Drayke Hardman, a 12-year-old boy from Utah, took his own life last Wednesday after being bullied at school over the past year. 

His parents Samie and Alex Hardman thought they had done everything they could for Drayke. The Hardman’s confronted the problem and after a while of persistent bullying from the same person, the parents got the school involved. The school also took action and issued a suspension to the classmate who had been bullying Drayke. His parents also went to Drayke to ask about what was happening, sitting him down to have tough conversations about how the bullying was affecting him. Samie also said she had even asked her son about whether he had suicidal thoughts. 

“He said, ‘no, no,’ and it was almost like he was disgusted that I would have even asked him,” said Samie Hardman. 

On Monday, Drayke came home with a black eye and lied to his parents about how he got it. He then confided in his sister and told her what really happened, he got into a physical altercation with a classmate. His sister told their parents, who went to Drayke and told him to reach out if he was struggling. Drayke responded with “snitches get stitches.” 

On Wednesday afternoon, Samie and Andrew recalled Drayke asking to miss his basketball practice and stay home instead. They said he seemed to be doing alright. That night, however, Drayke took his life in their home. Drayke’s family rushed him to the hospital after his sister found him unconscious in his room. On Thursday morning, medical teams declared him deceased. 

Samie Hardman, Drayke’s mom, shared a post on Instagram detailing what happened to her son and asking others to “teach kindness” and “do it for Drayke.” 

This heartbreaking story should serve as a wake-up call to all who see it. Depression is a growing problem all throughout the world, especially among teens and young adults. 

According to Mental Health America (MHA), “A growing percentage of youth in the U.S. live with major depression. 15.08% of youth experienced a major depressive episode in the past year, a 1.24% increase from last year’s dataset. In the bottom-ranked states, up to 19% of youth ages 12-17 experienced major depression.” 

A 12-year-old committing suicide is a tragic event, but his mom is using the horrible situation to help make a difference that the world needs.