People in the town of Roblin are struggling to come to terms with the recent suicide of a teenager.

Gary Hansen, 16, hanged himself two weeks ago. Although he left no note or explanation, his parents believe bullying pushed their son to take his own life.

Hansen's parents say their son had been teased and picked on by classmates at school for years. Two years ago, it got bad enough that his parents decided to home-school him, but at the start the latest school year, the 16-year-old decided to return to public school.

"People bullied him all the time," says Gary's best friend, Craig Shiner. "I think if they would have stopped, he would have changed his mind."

The province's chief medical examiner, Dr. Thambirajah Balachandra, ordered RCMP officers to interview students at the school the day Gary was found. They heard similar stories.

"So far, it appears that he had been bullied left and right at school. I think that had something to do with his hanging," says Balachandra.

"In a written statement, officials with Goose Lake High School say they had no idea Gary Hansen was being bullied, because no specific incidents were reported to them. Still, staff will review the school's bullying policy at a professional development day on Friday.

Community rallies to end bullying

Gary's mother, Pamela, wants to help put a stop to bullying, saying she can't let anyone else go through the suffering she's going through.

"It's devastating. I mean, any parent who's lost a child can understand that, and any parent who's lost a child to suicide doubly understands it, because there's so many questions … that are going to stay unanswered. It's just hard, really hard," she says.

"This happens everywhere, and we've got to deal with it, because if we push it under the carpet, it's just going to get worse."

People in the town are also trying to address the issue. Jennifer Laviolette, the town librarian, wrote a letter to the editor about bullying in the community and received 75 phone calls the day after it was published.

"The response in itself shows how many people are willing to work to solve this," she says. "If we can make it so Gary Hansen's death wasn't in vain, if we can prevent this from happening again, then something positive has happened from this."

Members of the community held a meeting Tuesday night to discuss the issue. Laviolette has also started circulating a petition asking people if they think there is a problem with bullying in Roblin.

The campaign won't bring back their only child, but Pamela and Cliff Hansen hope his death encourages other victims of bullying to speak out.