Kyle Darker was 12 when he was found hanged at his home in Eccles, Greater Manchester. The coverage of his death is a gutpunch; it makes for almost impossible reading. On a Facebook memorial page, a girl who appeared to be his friend wrote: “Hate bullies so much. RIP Kyle, sleep tight little man, had your whole life ahead of you.”
Media reports are quick to link the deaths of young people to bullying. After Thomas Mullaney, 15, died in 2010 following threats online, his father Robert said “Kids don’t understand what they do on Facebook has consequences. In our case I lost my son.” In the US, meanwhile, there was an anti-bullying campaign in which supporters of Michael Morones, 11, who was hospitalised last month after a suicide attempt, get My Little Pony tattoos. Michael was bullied at school because he liked the cartoon.
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