Jessica Blake's death will be reviewed by Safeguarding Children Board

“Jess's terrible tragedy is unlikely to be about bullying at school. It took place in the middle of the summer holidays.”

“It will take a while as the board are investigating dwp surveillance workers who take their
children out in their spy cars whilst carrying out spy work. It's not if your exposed, it's when!”

“My own son was bullied at school and he was so distressed he said he wished he was dead. I went to the school and the headmaster initially said there was no bullying at his school, then when he asked who the bullies were my son was too afraid to give names, so the headmaster said he couldn't do anything about it. If more patrols were put in the playgrounds during breaks and lunch times, at least it would stop some of the bullying. However, as usual, the schools will say they're short staffed, in other words, it's too much hard like work.

I feel so sorry for Jessie's parents and friends, I hope the bullies get their just desserts, something needs to be done. It's alright having helplines but what good are they when it's in the here and now, are the supporters going to jump through the telephone line and fight off the attackers? No!!”

“my son was in army cadets with her, she was a good freind and Nafili she was getting bullied at her school, my son said they havent got away with it, what goes around comes around”

“A new worry now of course is bullying by text and social networks, this does happen because my neice was plagued by nasty texts for the last two years of schooling. As usual, schools seem to turn a blind eye and pretend this doesn't happen, they have their "favourite" pupils and don't believe they would do such a thing, newsflash, they do!!

It doesn't matter how the child looks, behaves or their social standing, they will be picked on by these cowards until the schools and government do something about it, or we may have more suicides by young children when it can so easily be avoided with care and forethought.”

“My daughter is currently (past 2 years) seeing mental health team, she has
Weekly visits at school too. I cannot fully blame the schools but whilst they're there they are in THEIR CARE, supposedly anyway.
It stems from the Ignorance of parents teaching their kids to respect others. With 90% of parents living on Facebook and conjoined to a mobile phone it is little wonder children lack basic compassion and communication skills. Cyber bullying is at it worst because people hide behind their keyboards! Yet having said that my daughter has made friends(American) via games websites and of course "these kids are not juding her".
Some People kick you when you're down yet they Seldom offer their hand of support to pick you up! It doesn't look cool you see! It is terribly sad.
And these are the future who will be looking after us, what a scary thought!”

“Safeguarding Children team? Hm. Like all calls this goes through to the general ERYC call centre. Calls are eventually picked up by a Social Worker....Eventually.”

“While it is premature to blame this tragedy on bullying before there has been an inquest, I fully agree with what both Hunnyb & Dolly_me say on that subject. One problem is that bullying is an open term with no clear single definition. Routine violence towards an individual is obviously bullying but things are often harder to handle where the bullying is psychological or negative, such as exclusion.
Another problem, even with the most extremely violent bullying is the limitations within society, not just schools, to deal with this. As Dolly_me states, appeals to the parents simply throw them into deep denial. Often the parents may have encouraged the bullying to get at the victim's parents, bullying by proxy.
Another dimension of this is our present society's preoccupation with the aggressor, where the victim has little relevance. We have, as a society, lost the will to condemn and to punish. Any sanctions that the school are allowed to apply are feeble. Modern approaches such as restorative practise will work where the aggressor is basically a decent child who hasn't realised the effect they were having on their victim. In other cases it can simply be a confirmation to the aggressor of their effectiveness and their superiority over the system and the victim, giving them the chance to relive the pleasure of the crime, rather like the rapists who would represent themselves in court so that they could intimidate and embarress their victim a second time.
In the vast majority of cases, it is the victim, not the aggressor(s) who end up having to move school or home, leaving behind their friends and familiar surroundings.
Until we change, nothing will change. There will be an inquest, stirring words will be said about bullying. Nothing will be done. The bullies and their parents will adjust their minds to excuse or even justify their past actions then get on with their lives.”

“Bullying does happen in all schools, I wouldn't trust any that say it doesn't. What is important, is that the school has an effective policy in dealing with bullying. This should never have happened and without seeking blame, let us hope that the school involved seeks to deal with these matters properly.”

“My deepest sympathies go to her family, my heart bleeds for you! Xxx”