Marion, IN – Police in Marion, Indiana are investigating a suicide that occurred Monday morning at McCulloch Junior High School.
Tragically, 14-year-old Braylee Shea Rice left class that morning at 8:45 am and was later found hanging from the bleachers outside of the middle school around 10:17 am. According to WISHTV , the coroner confirmed Braylee used a tie to commit suicide.
Family members and students cite the cause of the suicide to the girl being bullied – driven to “bullycide” by her peers at school. Suicide remains one of the leading causes of death of children under 14. And in most cases they die from hanging.
School administrators insisted they were unaware that Braylee was being bullied, but dozens of parents and other students have claimed otherwise, saying bullying is prevalent in the school.
One unconfirmed account stated the morning of Braylee’s death, students were seen throwing water bottles at the girl and calling her names.
Jennifer Smith claims her son witnessed the horrible event. Per Smith’s account, her son and a couple of other students were outside of school and noticed Braylee near the bleachers. Shortly after they heard a loud noise and saw the girl’s lifeless body.
Grief counselors have been made available to students. An anti-bullying event will be held on Thursday and a rally, being orchestrated by parents and student in honor of Braylee, is scheduled for Friday. Funeral services for Braylee will also be held Friday at 2 pm at the First Christian Church, and she will be interred at Grant Memorial Park in Marion.
The National Education Association estimates that roughly 160,000 children miss school every day due to anxiety over a potential attack or intimidation brought upon by other students. On average, US schools harbor approximately 2.1 million bullies and 2.7 million of their victims, and over 50 percent of the students have witnessed an act of bullying .
Students between fourth and eighth grade have the highest occurrence of bullying , as 90 percent report experiencing some type of physical, verbal, indirect, or cyber harassment.
Revenge is the strongest motivator for most school shootings. Nearly 90 percent of students feel school shootings occur as a result of victims wanting to get back at those who persistently torment them.
Bullying should not be casually seen as kids being kids, as this oppressive behavior can stem from several unhealthy avenues such as abuse at home or psychological illnesses.
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