Sunday, April 14, 2013

Rehtaeh Parsons: a cry for help that went unheard.

Another child lost. And why?
Because society is cruel sometimes.
The Father said that his daughter was disappointed to death.
She was attacked, sexual assaulted, video taped, and harassed.
What did the police do?
What did the Justice do?
What did the community do?
Her Peers?

The Parents did what they could, trying to seek help and remedy. That couldn't come. Rehtaeh tried to get help.

The accused?  Not sure, tormented her?
Other students?  Not sure, tormented her?
Who knows?

Rahtaeh knew.

What could she do?

Sadly Rehtaeh is one of many.  We must stop and listen. Not only listen but act.



Rehtaeh Parsons




 Could a little bit of kindness have saved her?  I don't know?

What we do know is that being mean, cruel and  hurtful is real.

And it is ugly.

I did not know Rehtaeh Parsons. I cry for you Rehtaeh Parsons. I cry for your family. I cry. 

 ________________________

News - articles. 




“My daughter wasn’t bullied to death, she was disappointed to death,” he wrote. “For the love of god do something.”

"Friends and family who gathered for the funeral of Nova Scotia teen Rehtaeh Parsons remembered the young woman’s kind heart Saturday in a service that also drew attention to the wider issues of bullying and sexual violence.
Parsons, 17, hanged herself after enduring what her family says was months of bullying after allegedly being raped and photographed by four boys in 2011. She died in hospital last weekend after being taken off life support.
Since then, her story has gained international attention, placing the spotlight on larger problems affecting youth."



"Those who loved Parsons, who was taken off life-support last Sunday after hanging herself three days earlier, spoke of their despair, anger, indescribable grief. But others talked of the good, too, that has come in the days since her suicide, which followed months of depression over an alleged rape and subsequent social shunning. "

Rev. Morrell called for efforts to battle sexual abuse and cyberbullying.
“How can our society create a safe haven for young girls? Why do young men feel that young girls are but objects for their sexual fantasies and pleasure? Why do teenagers avoid seeking help when they are depressed and suicidal? How can our schools deal with physical and now cyber bullying?” he asked.


The world lost a beautiful girl,” she said. “We should be ashamed.”
Parsons’ story, now known to so many around the world, is about justice denied, about caring too late, about cruelty.

On April 4, Parsons hanged herself with a belt in the bathroom of her family home. She had locked herself in the bathroom, threatening suicide, after she had a fight with someone on the phone. Nothing serious, Leah said, but enough to anger her.
A friend identified as Jenna — one of three singled out by Leah Parsons for having been there for her daughter — had been over and talking to Parsons through the door. But Parsons had stopped talking.
Leah broke in, feeling the weight of Parsons’ body as she opened the door. She had to cut her daughter down with scissors.

“We would much prefer to see someone in jail than their only punishment to be shame.”
As for the teens alleged to have sexually assaulted Parsons, they bragged as they sent out the photo, students said.
Said student Kelsey Patterson: “They don’t think they did anything wrong.”

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