12-Year-Olds Arrested For Cyberbullying Girl Who Hanged Herself

PANAMA BEACH CITY, FL — Two Florida 12-year-olds were arrested for cyberbullying — the often relentless torment that kids dish out online — after a classmate hanged herself earlier this month, police in Panama City Beach said Monday. The arrest of the two students at Surfside Middle School in Panama Beach City followed an examination of their cellphones and social media accounts, police said.

Gabriella “Gabbie” Green, 12, hanged herself at her family home on Jan. 10, and investigators began looking into her death after being made aware that she had been an online target of bullies, police said in a news release. Both of the students, a girl and a boy whose names were not released because they are minors, confessed to cyberbullying in an interview with investigators, the news release said.

Police didn’t say implicitly that cyberbullying caused Gabbie’s suicide, only that it was occurring during the weeks leading up to her death and that the two students who were arrested confessed to harassing her, both in person and online. The girl who was charged admitted to “starting rumors of the victim having sexually transmitted diseases, vulgar name-calling ... and threats to 'expose' personal and sensitive details of the victim's life," according to a Panama Beach City Police report.

The boy charged told investigators he had video-chatted with Gabbie after hearing she had tried to commit suicide, and he said “something to the effect of, 'If you're going to do it, just do it,' and ended the call," according to the police report. "He immediately regretted that statement, and began calling and text-messaging her, but did not receive a response."

Neither of the teens alerted adults or authorities that Gabbie was suicidal, the news release said.

Surfside Middle school said its counselors "have been working hard to support the Surfside students, faclty and staff through this difficult time."

"Unfortunately, there is absolutely nothing we can say or do to take away the hurt that has been caused by the loss of Gabriella Green," school board chairwoman Ginger Littleton said in the statement. "The loss of a child is a tragedy that is felt by everyone in the school system."

The Panama City Beach Police Department said its investigation revealed multiple middle school children who have unrestricted access to smartphones and social media apps, and that it will offer training to parents on how to best manage that.

"We cannot reiterate strongly enough the cautions and warnings that were delivered yesterday by the Panama City Beach Police Department," Littleton said in the statement. "Let me assure you that each of us here today, and all of our administrators and staff in our schools, will continue to work with parents and students to help them understand the impact of our spoken and written words.

"This tragedy has not only forever impacted one family, but the hurt and pain is now being felt by multiple families. We will continue to do all we can to guide and teach our students about the dangers of bullying and social media. Just like school systems across the nation, we are constantly battling bullying but we are not equipped to fight social media on our own. As the PCBPD noted, children should not be allowed unmonitored access to social media and apps because this can have devastating consequences.

"We know our whole community wants to know more about the dangers our children face with social media and we intend to assist with that. We want to continue to be a part of the conversation with parents, law enforcement and other experts in this field so that we can all come together to help our children, and their parents, learn to manage this digital world in the safest manner possible.

"Bullying, and cyberbullying in particular, is a problem being faced by communities across our country and we must all unite to help protect, and educate, our children."

Gabbie’s mother, Tanya Green, said on Facebook that the family — Gabbie’s dad and four siblings — draws “strength from knowing there are thousands of kids and adults that are going through the same thing.” Patch has reached out to Green for comment, and we’ll update this story if we hear back.

“By speaking out, we save lives. Children’s lives,” Green wrote in the Facebook post. She wrote that she has received hundreds of messages from people of all ages, including children as young as 8, who have been bullied. She called it a “global epidemic,” and said her daughter is “giving them strength to tell someone, to talk to someone.”

In an earlier post, Green detailed some of the torment her daughter went through. She had been targeted for a year, but the school didn’t intervene. The school district did not address that in its statement to Patch.

“She left this world being bullied at school for this last year,” Green wrote. “We took it up with the school several times. They did nothing.”

Her daughter’s death dispels the stereotype that only kids who don’t fit in are targeted by bullies. She described her as a “precious, beautiful, sweet, boisterous” and “popular, fun, ambitious young girl.”

“Looking at her you wouldn't think she would have an issue being bullied,” her mother wote. “Beauties get bullied too. … You can be bullied. Even if you seem like you've got it all. You can be bullied.”

She also offered advice for other parents. The Green family is close, she wrote, and everyone was at home when Gabbie slipped a dog leash around her neck and hanged herself in the closet. They had dinner together, and Gabbie “was excited to be going to a rally at her church” later that evening, her mother wrote.

“No matter how close you are. No matter how well you think you know your kids. They don't tell you everything. They will just say ‘I’m ok,’ ” Green wrote. “They can be bullied so much that they can't take it anymore. They think there is no where to turn. They must get lost in their own teenage minds. Why my baby let these two kids tell her to just do it, push her to just take her own life. I just don't know."

See Also: 13-Year-Old Hanged Herself, But Bullying Killed Her

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