‘He was taunted… it was mental torture’
Cyber bullying
Felix Alexander took his own life, aged 17, after being relentlessly bullied online through his time at school.
He was late to go online – not fully on social media until he was 15 – when pupils began to post anonymous comments like “everybody hates you”, or “nobody wants you at their party”. According to Lucy, his mother, it was a “consistently cruel” core group who targeted him.
Despite being “brilliant” at rugby and made captain of his school team, he was ridiculed by his team-mates. Anyone who stood up for him themselves faced being ostracised.
“He was taunted mercilessly in group chats – they would round on him. It was called ‘dogpiling’, everyone grouping together and having a go at an easy target. He’d be pulled into a group so he could see the comments, then blocked so he couldn’t contribute. It was mental torture,” says Lucy.
She tried taking his phone away and hiding his ipad but he would still get up in the night to see what was being said about him. “If I see them, I feel armed,” he would say to his mother.
The stress affected his health and meant he failed to get the GCSE grades he needed and had to move schools. Initially, it appeared to be a blessing in disguise. At his new school, he found friends, was invited to parties and appeared happier. Then, one morning, he walked out in front of a train.
His mother later found screenshots of a stream of abuse on his computer from a Facebook group three months before he took his life in April. “It obviously affected him deeply,” says Lucy. “It began with an innocuous remark, talking about friends at the new school, then went on and on until he was told to hang himself.”
Lucy, who now helps educators and parents combat online bullying, says: “Social media platforms need to start taking more responsibility. Kids also need immediate access to mental healthcare and counsellors. If all those things had been in place, Felix might still be here today.”