List of suicides that have been attributed to bullying

List of suicides

• William Arthur Gibbs was a boarder at Christ's Hospital school in Sussex who committed suicide by hanging on 4 May 1877 at age 12 after being bullied and beaten. This caused an outcry and the government subsequently held an official inquiry.
• Kelly Yeomans, age 13, an English schoolgirl from the Derby suburb of Allenton, became widespread news when the cause was blamed on bullying to which she had been subjected by other local children. She was reported to be the victim of repeated harassment and taunting, particularly about her weight. Matters came to a head in September 1997, when a group of youths reportedly gathered at Yeomans's home on several consecutive nights, on each occasion throwing food at the house and shouting taunts aimed at Yeomans. This prompted Yeomans to tell her family, "I have had enough and I'm going to take an overdose." Five youths between the ages of thirteen and seventeen were convicted of intentionally harassing Yeomans in the months leading up to her death.
• Jared High, age 13, was a middle school student who committed suicide after being bullied. He died on September 29, 1998, six days after his thirteenth birthday.
• Hamed Nastoh, age 14, Afghan-Canadian high school student who committed suicide by jumping off the Pattullo Bridge due to bullying. Nastoh was a Grade 9 student at Enver Creek Secondary School in Surrey, British Columbia. He left a note for his family about all the bullying he had suffered. In the note it mentions that he was teased by his mates, classmates and even his friends would laugh at him. They would always call him "four-eyes", "big-nose", and "geek", because his average marks were above 90 percent. At 5:00 pm, Nastoh's mother, father, and younger brother, David, went outside to hang out with a neighbour. Hamed and his older brother, Abdullah, were home during the night. One hour later, Abdullah took a shower. Hamed put on his new Tommy Hilfiger jacket, slipped out, and made his way, probably by bus, to the Pattullo. When Nastoh arrived at the Pattullo Bridge, he jumped.
• Dawn-Marie Wesley, age 14, Canadian high school student who died of suicide by hanging due to bullying. She was a student who committed suicide, after allegedly experiencing a cycle of bullying by psychological abuse and verbal threats from three female bullies at her high school. She left behind a note to her family that referred to the bullying to which she had been subjected: "If I try to get help, it will get worse. They are always looking for a new person to beat up and these are the toughest girls. If I ratted, they would get expelled from school and there would be no stopping them. I love you all so much." She committed suicide by hanging herself with her dog's leash in her bedroom.
• Nicola Ann Raphael, age 15, Lenzie Academy high school student who died by suicide via an overdose of co-proxamol due to bullying. Information requested for later legal action found that the bullying allegations went back over three years: "Internal papers just released reveal that 15-year-old Nicola Raphael, who took an overdose in 2001 after being tormented over her gothic appearance, had complained to teachers about alleged bullying long before she died... the document shows staff clearly knew the youngster, whose suicide shocked the nation, had felt under threat of physical attack but did not inform her parents."
• Ryan Halligan, age 13, was an American student from Essex Junction, Vermont, who died by suicide at the age of 13 after allegedly being bullied by his classmates in person and online. According to the Associated Press, Halligan was allegedly repeatedly sent homophobic instant messages, and was "threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly". Halligan's case has been cited by legislators in various states proposing legislation to curb cyber-bullying. In Vermont, laws were subsequently enacted to address the cyberbullying problem and the risk of teen suicides, in response. In 2008, his suicide and its causes were examined in a segment of the PBS Frontline television program entitled "Growing Up Online." His suicide has also been referenced in many other news stories on bullying.
• Jeff Weise, age 16, was an American high school student who committed the Red Lake shootings and then died by suicide after years of bullying, gunshot.
• Megan Meier, age 13, was an American teenager from Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, who died of suicide by hanging three weeks before her fourteenth birthday. A year later, Meier's parents prompted an investigation into the matter and her suicide was attributed to cyber-bullying through the social networking website Myspace. Allegedly, individuals intended to use Meier's messages to get information about her and later humiliate her.
• Brodie Panlock, age 19, was an Australian waitress from Melbourne who died after jumping from a multilevel carpark in Hawthorn. Her suicide was attributed to serious workplace bullying at the cafe where she worked. Her parents successfully lobbied the Victorian Government to amend the Crimes Act 1958 to include serious bullying as a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment.
• Sladjana Vidovic, age 16, from Mentor, Ohio, hanged herself in October 2008 by jumping from a window with a sheet around her neck. She and her family were from Croatia. Because of her accent and her name, other students called her names like "Slutty Jana" and "Slut-Jana-Vagina".
• Hope Witsell, age 13, was a middle school who committed suicide after being bullied. Hope "sexted" a photo of her breasts to her boyfriend. The photo somehow went viral after posting it, causing the kids at other school to look at it, and start bullying Hope. When the school officials found out the photo, they kicked her out of school. Hope was first handle the pain of bullying...but later decided that she couldn't take it anymore. Her mother found her hanged herself from her bed canvas with a pink scarf.
• Tyler Long, age 17, was a homosexual student with Asperger syndrome. Because of his homosexuality and disability, students would steal from him, spit in his cafeteria food, and call him names like "gay" and "faggot". When his mother Tina Long went to the school to complain about the bullying, the school responded to them saying that "boys will be boys" or "he just took it the wrong way." On October 17, 2009, two months into his junior year of high school, Tyler Long changed his pajamas into his favorite T-shirt and jeans. He strapped a belt around his neck and hanged himself from the top shelf of his bedroom closet. The story of his suicide was later told in the 2011 documentary Bully.
• Ty Smalley, age 11, was bullied because he was small for his age. Bullies would cram him into lockers and shove him into trash cans. They would also call him names like "Shrimp" and "Tiny Ty". On May 13, 2010, Ty was cornered in the school gymnasium and a bully started a fight by pushing him. Normally, Ty would just walk away when a situation like this occurred, but on this occasion, he stood up for himself and pushed back. He and the bully were both sent to the school office. Ty served a three-day suspension, but the bully only served one day of his victim's suspension. After school that day, Ty committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with his father's.22 caliber pistol. His story was also told in the 2011 documentary Bully.
• Phoebe Prince, age 15, an American high school student who died by hanging herself, following school bullying and cyberbullying. Her death led to the criminal prosecution of six teenagers for charges including civil rights violations, as well as to the enactment of stricter anti-bullying legislation by the Massachusetts state legislature. Prince had moved from Ireland to South Hadley, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts. Her suicide, after suffering months of bullying from school classmates, brought international attention to the problem of bullying in US schools. In March 2010, a state anti-bullying task force was set up as a result of her death. The Massachusetts legislation was signed into law on May 3, 2010. The trial for those accused in the case occurred in 2011. Sentences of probation and community service were handed down after guilty pleas on May 5, 2011.
• Tyler Clementi, age 18, a student at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. On September 19, Dharun Ravi, his roommate, and a fellow hallmate allegedly used a webcam to view, without Clementi's knowledge, Clementi kissing another man. On September 21, the day prior to the suicide, the roommate allegedly urged friends and Twitter followers to watch via his webcam a second tryst between Clementi and his friend. Clementi's death brought national and international attention to the issue of cyberbullying and the struggles facing LGBT youth.
• Jamie Hubley, age 15, died by suicide in October 14, 2011. The Ottawa teen was subjected to anti-gay bullying. Hubley's death was the impetus for the Accepting Schools Act, 2012, an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario which mandated school boards across the province to develop tougher anti-bullying programs with tougher penalties for infractions, and offered legal protections for gay-straight alliances in the province's schools. On June 3, 2013, Allan Hubley and Laureen Harper announced a new federal anti-bullying strategy, which will see approximately 2,400 teenagers across Canada trained in delivering peer education workshops and presentations against bullying for their fellow students.
• Jamey Rodemeyer, age 14, was a gay teenager, known for his activism against homophobia and his videos on YouTube to help victims of homophobic bullying. He ended his life by hanging himself, allegedly as a result of constant bullying.
• Audrie Pott, age 15, a student attending Saratoga High School, California. She died of suicide by hanging on September 12, 2012. She had been allegedly sexually assaulted by three teenage boys at a party eight days earlier and pictures of the assault were posted online with accompanying bullying. Pott's suicide and the circumstances surrounding it have been compared to the suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons, a young woman in Canada, appearing to show highly similar characteristics. New laws are being considered as a result of these events.
• Amanda Todd, age 15, Canadian high school student who died of suicide by hanging due to school bullying and cyberbullying. She died by suicide at the age of 15 at her home in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. Prior to her death, Todd had posted a video on YouTube in which she used a series of flash cards to tell her experience of allegedly being blackmailed into exposing her breasts via webcam; bullied; and physically assaulted. The video went viral after her death, resulting in international media attention. The video has had more than 20 million views as of 2019. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and British Columbia Coroners Service launched investigations into the suicide. At the time of her death, Todd was a grade 10 student at CABE Secondary in Coquitlam, a school that caters to students who have experienced social and behavior issues in previous educational settings. In response to the death, Christy Clark, the premier of British Columbia, made an online statement of condolence and suggested a national discussion on criminalizing cyberbullying. Also, a motion was introduced in the Canadian House of Commons to propose a study of the scope of bullying in Canada, and for more funding and support for anti-bullying organizations. Todd's mother Carol established the Amanda Todd Trust, receiving donations to support anti-bullying awareness education and programs for young people with mental health problems.
• Kenneth Weishuhn, age 14, was a teen who is known for his suicide which raised the national profile on gay bullying and LGBT youth suicides. Weishuhn, then 14 years old, was allegedly bullied in person, death threats were sent to his mobile phone, and he was the subject of a Facebook hate group. He was targeted for being gay, having come out one month before his suicide. Weishuhn told his mother Jeannie Chambers "Mom, you don't know how it feels to be hated". The bullying was characterized as "aggressive", "merciless" and "overwhelming". In response to the bullying, Weishuhn took his own life in April 2012. He hanged himself in the family's garage.
• Jadin Bell, age 15, was an Oregon youth known for his suicide which raised the national profile on youth bullying and gay victimization in bullying. Bell, a 15-year-old gay youth, was allegedly intensely bullied both in person and on the internet because he was gay. He was a member of the La Grande High School cheer leading team in La Grande, Oregon, where he was a sophomore. On January 14, 2013, Bell went to a local elementary school and hanged himself from the play structure. He did not immediately die from the strangulation and was rushed to the emergency room, where he was kept on life support. The Associated Press reported that a spokesman for the Oregon Health and Science University's Portland hospital announced that after being taken off life support Bell died on February 3, 2013. Bell's death was largely reported in the media, starting discussions about bullying, the effect it has on youth, and gay bullying. The Huffington Post, Salon, Oregon Public Broadcasting, Raw Story, GLAAD, PQ Monthly, PinkNews and many other media outlets reported on Bell's death. The media reported his suicide stemmed from being bullied for being gay, which Bell's father fully believed, stating "He was hurting so bad. Just the bullying at school. Yeah there were other issues, but ultimately it was all due to the bullying, for not being accepted for being gay."
• Rehtaeh Parsons, age 17, a former Cole Harbour District High School student, attempted suicide by hanging on April 4, 2013, at her home in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, leading to a coma and the decision to switch her life support machine off at Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre on April 7, 2013. Her death has been attributed to online distribution of photos of an alleged gang rape that occurred 17 months prior to her suicide attempt, in November 2011. On a Facebook page set up in tribute to her daughter, Parsons' mother blamed the four boys who allegedly raped and released images of her, the subsequent constant "bullying and messaging and harassment," and the failure of the Canadian justice system, for her daughter's decision to attempt suicide.
• Drake Mallory, age 12, was a middle school student who committed suicide after being bullied for being a male cheerleader.
• Rebecca Ann Sedwick, age 12, American middle school student who committed suicide by jumping due to bullying. Sedwick was a seventh grader at Crystal Lake Middle School in Lakeland, Florida. Sedwick was cyberbullied and bullied in person for one and a half years. Two girls, ages 14 and 12, encouraged others to fight Sedwick, and sent her electronic messages encouraging her to kill herself. In November 2012, her mother Tricia said that "she came home near tears every day". Rebecca committed suicide by jumping from a concrete silo tower to her death.
• Matthew Burdette, age 14, was a ninth grade student at University City High School in California. He took his own life after two weeks of bullying at school over an embarrassing video. He left a suicide note saying, "I can't handle school anymore and I have no friends. I didn't want to kill myself, but I can't do this anymore." According to Matthew's friends, who spoke up, a classmate went to the bathroom hearing Matthew's moans, peered over the bathroom stall and secretly recording Matthew while we was in the bathroom. He then posted the video on social media sites including Snapchat and Vine, claiming he caught Matthew "jacking off". According to the Burdette's attorney Allison Warden, a teacher sent Matthew out of class for eating sunflower seeds, but give him no direction to go, so he went to the bathroom. The boy who took the video confessed and was arrested by the San Diego Police Department.
• Alyssa Morgan, age 12, was a middle school student who committed suicide by hanging in the garage after being bullied at school, in part because she was bisexual.
• Ash Haffner, age 16, was a North Carolina student who died by suicide in 2015 at age 16, after being bullied for years because they identified as LGBTQ.
• Izabel Laxamana, age 13, Filipino-American student attended Giaudrone Middle School in Tacoma, Washington as a 7th grader. She was bullied by family and peers. However, her father, Jeff, had cut her hair short due to having put on a sports bra and leggings to send to her boyfriend. The employees called Laxamana's parents for a parent-teacher conference on the 4th while the haircut happened 24 days later. Izzy was even forced to drop out as student body president, even if it meant more bullying from other students. She cried all day, and the bullies failed to give up as she ignored them. On Friday, May 29, 2015, she jumped off a bridge after an encounter with her grandparents. She died roughly 24 hours afterward in a Seattle hospital.
• Cassidy Trevan, age 15, was an Australian high school student who committed suicide two years after being gang-raped by a group of older boys from her school in Melbourne. The gang-rape had been orchestrated by two female classmates who pretended to offer her their friendship after bullying her incessantly. The girls and another boy acted as lookouts while the assault took place. The five teenagers involved were named to the police but were never interviewed.
• Daniel Fitzpatrick, age 13, ended his life by hanging himself from the attic with a belt after being bullied. He wrote a letter about his former friends bullying and blames him, and his teachers aren't doing anything. He ended his life three weeks before his fourteenth birthday.
• Tyrone Unsworth, age 13, was an eight grade student in Brisbane, Australia who committed suicide November 22, 2016 after years of bullying motivated by his homosexuality. His grandfather had planned that he would be at school on this day, but he remained at his grandfather's farm. His grandfather returned to the farm from work at about 1 p.m. When he did not find Unsworth in the house, he "walked out the back" and found him dead.
• Brandy Vela, age 18, was a high school senior who committed suicide after being bullied in person and online by her peers about her weight. According to Brandy's sister Jacqueline, the bullies creating dating websites to harass Brandy including lying about her age, put up her picture, and put her phone number by saying she's giving herself up for sex for free to call her. Brandy shoots herself in the chest with a gun and died at the hospital the following day. After Brandy's death, a couple of teenagers were arrested for bullying her.
• Gabriel Taye, age 8, was a third grade student who committed suicide after being bullied. According to documents, a school video footage shows students in the boys bathroom knocking Gabriel down, he was unconscious by the time the school faculty came to pick him up and send him to the clinic. When Gabriel returns to school two days later, the bullying continues. He later committed suicide by hanging himself from his bunk bed with a neck tie.
• Mallory Grossman, age 12, was sixth-grade student at Copeland Middle School who committed suicide after nine months of relentless bullying at school and online. Her parents complained to the school officials about the bullying, but their concerns were dismissed. The type of death has not been revealed. According to Mallory's mother Dianne, the bullies still haven't been punished.
• Toni Rivers, age 11, was a sixth grade student in South Carolina who committed suicide by shooting herself with a gun after being bullied. Before her death, she told her friends that she couldn't take the bullying anymore. She was taking to the hospital, where she received treatment for 72 hours before dying.
• August Ames was a Canadian pornographic actress and model. On December 5, 2017, Ames was found dead at her home in Camarillo, California at the age of 23. Her death was ruled a suicide by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office. Media outlets have insinuated Ames committed suicide following successive comments on Twitter in which she defended her refusal to perform in a pornographic movie with a man who had previously worked in gay pornography and sparking an "online firestorm". Ames wrote that the decision was out of concern for her health. Some members of the gay community suggested her comments were homophobic and ill-informed about STI testing in the adult industry. Friends said she suffered from depression, and Ames had previously discussed struggles with bipolar and "multiple personality" disorder.
• Rosalie Avila, age 13, was an eighth grade student at Mesa View Middle School who committed suicide after two years of bullying. Her mother found her body, hanging in the closet. Before she took her own life, she left some suicide notes on her bed including, "Sorry, Mom and Dad, I love you.", and "Sorry, Mom, you're gonna find me like this." Her father later discovered what she had written in her journal. It is said the kids were bullying her at school about her braces: "They told me I was ugly today. They're making fun of me about my teeth." In late December of 2017, she was buried.
• Gabriella Green, age 12, was a middle school student in Florida who committed suicide after bullied at school and on social media. According to police, the two bullies, who were also 12, confessed for bullying and stalking Gabriella. When Gabriella told one of the bullies she tried to hang herself, the bully responded, "If you're going to do it, just do it!" Gabriella's cousin told the police that she slipped a dog leash around her neck and hanged herself in the closet. The bullies were arrested.
• Andrew Leach, age 12, was a sixth grade student at Southheaven Middle School who committed suicide by hanging himself in the garage on March 6, 2018. According to Andrew's father, Andrew was bullied in school after revealing he might be bisexual. One day, his classmates follow him in the bathroom and tells him, "We're gonna put hands on you. You're not going to make it out of this bathroom." He was buried after his death.
• Du Yuwei was a Chinese singer and ex-member of GNZ48. On October 16, 2018, Du Yuwei committed suicide at the age of 19 using charcoal burning method, after bullied for her affair with Huang Jiawei.
• Etika was an American Youtube creator. On c. June 19, 2019, Etika committed suicide by jumping off at the age of 29.
• Hailie Masson, age 13, was a middle school student who committed suicide by hanging after being bullied. She was bullied at school so badly that couldn't take it anymore. Before her death, she had a TikTok account and later became a famous TikTok star. She was cremated after her death.
• Ashley Lovelace, age 16, was a social media star who took her own life after being bullied online. According to her friends, someone on social media leaked her nudes on his page and continued bullying her. The type of suicide was unknown.
• Sulli was a South Korean actress, singer, model and ex-member of f. On October 14, 2019, Sulli committed suicide by hanging herself at the age of 25.
• Goo Hara was a South Korean actress, singer and member of Kara. On November 24, 2019, Hara committed suicide at the age of 28. Prior to her suicide, she was involved in a legal dispute battle with her ex-boyfriend about being sexually assaulted by him. Which then lead him threatening to leak a sex tape without her consent to end her career instantly. After news of her sex video went public, Goo was harassed online on social media, despite being a victim of a crime. However, the ex-boyfriend is found not guilty of the illegal filming, though the court battle is still ongoing till this day.
• He Sukun was a Chinese singer and ex-member of SNH48. On November 28, 2019, He Sukun committed suicide at the age of 24.
• Hana Kimura was a Japanese Wrestler. On May 23, 2020, She committed suicide by poisoning at the age of 22.