Is a Lethal Weapon in Your Child’s Back Pocket?
By Lucy Swearingen
The saying “Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” is untrue. Words do hurt. With suicide being the second leading cause of death in teens, it is time to acknowledge the weight of words.
In 2017, Mallory Grossman died at age 12 because of words. Mallory experienced bullying from peers at school and on Snapchat. She was even asked by a peer, “When are you going to kill yourself?.” Her death and legacy bring awareness to bullying and highlight the dangers of cyberbullying through Mallory’s Law which strengthened bullying laws in New Jersey.
With the growing presence of social media, bullying evolves online. Bullies don’t have to face their victims while online and have the option to remain anonymous; This enables them to avoid the consequences of their actions and act without empathy for the person they target on the other side of the screen.
The link between cyberbullying and suicide is clear since victims of cyberbullying are four times as likely to report suicidal thoughts or attempts. This devastating conclusion is often brought on by the humiliation that comes with the public and permanent nature of cyberbullying on social media. With this growing problem, the tragedy of Mallory’s death is unfortunately not a unique experience.
In February, Adriana Kuch took her life at 14 after she was assaulted at school, and the video was posted to TikTok. The humiliation she faced brought her to this horrific conclusion.
“She said, ‘I don’t want to be that girl who gets beat up on video and made fun of,’” said Michael Kuch, Adriana’s father.
Also from New Jersey, Adriana’s story shares similarities with Mallory’s. Both girls faced bullying online that changed their thoughts from those of cheerleading practice or their animals to thoughts of hopelessness and despair. Another similarity is that both girls’ deaths resulted in lawsuits for their school districts.
Adriana and Mallory both experienced relentless bullying, and both families reported it to their schools. In Mallory’s case, she and her parents met with her school’s officials the day of her death. Her lawsuit details how officials were aware of the bullying, and, in fact, advised her mother not to make a complaint against her school. In July, Mallory’s family reached a $9.1 million settlement from her school six years after her death. Through these years, Mallory’s family started Mallory’s Army Foundation, Mallory’s Law passed, and raised awareness about how bullying needs to be taken as a serious issue.
Despite these wins, this issue persists considering Adriana’s recent death and the rise in suicide rates in the United States over the last five years. Social media complicates the topic of bullying as it can now take place on a public platform like TikTok. Bullying can go viral, and in Adriana’s case, the public nature of the bullying she experienced had a part in her tragedy.
While this issue persists, efforts to fight bullying persist as well. Adriana’s family, like Mallory’s, is exploring a lawsuit; however, this wouldn’t be the first lawsuit about bullying in Adriana’s school, Central Regional High School in Berkeley Township. The family of Olivia O’Dea, another victim of bullying, sued her school over on-campus cyberbullying that failed to be addressed in 2022.
Education on the issues of cyberbullying and suicide help bring awareness and prevention of this tragedy. Adriana and Mallory’s deaths make it clear that bullying must be taken seriously.
While these lawsuits will ideally bring more necessary changes, Mallory’s mother, Denise Grossman urges the removal of cell phones from middle school classrooms during the school day. Grossman notes that cell phones are a “lethal weapon” in an interview with CNN.
