Labels

φ Chapter Nine φ

"Thank you for what you said, Vincent." says Mrs. Murphy. "It needed to be said, at least before I get suspended." Mr Murphy shook his head, "No. I won't allow it. You said what needed to be said. And it's true that this school's a piece of shit-"

"Daniel!" 

"No Abigail," he says "This school and those girls are the reason our daughter's dead and we need to do something about it."

"But what can we do?" she asked.

"We can start with suing. We'll go from there."

If a student commits an act of cyber-bullying, even while off school grounds, they can still be punished at school for it. If a student commits an act of bullying (taunting, fighting, etc.) off school grounds but someone has proof that it happened, they can still be punished at school for it. The school has made it to where not just the parents are responsible for punishing these acts purely because a lot of times, parents won't do anything about it.

They have a group of students that are considered special for if another student needs to talk. They call them "Natural Helpers" and they did several weeks of training to learn what was considered a "mandatory report" situation (I.e.- abuse, assault, sexual assault/rape, etc.), how to be a listening ear and not a judging face or mind, how to recognize the signs of depression or suicidal tendencies.

They also have designated "safe spaces" throughout the school where students can go with a counselor or a Natural Helper and talk about things and it's 100% private and nothing can be repeated (other than things that are subject of a mandatory report.).

The high school didn't have a counselor to talk to or anyone bothered to listen to what was going on in students' daily lives or anything else. So as a result of the lawsuit, the school now has actual psychologists on staff at all times.

Changes were being made, as it should've been. All schools should have this option, but not all of them do. Bullying is never going to end, but maybe it can lessen in as many ways as possible. It's just such a shame no one does anything until a tragedy happens. take action before it's too late.

Maybe Harper's story can prevent at least one person from turning to suicide or stop one person from bullying. Because even the little things can save one person's life.

The End

A.N/ This book has come to an end. I hope you OITs enjoyed this novella. I just wanted to get this important message out. I might add another chapter later, but I hope the message is clear. Please comment, vote, and share. Thank you