Warning: This post deals with themes of suicide and may be triggering for some readers.
Josh Taylor should be feeding his dogs this morning.
He should be riding his horses and teasing his sister and telling his Mum that he will get ready for school as soon as his favourite show is finished.
He should be racing out the door with his bag in his hand and a promise that he will mow the lawn when he gets home.
His mind should be full of his new pup and his horses and the new Angry Birds that’s out and he should be wondering what his best mate will think of his new trainers.
But Josh Taylor can’t do any of that.
Because Josh Taylor is dead.
And his mother believes that if bullying was stamped out in Australian schools her son would still be here by her side.
Cherie Taylor has written of her heartache at the suicide of her fourteen-year old son after he was bullied.
With schools around the country back for another year she has made a heartfelt plea for justice for her son – and for other parents to recognize the full extent of bullying in our schools.
Cherie Taylor’s son Josh died last year after incessant bullying began on his bus trip to school.
He was in year eight in his Brisbane school – and his Mum says she started becoming concerned when he began to catch the bus to school. His happy, mischievous demeanor turned inward.
He began to stay in bed, he refused to go out and he withdrew into himself.
She told the Courier Mail that her son was so fearful of bullies that he began stealing money to pay them to leave him alone.