A 10-year-old boy with "big plans for the future" has taken his own life. Sammy Teusch, from Greenfield, Indiana, died by suicide on May 5 and, according to his family, he was being bullied up until the night he passed away.
The boy had been bullied again
and again at school over his teeth and his glasses, relatives said.
Funeral services were held
Wednesday, May 15, for the Indiana boy who loved to fish and had "the best
smile," while his anguished parents struggled to understand why their
child took his own life.
Sammy was in the fourth grade
at Greenfield Intermediate School and had been bullied by his classmates,
according to his parents.
He killed himself on May 5 in
his bedroom, his family said.
Sammy was remembered as a boy
who "knew no stranger, meant no harm to anyone, never sat still, had the
biggest heart along with the best smile," according to his online
obituary. Sammy "had big plans for the future."
Sam Teusch, the child's father,
said he and his wife had contacted the school 20 times to report Sammy was
being emotionally and physically bullied at school, and had recently been
beaten up on a school bus and had his glasses broken.
"They were making fun of
him for his glasses in the beginning, then on to make fun of his teeth. It went
on for a long time," Sam Teusch told WTHR-TV.
"They knew this was going
on," the father told the station, referring to school officials.
Greenfield-Central Community
Schools has released a statement saying the district is investigating the
death, along with the Greenfield Police Department.
"The death of Samuel
Teusch is tragic, and it has left our School Corporation and larger community
in tremendous grief. Our hearts pour out to the family at this time," the
statement said.
"Our staff in
Greenfield-Central has worked with the Teusch family quite a bit over the last
18 months. Contact between school personnel and the parents was frequent. The
parents did report the manner of death as a suicide, and we are investigating
their claims related to bullying," the district said.
"While the investigation
continues, we are primarily focusing our resources on meeting the immediate
needs of the students we serve in Greenfield-Central Schools," the
statement concluded.
Greenfield police also issued a
statement, saying Sammy's death was under investigation.
"Parents, now is the time
to talk to your kids," police said.
"There shouldn’t be
anything in their lives you don’t know about. School, homework, sports,
friends, every aspect of their lives. The more conversations you have about everyday
life, the more comfortable they will be talking about the hard stuff," the
police statement advised parents.
Sammy's mother and father said
the school should have done more to protect their son. His abuse went beyond
school and showed up on social media, where classmates posted threats against
him, his father told WTHR-TV.
The messages were from students
who wrote, "'I'm going to beat you up. I'm going to beat you up when you
get to school,'" Sam Teusch told the station.
The posts often said "mean
things about his (mother), which would really, really set him off," the
father said.
It was Sam Teusch who
discovered Sammy's body on a Sunday morning inside his son's bedroom.
"I held him in my arms. I
did the thing no father should ever have to do. And anytime I close my eyes,
it's all I can see," the dad said.
A GoFundMe account has been
established by the family to help with financial costs. As of Wednesday,
donations had reached nearly $37,000, surpassing the fund's goal of $30,000.
"Sammy was the best kid
with a wonderful personality. He was smart, funny, charming and deeply
empathetic. He brightened the lives of anyone he encountered and was the life
of the party," the campaign page said.
"He unexpectedly ended his
time here on earth, Sunday May 5th 2024, as a result of bullying."
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