Fourth-grader Jamari Dent attempted to take his own life last week after being continuously bullied by classmates and teachers.
His younger sister found him and yelled for their mother, Tianna Black.
“I ran to his room and he was on his knees with sheet wrapped around his neck and gone already,” Black told WGN.
The devastated mother performed CPR on her son but he hasn’t regained consciousness.
He’s a student at Carter G. Woodson Middle School in the Bronzville neighborhood of Chicago. The 11-year-old boy with a learning disability endured relentless targeting by students who called him horrible names like: “stupid, dumb and retarded.”
Black said the bullying went on for more than a year and the school’s administration including principal, Tamara Littlejohn, did absolutely nothing to protect young Jamari. In in December, he was jumped in class leaving him with a bruised face. The school failed to report the incident to his mother.
Allegedly, his teachers were in on the abuse as well. According to Black, one teacher physically assaulted the boy when he was grabbed by the arm. She said her son also had issues with his homeroom teacher since the beginning of the school year.
“She’s been messing with him ever since [the start of the school year] because he has a learning disability, calling him stupid, dumb, retarded,” Black said, also citing that the instructor teased her son about ending up in a facility for people with mental disabilities.
“My son told me he wished he died four months ago,” Black said. “He’s tired of the teachers messing with him.”
Ultimately, Jamari succumbed to the pressures of being berated by adults and children on a daily basis.
Chicago Public Schools officials called his tragic suicide attempt horrible but the district has yet to hold the adults accountable.
“This is a horrible tragedy, and the thoughts and prayers of the Chicago Public Schools community are with Jamari and his loved ones,” district spokesman Michael Passman said. “The allegations that have been made are highly concerning, and the district is conducting a full investigation.”
