Youngsters who ‘excluded and abused Jade’ asked to be kind to others
A TRAGIC teen’s mum has forgiven the bullies who she says drove her daughter to take her own life.
Samantha Taylor penned a heartfelt message on social media to the classmates of Jade McGrath.
Jade, 19, went missing from New Craigs psychiatric hospital in Leachkin, Inverness, in November and her body was found days later.
Samantha said her daughter was let down by the mental health system after years of being bullied.
She addressed the post to “all of you who excluded/bullied/ verbally or physically assaulted Jade McGrath at Carrbridge Primary, Grantown Grammar and Millburn High School between 2010 and 2015”.
She said: “You know who you are. As everyone now knows, she took her own life at the end of November last year.
“I want you to know a few things. The damage that you did to her self-esteem was profound and long-lasting.
“Although she fought hard and valiantly to overcome the damage that you caused, in the end she lost her fight, just when she seemed to be finally turning a corner.
“She never got a chance to do BY STEPHEN STEWART s.stewart@dailyrecord.co.uk her exams at Millburn because she was too terrified to go to school.
“That meant no college, so no qualifications, so she was forced to do unskilled, low-paid jobs.
“As a result of her sensitive, gentle nature, she found it hard to recover from the bullying and abuse that you inflicted on her.
“She developed mental health and behavioural problems which were related to her poor self-esteem.
“Until the bullying started, her self-esteem was fine. Eventually, she was diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder as a result of this trauma in her early years.
“It is estimated that up to 10 per cent of BPD sufferers complete suicide.
“I also want you to know this: I forgive you. I forgive you, because you were only young when you inflicted this damage, too young to understand what you were doing.”
Samantha added in the post that she wanted the youngsters who read it to be kinder to people they met in future.
The grieving mum also said she was not “blaming” them for Jade’s death.
She wrote: “I know that you will always have the guilt of knowing that you were a contributing factor in our precious Jade’s early demise, and that is punishment enough.
“So I am not writing this post out of hatred or revenge. Instead of adding to your pain by blaming you, I want to ask you to do something for Jade, in her honour and her memory.
“I want you to always make the time in your life to help the people that you go to college or uni with, or work with, people like Jade. Gentle, sensitive, quirky people who have trouble fitting in, or try too hard to fit in because they don’t think they are good enough as they are.
“Go out of your way to include them, give them compliments, boost their self-confidence and self-esteem. Be kind to them and support them.
“And when you become parents yourselves, please, please teach your kids to be kind to their classmates.
“Explain to them that some people take things to heart more than they should, so it’s important to be gentle, kind and inclusive.
“Make them understand that by observing bullying or exclusion but doing nothing about it, they become complicit in it.
“Jade was a special girl. Before the bullying started, she was a normal, happy kid. She was loads of fun, sharp-witted, lively and hilarious.
“To see her crumble, slowly, over the last six years of her life has broken our hearts, permanently.
“I am writing this post as a small step towards ensuring that Jade’s life was not in vain.
“It’s all I have the energy to do at this point. We love her and miss her so much.”