You can bet if it happened to one of their daughters they would not only reopen an investigation but there would be real action taken to see that justice was served.
Police are insisting they have no grounds to reopen a case that recently saw a Halifax area teen take her own life after being raped and photographed by four boys and then harassed endlessly until she obviously felt she could no longer take the pain. Rehtaeh Parsons, age 17 died in hospital last week after non yielding taunts by fellow classmates and strangers that lasted for nearly two years. Apparently passed out drunk at a party (no this isn't a good thing but in no way means what happened to her is excusable) Parsons was not only (allegedly) raped by four boys but they took photographs and subsequently posted them online for all to see.
The teen moved cities and schools but, "She was never left alone," he mother says. "Her friends turned against her, people harassed her, boys she didn't know started texting her and Facebooking her asking her to have sex with them... it just never stopped."
Reportedly at least one of the boys involved admitted to what happened while showing off photos of himself in the act yet police refuse to reopen the case? That's shameful. Nothing can bring Parsons back but what kind of message is this sending to other would be attackers and/or the teens that are the victims? How very sad.
"My daughter wasn't bullied to death," says the girls father. "She was disappointed to death. Disappointment in the people she thought she could trust, her school and the police."
Following in the wake of another well publicized teen suicide of Amanda Todd who took her own life after becoming the victim of cyberbullying, the death has opened a nation-wide debate - should Canada have stricter laws when it comes to this type of bullying? Without any hesitation I say yes. Yes to tougher laws all around. How can we as Canadians stand by and watch outcomes like this and the people who cause them walk away scot-free?
How would you feel if this were YOUR daughter?
Stricter laws, education, awareness initiatives or a combination of all of the above, there has to be ways we can deal with happenings like this to make them stop.
A little childhood teasing is one thing but months of endless, degrading torment is another and someone - other than the victim - should pay the price.
