Year 8 student Libby Bell had her whole life ahead of her: a junior lifesaver with “a million-dollar smile.”
But the teenage girl has tragically taken her own life after an onslaught of physical and online abuse from her peers at Seaford Secondary School in Adelaide, South Australia.
Her family are speaking out about the cost of bullying and have issued a plea to all parents to look out for the warning signs.
“We understand schoolyard behaviour and what starts off as pointless teasing and ridicule which can soon escalate,” Libby’s uncle, Clint Gow-Smith, told Adelaide Now. “So please, as a parent, hold your babies tight and for the teenagers, we plead for you kids to talk and walk tall.”
“She had a million-dollar smile, her face lit up the room, she just had a beautiful smile – that was our Libster,” he added.
The Daily Mail reports that Libby was filmed being bullied at a fast food outlet in 2016, one of a slew of incidents that her family believe led to her death.
Libby died on August 28. A GoFundMe page has been set up for her family, which you can donate to here.
If you or someone you know needs help, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
