‘My heart is shattered’: parents speak out after their bullied 12-year-old took his life

A mother has shared a heartbreaking Instagram post saying her “heart is shattered” after her 12-year-old took his life because of bullying.

Andy and Samie Hardman took to social media to share their grief after losing their 12-year-old son to suicide. The cause? A year of dealing with a school bully.

“This is the result of bullying,” Samie – from Utah in the US – shared about her son, Drayke, in an Instagram post. “ … It is real, it is silent and there is nothing absolutely nothing as a parent you can do to take this deep hurt away.”

“There are no signs, only hurtful words of others that ultimately stole our Drayke from this cruel place.

“My heart is shattered, I don’t know how to fix it, or if I ever will, but I will spend every minute teaching kindness in the memory of my favourite dude … I will say hold you [sic] babies, hold them tight.”.

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Now, Drayke’s parents are speaking out to raise awareness about the devastating impact school bullying can have.

Speaking to US news outlet ABC Andrew Hardman that the key to ending bullying, is in the home.

Drayke pictured with his mother, Samie. Image: Instagram / @shardman5

“Deep down there’s something broken that this child took from my son, and it has to come from somewhere, because like Samie said, children aren’t naturally angry,” he said.

“So for him to have to attack my son to build his confidence means he was lacking something. So, in a sense, this bully was also a victim, and that’s where we need to find the solution is teaching our children that the world is broken, but they’re the generation that is going to fix it.”

Sadly, this isn’t an isolated incident. Right here in Australia, suicide is the leading cause of death for young people.

In 2018, SBS reported that everyday, 100,000 student wanted to stay home because of bullying. Considering bullying is one of the high risk factors for depression in young people — that’s an alarming number.

Every day, 100,000 students don't want to go to school because of bullying.

Psychologist Donna Cameron says there are several signs a parent can watch for to try and catch problem bullying.

“Parenting is hard work and it’s hard to find the balance between allowing our children some privacy and protecting them from being the victim of bullying,” she explains. She says this is especially true as children can sometimes hide or downplay the bullying “as away to protect themselves”.

Cameron recommends being alert for any changes in mood, as they may become “more moody, angry and have a very low frustration tolerance”.

“They will usually start withdrawing from activities they once enjoyed and will spend a lot more time alone,” she continues. “Sleep and eating patterns can change and they may even start avoiding school”.