Chelsea Clark was once a happy and contented young girl who loved animals, Converse trainers and reading. But just a few months after turning 13, the teenager took her own life in the bedroom of her Midlands family home.
Her devastated parents Margaret and Phil Clark today opened up about their beloved daughter and revealed their daily battle to cope with her tragic death.
But they also revealed another heartbreak – a series of hurtful comments posted on websites about their daughter, a pupil at Wolverhampton Girl’s High School, in the run-up to her death.
They today issued a plea for parents to be aware of what their teenagers are looking at online and said cyberbullying is a real danger facing teenagers today.
Mrs Clark, aged 57, of Finchfield Lane, in Finchfield, Wolverhampton, urged other parents to check their children’s internet history to see what they are looking at.
There has been controversy in recent months about the dangers of children using websites such as Ask FM or the social networking site formerly known as Formspring, where people can log on anonymously to make comments about others. While parents across the region may not have even heard of such websites, the chances are their children have.
Following her death, Chelsea’s family found evidence of hurtful comments posted on one website where people can log on anonymously.
Former teacher Mrs Clark said: “I looked on some of these sites as I wanted to see for myself what Chelsea had been looking at.
“There were anonymous messages on there and some of them were quite disturbing. I saw horrible comments that had been made about Chelsea.
“Some people may be able to go on these sites and see such comments and disregard them. But for people who are vulnerable or already feeling a little bit depressed, these could be a real problem.”
The mother-of-nine called for action to be taken to shut down sites where there is evidence of cyberbullying.
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