View source for Girl Found Hanged In Park Was Bullied Before Death Mother Claims

A thirteen-year-old girl was tragically found hanged in a park where she used to build dens with her brother after viewing social media sites which ‘trivialised' suicide, her mother has claimed.<br>Alyssa Morris was found in Brungerley Park in Clitheroe, Lancashire five days short of her 14th birthday after mental health struggles and ‘social anxieties', an inquest heard.<br>According to her mother she had been bullied relentlessly at school, including being beaten up as well as being targeted online.<br>She is now urging parents to beware the potential harms from social media and online bullying, warning that children are ‘consumed by phones and social media'.<br>Life-saving procedures were attempted but Alyssa was [https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=pronounced%20dead pronounced dead] later that day, February 12.<br>         13-year-old Alyssa had reportedly discussed ending her life in the months before her death<br>         Alyssa was described as 'funny, beautiful, very clever' and planned to work with animals<br>Coroner Richard Taylor told the hearing that a note from Alyssa 'doesn't give any explanation' for her actions, and recorded a [https://www.exeideas.com/?s=conclusion conclusion] of suicide.<br>But afterwards her mother, Kathleen Firth said she was convinced that Alyssa had taken her life because of 'a combination of three things: bullying, social media and  [https://cilegon.karantina.pertanian.go.id/?uh=avuhi&s=planet88(~To99.Asia~),planet88(~To99.Asia~),planet88uh palsu] Covid'.<br>'They created a perfect storm of circumstances that my little girl just couldn't overcome,' she added.<br>She alleged that bullies beat Alyssa up at a bus stop but that [https://realitysandwich.com/_search/?search=police%20failed police failed] to take a statement, forcing Ms Firth to turn detective and seek CCTV footage herself.<br>And she hit out at social media platforms, claiming the use of the term 'unalive' instead of 'suicide' had the effect of 'trivialising' death for vulnerable young users.<br>Described as 'funny, beautiful, very clever', Alyssa loved musicals - especially Hamilton - and loved drawing, and she had ambitions to work with animals and the RSPCA.<br>According to her mother, she had no problems at primary school, but struggled after starting secondary school in 2020 - partly due to Covid requirements which saw pupils taught in 'bubbles'.<br>The hearing in Accrington was told that Alyssa began displaying 'social anxieties' and had self-harmed by cutting her arms.<br>Her mother suspected she was autistic, the hearing was told, although it was never formally diagnosed, and Alyssa became 'upset' when she sought medical help.<br>'Alyssa wasn't comfortable discussing issues in front of people,' she told the inquest.<br>'I could see instantly she was withdrawing from the conversation.'<br>She said she had spoken to Alyssa's school about her issues, but had been made to feel 'silly', and believed they had been made worse by Covid.<br>Ms Firth had referred her daughter to a GP but there had been no formal diagnosis of autism.<br>She said Alyssa turned to drawing, using a journal and 'her behaviour seemed more positive'.<br>Alyssa also started at a new school in [https://www.bing.com/search?q=Blackburn&form=MSNNWS&mkt=en-us&pq=Blackburn Blackburn] and seemed 'very positive', Ms Firth said.<br>The inquest heard how Alyssa had discussed taking her own life in online chat with two friends and had also looked into a suicide technique.<br>But in the days before her death her mother hadn't noticed 'anything unusual'.<br>'She had seemed so positive over the previous months,' Ms Firth said in her statement to the hearing.<br>'This was such a shock because there was nothing to suggest anything would happen.'<br>She was found in a secluded area of the park where she walked the family dog and had built dens with her brother.<br>In a statement after the hearing, Ms Firth said her daughter's mental health [https://www.bing.com/search?q=struggles&form=MSNNWS&mkt=en-us&pq=struggles struggles] started in Year 7 when [https://sportsrants.com/?s=%27bullies 'bullies] and Covid restrictions took my daughter's soul away and impacted her mental health'.<br>'False rumours circulated around school with misinterpreted videos,' she said.<br>'Thanks to phones and social media it didn't just consume her school life, but it intruded into her home life too.'<br>Despite moving school, bullying continued there and from previous classmates via social media, she claimed.<br>During one incident, in July 2022, Alyssa had been badly attacked at a bus stop by other children and it was reported to police, according to Ms Firth.<br>But she alleged that despite attending a police station, no-one took a statement from her.<br>By last September the bullying had stopped and Alyssa appeared to be 'thriving' after starting Year 9, she added.<br>         Bullying reportedly continued after Alyssa moved schools, from old and new classmates<br>         Alyssa's mother attributed her daughter's death to bullying, Covid and social media<br>Ms Firth accused social [https://www.savethestudent.org/?s=media%20platforms media platforms] of trivialising suicide, saying she believed videos and content that Alyssa saw before she died 'failed to make her understand the severity of her actions'.<br>'Did she really understand the repercussions of what she was doing?' she asked.<br>Ms Firth said she was speaking out to raise awareness of the potential harms from social media and online bullying.<br>The schools Alyssa [https://www.google.co.uk/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=attended&gs_l=news attended] were not given at the hearing, and no-one from Lancashire Police or medical professionals who assessed her gave evidence.<br>The force said it was looking into Alyssa's mother's claims.<br>For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit samaritans.org<br>