The night 12-year-old Charlotte took her own life, she sent a heartbreaking text to a friend but did not respond to increasingly desperate replies asking if she was OK.
On Monday, Charlotte’s family broke their silence over last week’s tragedy by demanding that the bullying they claim drove the seventh-year Santa Sabina College student to helpless despair be “swept under the carpet”, in a statement issued to 2GB breakfast presenter Ben Fordham.
“Hi Ben, earlier this week our family experienced a day that will haunt us for the rest of our lives,” the message read.
‘We lost our little girl in the most terrible circumstances. She was only 12 years old.’
“There are no words that can describe what this is like for us and it will never be the same again,” the letter continues.
‘Charlotte has left such a big void in our lives and we miss her deeply.
‘The reports you have received are correct. My daughter was bullied by girls who still attend the school today.
‘She wrote a farewell note specifically mentioning the bullying she received at school.
Charlotte’s family said they were once asked to pick her up from school because she had been crying in the bathrooms.
Last week, 12-year-old Santa Sabina College seventh-year student Charlotte took her own life and her family says bullying motivated her to complete her studies.
‘She said life was too difficult for her to continue.
‘When the most recent case of bullying was raised, the school simply said it was being investigated and the girls denied it. That’s it. Case closed. Move on.
‘Well, my beautiful daughter’s life will not go on and I will never be able to say goodbye to her.
‘These issues cannot be swept under the carpet. I will not let my daughter’s memory be swept under the carpet either.
‘How many more children will have to lose their lives before contracting it? How many parents need to feel the pain of not being able to pick up their child from school again before they receive them?’
“We are broken forever.”
Fordham said the family had told him for two years that they had complained that Charlotte had been bullied at Santa Sabina College.
The family said that “on one particular day, the school called Mum to arrange for Charlotte to be picked up because Charlotte had been crying in the toilets.”
“She told the girl who found her, ‘I don’t want to be here.’ She told her mother, ‘My body is filled with pain until my heart explodes,’” Fordham said.
The night she died, Charlotte sent a friend a photo of herself crying with the simple caption: ‘I’m sorry.’ Her friend sent back a series of increasingly worried messages.
Fordham too interviewed a father whose daughter befriended Charlotte outside the school she attended in the western Sydney suburb of Strathfield.
The father, who gave his name only as Jason, said his daughter experienced bullying in elementary school and that this was partly why she bonded with Charlotte, who continually said that bullies at her school were making her life a living hell.
The night Charlotte took her life, Jason said he sent his daughter a text message and a photo.
The photo was of Charlotte crying and the caption simply read: “I’m sorry.”
Jason’s daughter then sent a series of increasingly pleading responses.
‘Charlotte, you’re scaring me,’ was the first message.
Then he sent: ‘Charlotte? Carlotta? Reply.’
“I want to know that you are okay,” the daughter wrote after receiving no response.
‘Charlotte, please, I’m here for you,’ was his final message.
‘I’m so proud of my daughter,’ Jason said before breaking down in tears as he tried to express the ‘heartbreak’ from Charlotte’s family.
Fordham said he had also been in an email conversation with Santa Sabina College principal Paulina Skerman and had sent a message to the school community.
Mrs. Skerman thanked everyone for “the outpouring of love and support” towards Charlotte.
“I also need to address my concerns about the harassment allegations at Santa Sabina,” she wrote.
“These claims are extremely serious and are treated as such.”
Skerman said the school’s anti-bullying policy, which can be found on its website, dictates that “response when necessary is always swift, measured and fair, with a commitment to ensuring the safety of all involved.”
The message urged anyone with knowledge or evidence of harassment to report it “through formal channels.”
There is no point in turning such claims into gossip speculation. Speculation at this point is harmful and unnecessary.”
While the segment was airing, Fordham said he received a message from Charlotte’s mother, Kelly, which he read aloud.
“Thank you for standing up for Charlotte, something I feel like I wasn’t able to do,” Kelly wrote.
Santa Sabina College principal Paulina Skerman has sent a message to the school community saying that ‘speculation’ and ‘gossip’ about the tragedy is not helpful.
‘Please, I must stress and beg that I do not want any girl to feel responsible for this.
‘I don’t want any other mother to not be able to wake her child up in the morning.
‘They are also little girls and they don’t understand.
“Charlotte made a mistake in a moment of grief, she didn’t mean to do this, she didn’t understand it.”
Santa Sabina College issued a statement on Monday in response to questions from Daily Mail Australia.
“A number of allegations are being made about the circumstances leading up to her death; these are new allegations to the College and are not consistent with our records,” the statement said.
‘Amid the outpouring of grief as everyone rightly questions how this could have happened, the College is asking the media to take great care in reporting so as not to create further problems for other vulnerable young people in our community and beyond.
“The school’s main priority at this time is to support and care for our students, their families and our staff, as well as to support this grieving family.”
The College said it would continue to work with counsellors, Headspace and other experts to provide maximum support.
However, she said “mental health experts” warned that increased media coverage “offers nothing positive for their grieving family or community” and creates “further vulnerabilities for young people… who are at risk because of what they hear and read.”
“While the College supports the idea of raising awareness about mental health challenges, we must bear in mind that children are involved and this situation must be handled carefully,” the statement said.
Children’s Helpline at 1800 55 1800 (24 hours, 7 days a week)
Crisis support on 13 11 14 (24 hours/7 days)
Text Lifeline on 0477 13 11 14 (6pm to midnight, 7pm)
Chat online at www.lifeline.org.au (7pm to midnight, 7 days a week)
