Mother: 9-Year-Old Killed Self After He Was Bullied For Being Gay
DENVER (CBSDFW.COM/AP) — Denver Public Schools crisis counselors met with children and staff at an elementary school after a 9-year-old student killed himself. The boy's mother says he took his own life because he was bullied for being gay.
The Denver Post reports coroner's confirmed Jamel Myles died by suicide on Thursday. A DPS spokesman says Jamel was a fourth-grader at Joe Shoemaker Elementary School.
"My child died because of bullying. My baby killed himself," Leia Pierce, the boy's mother, told the Post. Now the woman is begging other parents to talk to their children about the impact of bullying.
According to stopbullying.gov, between 1 in 4 and 1 in 3 U.S. students say they have been bullied at school and most of that bullying happens to kids in middle school.
Anastasia Taylor, a licensed clinical social worker and founder of Alliance Child & Family Solutions in Fort Worth, recently stopped by CBS 11 News to talk about bullying and offer suggestions to help parents them navigate the issue.
- LISTEN TO AN EXPERT ON BULLYING
Back in Denver, Jamel's mother said her son had come out as gay this summer and began wearing fake fingernails on Aug. 20, the first day at school. Pierce says she found Jamel's body on Thursday and tried unsuccessfully to revive her son.
According to the Colorado Health Institute, suicide is the leading cause of death in Colorado among children and adolescents ages 10 to 24.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
