Boy, 12, kills himself after being bullied at school & telling his parents ‘snitches get stitches’ as he had a black eye
A TWELVE-year-old boy committed suicide after being bullied at school and telling his parents’ that “snitches get stitches” when he came home with a black eye, his family says. Drayke Hardman had reportedly been bullied over the last year by one unnamed classmate before he took his own life last week. Parents Samie and Andrew Hardman told […]
A TWELVE-year-old boy committed suicide after being bullied at school and telling his parents’ that “snitches get stitches” when he came home with a black eye, his family says.
Drayke Hardman had reportedly been bullied over the last year by one unnamed classmate before he took his own life last week.
Parents Samie and Andrew Hardman told KUTV CBS 2 they had tried to step in to help their son by contacting the school, which suspended the alleged bully.
Samie said she asked Drayke how he was feeling and whether he had considered suicide.
“And he [said], ‘No, no.’ It was almost like he was disgusted that I would have even asked him,” recalled the mom.
When Drayke came home with a black eye days before his suicide, he initially lied about how he had gotten it, according to his parents.
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He later told his sister it was the result of a physical altercation with a classmate, but when Samie and Andrew asked him about it, Drayke reportedly replied: “Snitches get stitches.”
Two days later, on February 9, Drayke took his own life at his Utah home after asking to miss his basketball practice that night.
He was rushed to the hospital after being found by his sister but was declared dead the following morning.
The boy’s mom Samie shared a now-viral, heartbreaking post on Instagram detailing Drayke’s story alongside a picture of him in the hospital.
“This…. This is the result of bullying,” she captioned the post. “My handsome boy was fighting a battle that not even I could save him. It is real, it is silent and there is nothing absolutely nothing as a parent you can do to take this deep hurt away.
“There are no signs, only hurtful words of others that ultimately stole our Drayke from this cruel place.”
Drayke’s parents have said that they are sharing their son’s story in hopes of getting parents to teach their kids to be kind under their DoItForDrayke campaign.
“Kids are going to be the kind of kids that are going to do what they want until they know that it’s not OK,” Samie said. “And I think that’s where those hard conversations come from.”
Drayke’s tragic story has touched a nerve in Hollywood.
Many celebrities such as model Kaia Gerber have shared messages honoring him.
“My heart is broken for Drayke and his family, and every child who has been the victim to bullying. PLEASE take the time to read this, show this to your children, start the conversation,” said the model.
“Let’s teach our children kindness and compassion. Bullying HAS NEVER and WILL NEVER be ‘cool.’ #DoItForDrayke”
The Sun has reached out to Drayke’s parents for comment.
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