My people. Let us be careful who our children interact with o. Abi? See what exposure to internet has caused. When you take God away from the schools of a Nation whose founder taught it wise to say "IN GOD WE TRUST", this is what you get. May this lovely soul rest in peace.
A 14-year-old Leicestershire girl killed herself after being bullied on a social networking site, her father has claimed.
Hannah Smith, from Lutterworth, was found hanged on Friday.
Her
father Dave Smith, wrote on Facebook that he found bullying posts on
his daughter's ask.fm page from people telling her to die.
Latvia-based ask.fm allows users to post anonymously. An inquest into Hannah's death has opened in Leicester.
Writing
on Facebook last Friday, Mr Smith wrote: "Just to let all my friends
know my youngest daughter took her own life last night."
'Broken heart'
He adds: "Rest in peace my baby and you will never be forgotten xxxxxxx."
He
added: "My heart is broken in 2 and is gonna take a long time to repair
i just hope that none of you have to go through the pain im goin
through rite now [sic]."
Mr Smith has called for tighter controls to be applied to social networking sites such as ask.fm, a question and answer forum.
He
wrote: "I have just seen the abuse my daughter got from people on ask
fm and the fact that these people can be annoymous is wrong [sic]."
On his Facebook page, he asked people to sign an e-petition to introduce safeguarding measures on sites used by children.
Unlike sites such as Facebook and Twitter, there are no options to block or report users on ask.fm.
'Loss to understand'
The
petition states: "Please sign if you would like the Government to step
in and insist that Ask.fm and similar sites help us protect our young
people. They are able to join from the age of 13 and can post
anonymously."
In a statement, Hannah's headteacher at Lutterworth
High School, Nora Parker, said: "The governors, staff and students of
Lutterworth High School were deeply shocked and saddened to learn the
news that on 2 August Hannah Smith, a year 9 student, took her own life.
"Hannah,
who just completed her final year at the school and was looking to
transfer to Lutterworth College in August, was a bright, bubbly, popular
and thoughtful girl who was liked and respected by all those she came
into contact with.
ask.fm homepage
"She had everything to live for and her family, who are utterly devastated, are at a loss to understand why this has happened."
Peter
Wanless, chief executive of the NSPCC, said: "This is a tragic case
where Hannah felt like she had no other option but to end her life.
"The cruel nature of cyberbullying allows perpetrators to remain anonymous and hide behind their screens.
"This
is something that must be tackled before it gets out of hand. We must
ensure young people have the confidence to speak out against this abuse,
so they don't feel isolated and without anywhere to turn."
The Department for Education said in a statement that no-one "should have to suffer the fear and victimization of bullying".
"The law is clear that what is illegal off-line is also illegal on-line.
"Perpetrators of grossly offensive, obscene or menacing behaviour face stiff punishment.
"Through
the UK Council of Child Internet Safety we are working with social
networking sites and internet providers to make the internet a safer
place for a young people."
It also added that under the new
curriculum children would be taught from the age of five "how to stay
safe online, and how to communicate safely and respectfully".
At
the opening of the inquest into Hannah's death, Leicestershire Coroner's
Court was told a post-mortem examination had so far proved
inconclusive.
Leicestershire Police confirmed a computer and mobile phone had been secured on behalf of the coroner.
A
spokesperson said there was no ongoing criminal investigation, adding:
"We await the coroner's verdict before making a decision on whether to
pursue that."
The inquest was adjourned until a later date.
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