"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend...I would have stayed up with you all night, had I known how to save a life"

Its amazing how we take everything for granted. I woke up expecting it to be a typical Monday morning: Mark would be home, I would be able to sleep in and the day would just merrily count down until Tuesday.

I checked my Facebook page ( it can be so addicting especially when you sleep with your phone near you) and saw a status that literally left me dumb-founded. A friend of mine went through quite an ordeal last night. Her kid tried to kill herself as a result of Facebook bullying and bullying at school. Because of this, my blog is dedicated to her and her family and the effects of bullying.

Like any curious individual, I started researching statistics of bullying in Canada and the results were astounding. Suicide is the 2nd highest cause of death of children between the ages of 15-19 and the 3rd highest cause of death among 10-14 year olds.

Maybe it's my Jamaican culture or maybe I live in a bubble, but at the age of 10-14 I never thought of anything remotely close to suicide. I was too busy wondering when my period was going to start and if my breasts would ever start growing. Then again, I was never bullied. All I can think is that my friend's daughter  must have felt incredibly trapped to believe that suicide was the only way to get relief. For the record, my friend's daughter is in grade 8.  I won't go into details about her attempt as that really is not the main issue. The issue is that bullying needs to stop, and the only way that it is going to end is if extreme measures are taken by the necessary authority.  The police should go to the schools when they receive a report about bullying and scare the dickens out of these children. Put them in handcuffs and let them realize how serious the offense is. Unlike what some people think, bullying does not promote character building, and " kids being kids" is not an excuse. Surviving the Holocaust built character but it does not mean that we should put people in that situation or say that it was a good thing. It also destroyed people and families- physically,emotionally, mentally and spiritually. Children should not have to worry about a way out, they should not feel all alone in the world and they definitely should not feel as if suicide is the only way to solve their problems.

Below are a few links giving tips on how to handle bullying.

http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/1274882--amanda-todd-suicide-tips-to-handle-bullying-from-a-kids-help-phone-expert

http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/res/cp/bully_4211-eng.aspx

At the end of the day, all I can think is that our technology is developing at such a rapid pace that we are yet to catch up with it and to educate ourselves and our children to use it. Not only that, parents need to step up and pay attention to their children (this is a general statement, not necessarily the case with my friend or with every parent that has to go through this). If you generally have an outgoing kid that all of a sudden seems withdrawn... talk to them. Don't just brush it aside. Thank goodness my friend's daughter told her she was not feeling well, giving her enough time to realize that she had taken pills to kill herself.