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bailey O'Neill, bully, bullies, coma, dead

Bailey O’Neill Bullied and Dies one day after Birthday

by Deborah Cruz

bailey O'Neill, bully, bullies, coma, deadBailey O’Neill turned 12-years-old on Saturday, March 2; the same night that we were having a slumber party to celebrate my Bella’s upcoming 8th birthday. While we were celebrating, Bailey O’Neill and his family were not because Baily was in the hospital recuperating after a January attack by bullies left him in a coma. He died in the hospital on Sunday, March 3, one day after turning 12. When the eff are we going to say no more? When are we, the people, going to stand up against the bullies and fight back to protect the little guy?

Bailey’s family says he was attacked on the playground at his Darby Township School in Pennsylvania back in January, suffering a concussion and broken nose. That would have been enough for me to drag these kids in and press charges. Nobody puts a hand on my baby. This case makes me want to scream. How many of our children have to die before we start treating bullies like the criminals that they are?

He was taken to the hospital for treatment when his parents noticed that Bailey was displaying unusual behavior and wasn’t interested in eating. I wouldn’t have been much interested in eating either if I had been jumped or had my nose broken and suffered a concussion at school. I would instead be feeling vulnerable and afraid for my life.  Where were the teachers? Why wasn’t there some sort of adult supervision? Where were the adults who are supposed to protect our children?

The day after the attack, Bailey O’Neill began to suffer violent seizures, leading doctors to put him into a medically induced coma. While in the coma, Baily caught pneumonia. Doctors were forced to give him a blood transfusion.

bailey O'Neill, coma, Dead, Bully, Bullies

Bailey O’Neill died on Sunday.

I don’t know about you but I don’t send my child to school so that they can be bullied, belittled or accosted.The bullies who beat Bailey O’Neill senseless may not have killed him on the playground but they certainly set into motion circumstances that killed him and took a child from the arms of his parents too soon.

As a mother, my heart is broken and I am pissed off. I want to see the children who assaulted him with such flagrant disregard for his life punished. Bullying is killing our children directly through these sorts of brutal acts like this one that took the life of Bailey O’Neill or indirectly by pushing our children to the point where life is so unlivable because of the constant torture that they feel that the only way to get relief is to kill themselves. I am enraged by this. This should make you angry too. This is bullshit and it could happen to any of our children.No one is safe from these sorts of miscreants.

They don’t need to do anything to provoke it. No child deserves to be bullied. Yet, we all sit around and accept bullies to be a part of life; something to be tolerated and accepted. I say no more. No way can we accept this anymore.

I spent yesterday listening as my daughter recounted with excitement every detail of her first sleepover. As I sat there exhausted from no sleep, I happily smiled and listened because she was here to share with me; to hear her giggle, for me to hug. Bailey’s parents have been robbed of their son forever by careless and cruel bullies who thought it was their right to pick on Bailey just because they wanted to with no regard for what he meant to the people in his life. What makes bullies think they are more important or have more value in society than those they bully? Don’t let Bailey O’Neill’s death be in vain, fight to change the way we tolerate bullies. Stop now.

What do you think should happen to bullies who cause the death of children like Bailey O’Neill.

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5 comments

Rachel 2013/03/04 - 8:02 pm

This makes me so, so, so sick. I think I’m going to build an underground cave far away from humanity and never come out… 🙁

But thanks for raising this issue on your blog, and for being an ally to kids who are suffering. We really do need to see more people refusing to accept harassment! It’s just horribly sad and I have a hard time reading and thinking about it.

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Deborah Cruz 2013/03/05 - 3:42 pm

@Rachel We all need to stand up as a society and say no more. We can not accept and tolerate these bullies pushing our children to the brink where they end up either killing themselves, going on a rampage and killing others of the bully literally kills them. Why are we tolerating? What makes the bully someone that we need to tolerate? What makes these monsters so special?

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Rachel 2013/03/05 - 7:55 pm

I know, and it is so frustrating that we have to ask ourselves those questions. I’d chalk it all up to…
A) Poor parenting (on the parts of bullies’ parents)
B) Teachers just not being present/vigilant enough and therefore unable to intervene on situations before they worsen. I hate to see teachers blamed for every problem affecting youth in society (especially because I want to become one), but I know how much effort, preparation and skill it takes to actually create a classroom environment where everyone knows that there is zero tolerance towards bullying, and I know how difficult it is to get kids to really respect that rule. Teachers definitely need much better training in handling these situations so that they can be mitigated early, and schools need more support staff on the schoolyard in order to avoid these horrific incidents if things do in fact escalate.
C) Schools not being prepared with a clear policy on how to handle bullying, and established consequences for bullying not being thoroughly followed through upon
D) Judicial systems not being tough enough on bullies who are eventually convicted (at least, not in Canada, where I’m from) – to me, this is the biggest problem, especially in this case as Bailey had run into serious issues with these despicable people before.

I’d love to hear your opinion on why bullies continue to be such a huge presence and problem in schools. Maybe you could write that as your next post.

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The TRUTH About Motherhood | Sore Loser Dad Goes on "Bullying" Rampage - The TRUTH About Motherhood 2013/10/23 - 11:05 am

[…] Bullying is real and I hate it, probably more than most people but the word bullying is getting thrown around with no weight and it’s pissing me off. This week the Aledo Texas high school coach Tim Buchanan benched his starters after only 21 plays, kept to a conservative ground game and even allowed the clock to run uninterrupted after halftime to show mercy to the winded Western Hills High School. Still, his Bearcats won 91-0; a complete blowout but not a surprise to anyone who is familiar with the undefeated Aledo High School Football team. Football is serious business in Texas. I thought everyone knew that. Now, Coach Buchanan is facing formal accusations of bullying from a parent of the opposing team! Sounds like sour grapes to me. […]

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Gabe 2023/12/17 - 12:22 am

Death penalty for both mongrels.

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