My daughter was killed by 21st century pressures of social media
Father of hanged girl, 15, blames net
A SCHOOLGIRL hanged herself because she could not cope with the ‘21st-century pressures’ caused by social media and mobile phones, her father said yesterday.
The family of 15- year- old Olivia Glennie had no idea anything was wrong before her death.
He father Alex said the pressures of 24hour communication by text, Facebook and the internet mean teenagers face ‘too much, too young’, and parents need to pay more heed to the danger signs.
Olivia was found hanging from a tree in September by a dog walker. She was given resuscitation treatment and taken to hospital but died five days later.
Talented and popular, Olivia was outwardly happy but was hiding insecurities about her boyfriend, her friends and her looks, an inquest heard. Her family said they were unaware of her problems as she ‘had everything to live for’ and had enjoyed her sister’s wedding only days before.
Mr Glennie, 51, a contracts manager from Huddersfield, told the Daily Mail: ‘I can’t say what was going through her mind, I don’t think anybody in this world can.
‘Maybe people need to be more aware of the signs with teenagers in this day and
‘Need to be more aware of the signs’
age. With the internet and mobile phones and Facebook, I think they are getting too much, too young. It’s a cultural change.
‘Children are growing up so quickly. They have a lot of pressures, these 21st-century pressures.’ He said his daughter, who was 6ft 1in, could have been a model but was insecure about her teenage acne.
‘She would say to me, “Dad, I’ve got too many spots”,’ he said. ‘I have photographs of her with no makeup on and she still looks beautiful.’
A statement f rom Olivia’s mother, Diane, 49, was read to the inquest in Huddersfield. She said: ‘To be told that our beautiful daughter would not pull through brought unimaginable pain, all our hopes and dreams for her were shattered.
‘She must have been in a really dark place at that time. This is something, as a mother, I wish I could have helped her with.’
The inquest heard from Olivia’s friends that she was upset about splitting from her on-off boyfriend and had fallen out with a close friend. One friend was aware Olivia had been self-harming by cutting her hip, but her parents did not know. Friends had been supportive and did not suspect she was suicidal.
Olivia had taken her French and history GCSEs early and was expecting A* and A grades in a further ten. She had been to 15 countries on family holidays and had hoped to go to university with the aim of being a teacher.
Her organs were donated, as she had requested, and her family recently received a letter saying she had helped save the lives of three people: a 14-year-old girl, a woman in her 20s and a man in his 30s whose successful kidney transplant has enabled him to take his first holiday abroad.
Mr Glennie said: ‘She will be living on in somebody else. That is comforting to know.’
Assistant coroner Mary Burke said Olivia ‘had everyday issues that you would expect with a teen growing up’. She added: ‘She was a 15-year-old girl with a complex range of ever-increasing pressures and stresses which face adolescents in their daily lives.’
Recording a narrative verdict, she said she had doubts Olivia intended to take her own life and it was possible she believed she would be found before her actions proved fatal.
For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a l ocal Samaritans branch. See www.samaritans.org