Jason Bernard, a 14-year-old student at Higgins Middle School in Peabody, was found dead on Saturday. According to his father, the young man took his own life after suffering severe bullying at school.
A Go Fund Me has been created, which includes a statement from his father:
Here is the translation to English:
Hello, my name is William. My son made the tragic decision to end his life as a result of being bullied at school. We must raise awareness and stop bullying! I appreciate your support during this difficult time. God bless you.
Comments are pouring in from the community:
This isn’t just a tragedy — it’s a failure on every possible level. A 14-year-old boy is dead because the people and systems that were supposed to protect him didn’t. This should have never happened. It’s not an accident. It’s not just “sad.” It’s preventable — and it’s inexcusable.
If the school knew this child was being bullied — and I’m sure they did, because kids always know, and adults usually hear — then they should be absolutely ashamed. And if they knew and did nothing? Then they should be held legally and morally responsible. People need to be fired. Full stop. Policies need to change. Not next year. Not when it’s convenient. Now.
The students who bullied this boy should face consequences. Real ones. If you’re old enough to torment someone until they feel life isn’t worth living, you’re old enough to be held accountable. This isn’t “kids being kids” — this is cruelty. This is violence. And the parents of these bullies? If they were warned — if anyone told them their child was causing harm and they ignored it — they carry weight in this too. You don’t get to wash your hands of it while another family is burying their son.
Until we start setting real, hard, uncomfortable examples — this cycle won’t stop. We all know this isn’t the first time those kids have done this to someone. And it won’t be the last — unless someone stands up and stops it. Why is it always after a kid dies that people start paying attention? Where was the action when he was still alive and asking for help — in words or in silence?
The school knows who the bullies are. The students know. If you’re protecting them, you’re complicit. Call them out. Remove them. Make it known that this kind of cruelty has consequences — real, life-altering consequences — because that’s what their victim faced.
We owe it to this boy, and to every other quiet, kind kid trying to survive middle school, to do better. To be braver. To stop worrying about the discomfort of holding bullies accountable and start worrying about the kids we’re losing in silence.
No more hashtags. No more empty condolences. Change something. Before another kid becomes another headline.
~ anonymous
Facebook post, Sunday, May 18, 2025
As well as prayers:
Dearest St. Therese, you who once knew the cruelty of bullying, come to the aid of all those people who are enduring any kind of bullying – physically or emotionally – in our world today. Pray for them that God will give them the grace to know how undeserving they are of this treatment, and how beautiful they will always be in the eyes of their Creator. Like you once took shelter beside Jesus in the tabernacle, pray that they may take shelter in the arms of God where they can find healing for their wounds, the courage to reach out for help, and the grace they need to forgive their persecutors. We ask all this in the glorious name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
The community is planning a memorial vigil on Friday at 6:30 p.m. to honor Bernard near his home on Veterans Memorial Drive in Peabody.
The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is a network of local crisis centers that are available 24/7 to provide support for youth and adults who are in any kind of emotional crisis. Using the 988 Lifeline is free and confidential.
Information and resources to help stop bullying can be found here:
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