‘Too hard’: Tragic detail in 12yo’s death
Warning: Distressing content
A young girl who died by suicide after allegedly being bullied reportedly left a note to her family asking her mother to “tell the school” and speaking of those who made “life too hard”.
The tragic detail surrounding the death of Sydney schoolgirl Charlotte follows her mother Kelly delivering a touching eulogy, where she said she will “never be OK” following her daughter’s death and how she would miss the small details of life with her daughter.
Charlotte, a year 7 student at Santa Sabina College in Sydney’s inner-west, died by suicide on September 9.
Her family have claimed Charlotte was subject to bullying at the school.
Notes left by the young girl reportedly ask her mother to “tell the school”, and detailing who she wanted at her funeral, as well as others who had made “life too hard”.
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Charlotte’s mother Kelly said she knew her daughter was her “soulmate” within a “moment of being her mother”, while speaking the funeral at Charlotte’s primary school, Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Bossley Park, on Friday,
“She was the cutest, kindest and smartest baby I had ever known,” she said, according to 7NEWS.
“My pride and joy and my best friend.”
She said she will miss her daughter “every day that ends in ‘Y’”, and will “never be OK without (her)”.
She said she would miss her daughter’s hugs, kisses, laugh and her “big beautiful smiles”.
“I will miss our chats and making plans,” Kelly said.
“I will miss you making videos of us and your eye rolls when I ask you to bring down your clothes to wash.”
Kelly said she will “always” love her daughter.
“You are my world, my life, my Queen B diva, my beauty queen, the star on top of the Christmas tree,” she said.
The grieving mother also pledged to get her daughter to Disneyland and Paris, saying “we will have our hot dog in New York” before thanking her for everything.
“Thank you for your baby stage, thank you for your mermaid stage, thank you for your hugs and kisses,” she said.
“This isn’t goodbye; it just means we get to love you as you are forever.”
BEING CHARLOTTE’S STEPFATHER THE ‘GREATEST HONOUR’
Charlotte’s stepfather Matthew thanked the 12-year-old for giving him the “greatest honour” while speaking at the funeral, according to 7NEWS.
“Thank you for being you, thank you for being so thoughtful, thank you for being so kind, thank you for being so brave,” Matthew said.
“Thank you for giving me the greatest honour to be your dad.
“I miss you today and I’ll miss you every tomorrow.”
Charlotte’s primary school has reportedly given staff and students the day off for the funeral.
In place of flowers, Charlotte’s family have asked people to donate to Kids Helpline.
Kelly earlier shared the final message she sent to the school after her daughter’s death.
“My beautiful girl took her own life last night because of the relentless friendship issues she faced,” Kelly wrote.
“She didn’t deserve to go to and from school crying almost every day. She didn’t deserve girls to bark in her face or scream out her name and run away, to purposely hit her with their bag and say whoops.”
‘PUNISHING PEOPLE NOW HAS NO VALUE’
Charlotte’s mother Kelly said “punishing people now has no value” moments before the funeral began, according to The Daily Telegraph.
“Every child that was allowed to continue their behaviour was failed,” Kelly said.
“Every child apart of the toxic environment that was allowed to breed was failed. Their stories aren’t over.”
She said “this tragedy could have been any one of those children, unfortunately it happened to mine”.
“Punishing people now has no value. Their lives moving forward will be hard enough,” she said.
“She didn’t deserve the pain she was in. She deserved love and kindness. She deserved to be treated with dignity and respect.
“My darling baby angel is gone because I didn’t make a big enough noise for her. I’m sorry baby, I’m sorry.”
Stepfather Matthew on Monday told 2GB’s Ben Fordham he and Charlotte’s loved ones “won’t recover” from the tragic death.
He also said he’s “disappointed” by Santa Sabina College’s response, bluntly telling Fordham parents who have come out in support of the school will pick up their daughters from school, while he’ll never be able to do that again.
“I think outside of the response from the broader community of the school I have to say I’ve been disappointed to say the least, with the response that’s come from the school,” Matthew said.
“Some of the responses that have gone into the media, I think the first response was around that there’s inconsistencies in their records and I thought that comment to go out at that time when we were grieving was unnecessary.
“And since then, comments like the school’s been overwhelmed with support from other parents coming forward and saying how well they deal with these types of issues. And I’m sure they’ve had some communication and some support, Ben.
“But those mothers that have given that school support, no doubt they will be planning on picking their daughter up from school today, and we are not.”
Santa Sabina College principal Paulina Skerman earlier said bullying allegations were being taken seriously, but that some claims “are not consistent with (their) records”, according to news.com.au.
Ms Skerman also said in a statement that parents had been sending in messages of support for the school, including ones that “talk about their children feeling safe and cared for” at the college.
“Our Anti-Bullying Policy is available on our website, and was developed in consultation with the Association of Independent Schools of NSW, and further approved earlier this year by the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA),” Ms Skerman said.
“Our students and our families are highly informed on the policy and the procedures for reporting and resolving matters of concern, and they utilise this as needed.
“Our focus as a College is the ongoing support and care for our students, their families and our staff, and to supporting Charlotte’s family through their unimaginable grief.
“We are continuing to work with Headspace and other providers to ensure that we follow the most supportive and safest practices for our community at this time.”