As a result, many parents have taken matters into their own hands.
Amanda Riedel’s 13-year-old son, Harrison, left home one morning in 2014, busy texting on his cell phone. By 10:15 a.m., he had died by suicide.
Amanda believes the tragedy could have been avoided if Harrison had received support services and education, and she founded the Harrison Riedel Foundation to help prevent other families from going through what she went through. The foundation has developed an app called Your Crew, which aims to help teens access support services more quickly.
Listen to this episode of This Glorious Mess. Guest Laura Mazza is pretty okay with her son standing up to the school bully. Post continues after the podcast.
Dolly Everett’s parents similarly turned their pain into action, creating the Dolly’s Dream Foundation to raise money and awareness for cyberbullying and youth suicide. Dolly’s Law, introduced in the New South Wales Parliament, establishes harsher consequences for cyberbullying.
However, nationally, no targeted framework exists to address the prevalence of bullying in schools. The National Center for the Prevention of Bullying (NCAB), an initiative of the Alana and Madeline Foundation, is calling for legislation across Australia to ensure schools have consistent policies and frameworks across the country.
