Sammy Teusch, a 10-year-old boy from Greeenfield, Indiana, killed himself in his bedroom on May 5. As per an article by the New York Post, the Indiana boy was being relentlessly bullied at his school, Greenfield Intermediate. His family has said that they had informed school authorities of incidents of bullying against him at least 20 times before.
According to his family, Teusch was bullied right until the night he died by suicide. His father, Sam Teusch said that Sammy was being made fun of for his glasses and his teeth by his peers at his school. The bullying lasted for a long time, including Sammy being beaten up on the school bus, and having his glasses broken by kids at the school.
Teusch called the school asking if the school was taking any action against the bullying. He told the school that the bullying kept getting “worse and worse and worse”.
The school district’s superintendent, Dr. Harold Olin, denied any bullying reports having been submitted by the parents. The schoolboy's family insisted that the school was aware of the bullying.
“I held him in my arms,” his dad, Sam Teusch, told WTHR.com. “I did the thing no father should ever have to do, and any time I close my eyes, it’s all I can see.”
The boy’s mom, Nichole Teusch, believes her son took his life because of the constant bullying which left him too afraid to go to school.
“He was my little boy. He was my baby. He was the youngest one,” she told WTHR.
Bullying went beyond school
His abuse went beyond school and showed up on social media, where his classmates posted threats against him, his father told WTHR-TV.
Sam Teusch said that a student from his school commented, 'I'm going to beat you up. I'm going to beat you up when you get to school,". His father added that the posts often said "mean things about his (mother), which would really, really set him off".
Funeral services were held for him yesterday in Indiana. On the website of Stillinger Family Funeral Home, an obituary described Teusch as a “tremendously loving, laughing, encompassing, and accepting young man”. It went on to say that Sammy was loved by all, thoroughly embraced hugs, and had big plans for the future. “He had the biggest heart along with the best smile”, it said. According to the obituary, Sammy was quick to make friends and meant no harm to anyone.
He was born on February 21, 2014, in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
