A swarm of children huddled around a petite casket, each holding onto a powder blue balloon and carrying a note to their fellow classmate, Ashlynn Conner.
Ashlynn’s older sister discovered the 10-year-old hanging from a clothing rod just a day after coming home in tears and asking to be taken out of school. Her parents promised her they would go to the school and talk with the principal, but the depression and helplessness became too much for her to wait out the weekend.
While Ashlynn may have felt alone in her fight against bulling and what some report to be life in a volatile home, hundreds of children under age 14 across the U.S. are acting on suicidal urges.
No one expected Ashlynn to take her own life, but mounting stress and anxiety pushed the little girl over the edge.
Little Ashlynn was bullied in fifth grade, and despite telling countless teachers and school officials, nothing was done to put an end to the taunting. In one distinct account, Ashlynn was bullied by girls who thought she looked like a boy after she got a haircut.
Other members of her family have also suffered with mental illness over the years. Stacy Conner, Ashlynn’s mother, has reportedly attempted suicide twice. These stressors proved to be too much for the young girl to handle.
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collected death-rate data for child fatalities from 1999 to 2014.
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