The problem is, IMHO that she got bullied to the point where obviously she saw no way out but to die. If a parent or a pedophile was 'grooming' her, he or she, would not have been bullying her, rather one would expect grooming her by sympathy and all that stuff so she was tricked into thinking she had a friend on her side.
I also think that you cannot put an age group on bullying, it happened to my son when he was five, a group of kids bullied him relentlessly by following him everywhere in the play ground, scratched his Cornea with a tree stick. Bullied and teased him when he went to the toilets. Gouged a wound down his back, ripping his shirt off him as they did...and it got to the stage where I threatened the school principal that if my son came home with anymore injuries I would sue. Needless to say, even at five, children can be so cunning and cruel that it went on and so I took him out of school. For the last two months of the year I taught him at home.
We then changed school where their policy on bullying was strict, robust and dealt with in the manner appropriate to the behaviour. He never got bullied there. I was a single parent and after the first school, I was vigilant to any problems but the school was fantastic.
When he was in his first year of secondary school he again got bullied. I was shocked that the House Master did nothing. It took me a while but I finally got hold of the right people at the school and the bullying stopped. The rest of his time at school was fantastic and he made some wonderful friends. Parents must be their children's advocate, protector...whatever you want to call it.
I am not blaming Amanda's parents but even several thousand miles away and only over the phone, I could tell if my son was happy, sad, anxious and all the emotional things that start happening in teenage years. I had some terrible calls from him at times but knew he had to stand up and face the problem in some instances. Other times straight after finishing my call with my son, I was on the phone to someone at the school who could stand in and assess the problem.
Bullying happens in the work-place, it happens to some people more than others through no fault of theirs. But somehow, Amanda did not get the respect and attention she needed so badly and at the right times. Or, for the right reasons. At least that seems to be, as an observer. And, what about the parents of the teenagers who were the bullies, what the hell were they doing?
I don't know what I would have done if my son had continued to be bullied, but I would have been kicking down doors for answers. Parents and teachers need to work together to pull up bullying and it never makes you popular believe me, but how much is a young person's life worth?
blackemerald1