck, they're getting younger and younger by the day. Like they're kids for fuck's sakes, they shouldn't know how to end their life, let alone feel like they should. As someone who lost someone they loved and cared for to suicide, my deepest condolences to his family. I miss and love you everyday, can't believe it's going to be 10 years without you in my life; life has not been right since we lost your beautiful kind soul, till we meet again my love.
This is extremely sad. I took away my daughter’s phone bc it was showing her some crazy stuff. YouTube teaches kids crazy stuff. This poor baby.
My God. 💔
8????
I hope the kids who bullied him are haunted forever for their crimes, since they never saw consequences for their cruelty.
Is this real? I don’t want to, nor I can’t believe it. Please.
This happened years ago. It's just being reposted by a karma farming bot now.
Fuck the school board here, trying to cover up abuse of a student to maintain their image. Genuinely hope the school board is dismantled.
this broke my heart. RIP Gabriel.
Only eight?! wtf…there should be zero tolerance in all schools for bullying, even though kids find a way. Parents need to strongly instill human decency in their kids! This is an unfathomable tragedy. He had his whole life ahead of him!! What a horrible loss.
😞😞😞my Lord😞😞😞
His smile is so precious; my heart hurts ❤️🩹
Poor baby
Heartbreaking.
That's horrible
😔💔
RIP little guy
This is so heartbreaking. It's so unnecessary. This little boy felt cornered and didn't see a way out. I wonder if his parents knew if they tried to help him? Now they have to go on living with the fact that this is what happened this poor little boy he was so beautiful.
THIS KILLS ME, AT THAT AGE ,WHY IS THERE BULLYING GOING... THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG WITH THE PARENTS OF BULLIES... IF YOUR GONNA BE A PARENT,TEACH YOUR KIDS TO LOVE THE DIFFERENCE IN OTHERS, NO ONE IS BETTER THAN ANYONE... ALSO PARENTS STOP GIVING KIDS PHONE AND TABLETS AT SUCH A YOUNG AGE...GO OUT DO STUFF WITH YOUR KIDS.. MAKE TIME OR DONT HAVE THEM.. CHILDREN THIS YOUNG SHOULDNT HAVE TO WORY ABOUT BEING TREATED SO BAD.. YOUNG HANDSOME BOY GONE WAY WAY TO SOON.. I PRAY FOR HIM AND HIS PARENTS
The parents of the bullies need to be charged with Murder and the kids that did the bullying sent to a military style camp
[удалено]
Are you 12? You don’t need to qualify you don’t like kids. Comments like this are just weird.
Idk why you got downvoted. People start statements the way you did all the time.
Hopefully he’s at peace now.
Dumb, pointless death. His poor family.
Imagine being a gross individual and victim blaming the child? Pathetic.