Friday, April 02, 2010

Michigan: Parents: Ontonagon sixth-grade girl takes own life after months of alleged harrassment by classmate



Did bullying play role in 12-year-old’s death?

By JOHN PEPIN Journal Staff Writer
POSTED: March 18, 2010

Article Photos

Kimberly Eileen Linczeski, 12, of Ontonagon was a sixth-grade student at the Ontonagon Area Junior-Senior High School. She died March 6. (Linczeski family photo)

ONTONAGON - Ontonagon County Sheriff's deputies are investigating whether bullying by a classmate may have contributed to 12-year-old Kimberly Linczeski taking her own life.
Sheriff John Gravier said Wednesday an investigator from his department was continuing to conduct interviews and the case remains open.
The parents of Kimberly - who was a sixth-grade student at the Ontonagon Area Junior-Senior High School - said they believe there is a definite connection.
"I know my daughter inside and out and this is nothing she would have done if she had thought about it for more than 30 seconds," said Kimberly's mother Karen. "She was hurting and this is something she just did. That's what we believe. There was never any indication this was planned."
Police were called to the Linczeski residence in the village of Ontonagon March 3.
"We received a call at 4:38 p.m.," Gravier said.
Reaching the home, deputies learned Kimberly had died by self-asphyxiation.
Gravier said responding emergency medical personnel found Kimberly still had a pulse and she was rushed to a local hospital. She was later airlifted to St. Joseph's Children's Hospital in Marshfield, Wis., where she died three days later.
Gravier said no suicide note was found in the home, but police are looking at computers used at school and other sources to conclusively determine whether she left such a message elsewhere.
Gravier said initial interviews with students after the incident led them to look into the possibility bullying at the school may have been a contributing cause in Kimberly's death.
Karen Linczeski said Kimberly had told her a classmate would tease her and call her names.
"She had been bullied for quite some time. It had been going on for months," Karen said. "Kimberly mostly just sloughed it off. She'd say, 'Don't hate me, 'cause you ain't me.'"
When the classmate would appear at activities Kimberly was enjoying with her friends, Kimberly would leave. Karen said she found out after her daughter's death the alleged bullying had been more than teasing.
"We were close. She would usually tell me everything," Karen said. "I didn't know she was being hit. She wasn't telling me any of that."
On March 3, the alleged bullying continued and Kimberly reportedly did something she had never done before. She punched back. Karen said her daughter was sent to the principal's office at the school and her father, Dave Linczeski, was called to take her home.
After arriving there upset, Kimberly later took her own life, Karen said.
On Wednesday, the Linczeskis reviewed the police case file.
Gravier couldn't say exactly how long the investigation will be ongoing, but he said it would likely be continuing into next week. At some point, an assessment of facts gathered in the investigation will be made to try to determine a conclusion.
When asked whether deputies seem to be arriving at the same determinations reached by the family, Karen said "their investigation is continuing."
School Superintendent Gray Webber suggested Wednesday that a definitive reason why Kimberly decided to take her own life may prove to be elusive.
"The community is hurting. A lot of questions are being asked," Webber said. "I don't know if we'll get the answers. The child had the answers if there were any to have. Otherwise, it's all speculation at this time."
The National Alliance on Mental Illness Web site said an estimated 2,000 youths aged 10 to 19 commit suicide each year in the United States and that suicide is the result of complex factors.
The suicide rate among children aged 10 to 14 is 1.5 per 100,000, or 300 deaths among 19,895,072 children in this age group, according to the alliance.
Many education professionals contend bullying - including cyber bullying - among elementary school children and teenagers is a growing problem in many schools in the United States, both urban and rural.
Kimberly is survived by her parents and two brothers. Funeral services were held last Friday at the Holy Family Catholic Church in Ontonagon.
John Pepin can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 206. His e-mail address isjpepin@miningjournal.net.

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