An openly gay 14-year-old boy from Tennessee committed suicide on Friday as a result of direct bullying at school, his family say.
Phillip Parker’s body was found by his parents and grandparents, with a note reading “Please help me mom” found in a bin just minutes later.
His parents said they were not aware that Phillip had been bullied at school.
“I should have knew something was wrong, but he seemed happy,” said his mother, Gena Parker.
It was not until a gathering to grieve Phillip’s death that classmates “bombarded” his parents with information about the homophobic bullying.
“A sweet kind person like Phillip took it out on himself, he killed himself to get out of the pain,” said his grandfather, Paul Harris.
Paul and Gena Parker are now looking to Phillip’s school, Gordonsville High, for answers about why nothing was done to help Phillip despite claims by students that the bullying was reported to teachers.
“We are going to find out who done it, we are going to get justice for Phillip and you will pay for what you did to my son,” said Parker.
“Whether it’s verbal or physical a counselor at the school should be on top of it and notify the parents. We weren’t notified, and Phillip didn’t tell us about it,” said his grandfather, Paul Harris.
