Bullying victim quits going to school after suicide attempt

Since January 2019, 15-year-old Joseph Rollitt has been struggling to leave his home. The resident of Grasmere, Lake District faced years of bullying for being shorter than his classmates. Fed up with the bullying, Joseph tried to hang himself last year. His father, Brian Rollitt, found Joseph before he managed to harm himself. Since his breakdown, Joseph has not returned to the same school. Joseph continues to battle the trauma and hopes to gain a college education.

Joseph claims that four years ago, his friends turned against him. They started making nasty jokes about him being only 5 feet tall. They also started calling him smelly. Constant mental stress triggered a medical condition which made Joseph soil himself, leading to more bullying. The bullying started off with name-calling, but it soon turned physical. Being smaller than his bullies, Joseph was often pushed around physically.

Brian recalled a day in January when Joseph came home depressed. The father-of-two had often seen Joseph coming home depressed from school, after being picked on by his peers. Joseph was reportedly crying and shaking uncontrollably on that particular day. Suddenly, the 46-year-old father found his teenage son missing from the family home.

Brian frantically started searching for Joseph. Remembering the incident, Brian told The Sun that he thought Joseph had run away from home. In reality, the teen was trying to do something far more fatal. Joseph was trying to take his own life. Before the schoolboy could hang himself, he was found.

The two-hour search ended when Joseph was found near his home. He was taken to Kendal Hospital where he went under psychiatric observation overnight. Brian was informed that his son would be released from the hospital only if he was able to keep a constant eye on him.

Worried about another breakdown, Brian contacted the school which claimed to have a strict bullying policy in place. However, the cautious father was not willing to put his son through the trauma again.

Joseph was enrolled in a school for children who have faced bullying. Later, he had to leave the school after his funding was cut. Joseph hopes to enroll in a program which would eventually allow him to get a college education.

Traumatised by the years of bullying Joseph has to take diazepam and anti-depressants as well as attend counselling sessions. Brian hopes to raise awareness against bullying to end it in schools.

Due to the school shut down, there has been no comments from the school Joseph used to attend.