Lawsuit Blames School for the Suicide of an 8-Year-Old

An 8-year-old boy hanged himself after dealing with what his parents called a “treacherous school environment”, and now they’re filing a lawsuit against his school for not taking enough action.

About the Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Gabriel Taye of Cincinnati, Ohio died on January 6th after facing brutal bullying, CBS reports. He committed suicide using a neck tie that was tied to his bunk bed.

Just two days before his suicide, he had been beaten up by a group of students outside of a boys’ bathroom and was knocked unconscious. This wasn’t reported to his mother by the school, Carson Elementary, and she only found out about it when she was shown a police detective’s email that described it.

Lawyers told Taye’s parents about the assault and also revealed to them that their son was one of several children that had been bullied at the school.

An attorney for the family says that if school officials had been more honest with Taye’s mother she would have never allowed him to return to his elementary school.

More Details on the Aftermath of the Suicide

Prosecutors for Taye’s death didn’t charge any students related to his death.

Gabriel Taye was buried with an electronic tablet so that he could have something to “play with in heaven”, but his coffin had to be opened up and his tablet was removed in case it held any additional information.

Since Gabriel Taye’s suicide, the principal of his school is being reassigned, the assistant principal has left, and the superintendent has retired.

National Bullying Statistics

The following statistics on bullying were provided by StopBullying.gov:

  • 28% of students in the United States in grades 6-12 have experienced bullying of some sort.
  • 6% of students have said that they have witnessed someone being bullied in their school.
  • A recent study has shown that 49% of students in grades 4-12 have reported being bullied by others at school within the span of a month.
  • Less than a third of students who are being bullied ever report it to adults.
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