San Antonio Teen Literally Bullied To Death: Bullying Blamed For Teen’s Suicide
A San Antonio teenager was bullied by classmates so viciously and so consistently that he eventually committed suicide. Now, in a heartfelt Facebook post that his since gone viral, the teenager’s older brother is calling on parents, schools, and communities to treat bullying as a serious issue.
As the San Antonio Express-News reports, 16-year-old David Molak, a sophomore at Alamo Heights High School, was an honor student, a fitness enthusiast, and a fan of the San Antonio Spurs.
“These people were bashing him for no reason. He did not do anything to them besides having an attractive girlfriend.”
In a telephone interview with the Express-News, Cliff said that Alamo Heights High School had a “social heirarchy,” and David wasn’t in the upper echelon. That he was in a relationship with a girl from the upper levels of the heirarchy apparently upset his tormentors to the point that he took his life.
In his Facebook post, Cliff points to one particular boy as being the ringleader of his brother’s bullying, but declined to name him.
“What happened to my beloved brother was a tragedy. A tragedy set into motion by a boy whom I will not further empower by naming.”
The bullying had gotten so bad that David’s parents transferred him to another school — a private school — in order to keep him away from his tormentors. Even the transfer to a new school failed to turn things around for David.
“He just couldn’t handle the idea of going to a new school while still being bullied by people at his old school, they just sucked his spirit.”
According to a narrative of events compiled from Cliff’s Facebook post, Cliff’s interview with the Express-News, and a San Antonio Police Department report, David Molak’s last night alive went like this: On Sunday night, David and Cliff were spending some time together when David began getting a series of text messages that drove him over the edge. David was added to a group text, and he began getting bullying remarks from about six to ten different phone numbers.
Cliff tried to console his younger brother, but it was of no use.
“My first response to him was ‘These kids suck, that’s really the best insult they can come up with?’ but I didn’t get the response I wanted. I thought he would laugh but he just stared off into distance and you could see his pain. He just felt that people hated him.”
On Monday night, after his first day at a new school, David Molak’s body was found in the backyard of his San Antonio home. The Bexar County Medical Examiner ruled his death a suicide. A heavily redacted police report indicates that David had attempted suicide twice before.
According to StopBullying.gov, research on cyber bullying — the type of bullying that led to David Molak taking his life — is growing. Reports suggest that between 7 percent and 15 percent of teens reported being victims of cyber bullying in one form or another in 2013.
[Image via Shutterstock/Alexandr23]
