Girl bullied to death: parents
CBC News
Posted: Apr 4, 2011 7:10 PM AT
Last Updated: Apr 4, 2011 10:14 PM AT
Courtney Brown, 17, of Parrsboro, committed suicide last week. (CBC)A 17-year-old Parrsboro girl who killed herself last week was the victim of bullying both at her school and on-line, her parents say.
Courtney Brown was just a couple of months away from graduating from Parrsboro Regional High School when she took her own life Thursday.
"I want to thank everybody for being there for me and my family," her father, Tom Brown, said Monday.
"It's been so hard burying your daughter and most of it's from bullying. I don't want to see anybody's parents go through what I've gone through."
Grieving father, Tom Brown, believes his daughter killed herself because she was being bullied in school and online. Tom and Sharon Brown said Courtney had been bullied for months at her school and on Facebook. They took their concerns to school administrators where Courtney was one of just 32 Grade 12 students.
"I was told that if we don't hear it or we don't see it, then we can't do anything about it," Sharon Brown said. "And the last words we heard were, 'If your daughter isn't happy at our school, move her to Springhill.'"
The Chignecto-Central Regional School Board declined to comment on the matter.
Relatives of the Brown family have travelled to Nova Scotia from across the country to lend their support.
Courtney's parents said things were so bad she was afraid to go outside and wouldn't even take the family dogs that she loved, including her new puppy, out for walks.
Police are investigating her death and have seized Courtney's cell phone and laptop.
Tom Brown said his daughter would always stick up for others, but the bullying just became too much for her to handle.
"If you can't feel safe in your own school and speak up for people who are being bullied, in fear of being bullied yourself, that school shouldn't even be there," he said.
Courtney had also been dealing with the death of her boyfriend. She had been receiving counselling after he was struck by a car and killed last summer.
Courtney was buried Sunday next to her boyfriend.
Share Tools
Latest Nova Scotia News Headlines
- Runner dies after collapsing in Cape Breton race
- A man died after collapsing during the Cabot Trail Relay Race on Sunday morning. more »
- HMCS Ojibwa leaves Halifax for Ontario museum
- HMCS Ojibwa left Halifax on the weekend to begin its new life as a museum in landlocked Ontario community. more »
- Six Cape Breton Catholic churches closing
- Several Cape Breton Roman Catholic church buildings will close and be replaced with one parish, Sydney churchgoers learned Sunday. more »
- Third Halifax shooting may be random: police
- A man was shot in Halifax Saturday night in what police say appears to have been a random act. more »
Top News Headlines
- Canadian Pacific strikers face back-to-work legislation
- Labour Minister Lisa Raitt is prepared to end the Canadian Pacific Railway strike if necessary, after both CP and the union rejected a proposal for voluntary arbitration by the government-appointed negotiator on Sunday. Raitt says she is "extremely disappointed." more »
- Syrian regime denies role in Houla massacre
- The UN Security Council condemned the Syrian regime at an emergency meeting Sunday, holding president Bashar al-Assad's military responsible for the massacre of more than 100 people, dozens of whom were children younger than 10 years old. more »
- Ryder Hesjedal wins prestigious Giro d'Italia
- Victoria, B.C., native Ryder Hesjedal has become the first Canadian to win one of the cycling world's three Grand Tour events, wrapping up the 2012 Giro d'Italia with an excellent performance in the final stage in Milan. more »
- Neighbour may have helped find missing kids in Mexico
- Two Winnipeg children who had been missing for nearly four years were found in Mexico after a man raised concerns about his neighbour, according to a private investigator. more »
- Woman's remains found in hockey bag on Cape Breton river
- Remains found in bag on Cape Breton river ID'd
- Runner dies after collapsing in Cape Breton race
- Third Halifax shooting may be random: police
- Six Cape Breton Catholic churches closing
- Halifax homicide linked to drugs
- Halifax police name homicide victim
- HMCS Ojibwa leaves Halifax for Ontario museum
- Driver dies in Eastern Passage crash

