Raising awareness about cyberbullying 

Here are some real life examples of victims of cyberbullying who tragically took their own lives.

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Tyler Clementi

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In 2010, 18 year old Tyler Clementi in the United States took his own life after his roommate and another student at Rutgers University secretly filmed Tyler having sex with his male partner, which was broadcast to over 150 of Twitter followers (Pilkington, 2010).  After this was uncovered Tyler typed, "Jumping off the gw [sic] bridge sorry" (Pilkington, 2010) on his Facebook account and tragically jumped to his death from the George Washington bridge in New York.

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Paige Menzies

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In 2012, 16 year old student Paige Menzies, from Victoria, Australia, took her own life after being bullied at school (Jackson and Jolley, 2012).  On her Facebook page Paige regularly spoke of her thoughts of depression and self-harm (Jackson and Jolley, 2012).  After her death Paige's mother found a note that Paige had typed on her Iphone that said, 'To every person who bullies I have no respect for you. You're the reason why I wanted to end my life.' (Topsfield, 2014).  

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Rebecca Sedwick

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In 2013, 11 year old Rebecca Sedwick from Florida, United States, ended her life after being tormented online and in real life by two teenager girls.  While the two convicted girls were charged with aggravated stalking, the charges were dropped a month later (Wallace, 2014).  More than a year before her death, Sedwick had been battling with depression due to her deteriorating relationship with her father, and Rebecca had also raised alarms about her fights between her mother and stepfather (Wallace, 2014).

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Charlotte Dawson - former Australia's Next Top Model judge

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In February 2014, Charlotte Dawson, former judge for Australia's Next Top Model ended her life after having received numerous abuses and threats on her Twitter account.  She openly spoke of her battle with depression, and some of the 'trolls' on Twitter messaged her with "Stick her head in a toaster" and "Kill yourself" (O'Brien and Ralston, 2014).

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Jessica Cleland

In 2014, 18 year old student Jessica Cleland from Victoria, Australia, took her own life after being cyberbullied on Facebook. The night before she took her life she received over 87 abusive messages on her Facebook messenger within the span of an hour and a half (Ford, 2015). Her father, Michael Cleland, is now an ambassador with the Bully Zero Australia Foundation, a not-for-profit group supporting victims and raising awareness about the dangers and consequences of bullying.

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Olivia Penpraze

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In 2014, 19 year old Olivia Penpraze from Victoria, Australia, took her own life after being cyberbullied for many years. Having suffered from anxiety and depression, her blogs contained hurtful and hateful messages which included telling her to go and kill herself (Ford, 2015). After her death Olivia's parents discovered a video Olivia had created where she was saying goodbye.

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