Education Minister reveals at least one student bullied to ‘kill themselves’ by online attacker

At least one student in Queensland is told to “kill themselves” by an online bully every week

Queensland’s Education Minister has revealed at least one student per week is reporting being told to “kill themselves” by an online school bully.

Di Farmer said the state has a three-pronged strategy to tackle cyber bullying and reminded parents they can start by setting the example at home.

Ms Farmer said the death of a Queensland teenager who died by suicide after relentless online bullying has “broken everyone’s hearts”.

The Sunday-Mail highlighted the story of 13-year-old Far North Queensland student Corrine Lee-Cheu on the weekend after she took her own life on September 13, the day before RUOK Day.

Corrine Lee-Cheu was in Year 8 at Atherton State High School in Far North Queensland. Photo: Supplied.

Her mother, Jodie Fitzgerald, said her daughter – known as ‘Kinny’ or ‘Barefoot Corrine’ by her loved ones – was driven to breaking point by bullies.

Kinny was picked on at school and cyber bullied at home over Snapchat and SendIt with horrific slurs such as “ugly, rat-faced, rabbit teeth”. Her family were largely unaware and only learnt of the endless taunts from Kinny’s friends after her death.

Speaking on the first day back at school for Queensland students, Ms Farmer said she speaks to at least one young person per week who tells her that they have been told to kill themselves by others on social media.

Ms Farmer said the mobile phone ban across state schools, which came into effect on Monday, would help to reduce cyber-bullying.

Students’ phones must be turned off and stored by their school, some who already do this use a pouch-like storage system, and smartwatches must have notifications switched off.

“I don’t know how her (Kinny’s) parents could actually deal with that, it’s awful,” she said.

Corrine Lee-Cheu (left) pictured with her family – Sienna, Jodie, Liam, Monty, Tristin and Damian. Photo: Denim & Lace Photography.

“Bullying and cyber-bullying are terrible, insidious issues. The mobile phone ban will assist … during the school day no child is going to see a bad social media message because they are not going to be able to look at their phones.

“We also engage with the eSafety Commissioner so that if we see damaging material on social media, we ask the companies to remove it.

“This is also another reason why our Health and Wellbeing Program in schools is so important because mental health is a big concern for teachers and families.

“We need to make sure we have that professional support at school and those professionals are being used.”

The state government’s $106.7m Student Wellbeing Package continues to be rolled out.

It includes improving access to mental health and wellbeing support in every Queensland state school student through more counsellors, as well as a pilot program placing GPs in 50 state schools with secondary students one day per week.

Education Minister Di Farmer took over the portfolio in December’s cabinet reshuffle following Annastacia Palaszczuk’s resignation. Photo: Glenn Campbell/NCA NewsWire.

But Ms Farmer conceded “there is always more to be done” to tackle cyber bullying.

“AI opens up a whole new world,” the education minister said.

“We need to encourage the adults around our children to also be respectful because they are the people our children look up to,” she said.