User:Nirame/Suicide of Nicola Ann Raphael

Nicola Ann Raphael (10 September 1985-June 24, 2001) was a 15 year old Scottish schoolgirl who committed suicide after enduring years of bullying because she dressed in a Goth style. Her death on June 24, 2001 and allegations of bullying at her school, Lenzie Academy, led to wide coverage in the local and national press. Later commentary has said that "in many ways the suicide could be read as a grim warning of the strength of hatred that was to lead to Sophie Lancaster’s death".

The case is also notable in that was featured some early coverage in the media of the issue of bullying by text message/mobile phones.

The case was also one of those cited by the Daily Record in the setting up of their "Save our Kids Campaign" as seen here.

The issue was also raised in the Scottish Parliament by Lyndsay McIntosh MSP: "The minister mentioned children in his opening remarks, so I will channel his thoughts towards youngsters' being bullied. We should think about 16-year-old Nicola Raphael or 12-year-old Emma, who attended Broughton High School, both of whom committed suicide as a result of being bullied at school. I can think of nothing more crucial to the quality of life of our youngsters than that."

Background
Nicola Ann Raphael was born on 10 September 1985, the only daughter of David and Rona Raphael. She had two elder brothers, David and Christopher (Christopher's own experiences of being bullied at the school would also later be revealed in coverage). Nicola grew up in Lenzie and Kirkintilloch and attended the local state schools Millersneuk Primary and Lenzie Academy.

Bullying incidents and suicide
Information requested for later legal action found that the bullying allegations went back over several years: "Internal papers just released reveal that 15-year-old Nicola Raphael, who took an overdose in 2001 after being tormented over her gothic appearance, had complained to teachers about bullying long before she died ... the document shows staff clearly knew the youngster, whose suicide shocked the nation, had felt under threat of physical attack but did not inform her parents."

Reaction
Shortly after her death at a concert Nicola was due to have attended Marilyn Manson was seen comforting Nicola's mother: "Performing in Glasgow last weekend, Manson dedicated the song Fight On to Nicola Raphael, 15, who overdosed on painkillers two months ago and was buried along with her ticket to the Manson show. After the concert, Manson met with the girl's mother. He was very caring and considerate, Rona Raphael told Scotland's Daily Record newspaper. I was so touched that this megastar took time out to meet me. Despite all the controversy about him and his shows, he just seemed like a normal man to me...."

In 2003 the story was also featured on Tonight with Trevor McDonald: GIRLS AFRAID "A report on the dramatic increase in bullying by girls. " The program interviewed both bullies and their victims and tried to look at various sides of the story. Nicola's mother spoke of what her daughter had gone through as well as whether she thought bullies would ever comprehend the possible consequences of how they acted.

The case was also cited as the reason for a Scotland wide spate of legal actions against education authorities due to bullying. "Mr Fyfe believes the recent spate of law suits may have been triggered by the highly publicised suicide of Lenzie Academy pupil Nicola Raphael, who killed herself after being victimised by fellow pupils for her taste in "Goth" music and clothes. Her mother, Rona, is suing East Dunbartonshire Council, claiming that school staff failed to protect her daughter from bullies despite repeated complaints."

Bullying review
The Scottish parliament and in particular Brian Fitzpatrick took an interest in the case and joined in the calls for reviews of anti-bullying policies at the school and in East Dunbartonshire as a whole.

"MSP Brian Fitzpatrick has welcomed the decision to review the anti-bullying policy at Lenzie Academy, after the tragic death of teenager Nicola Raphael in June." "Following a meeting with Lenzie Academy rector Roddy McLelland, Mr Fitzpatrick also welcomed the plans to improve the existing mentoring arrangements."

"He said: It is vital that a consistency of approach should be adopted. I will be pressing East Dunbartonshire Council to ensure that there are clearly delineated responsibilities across the authority for co-ordinating anti-bullying policy.

John Simmons, head of education at East Dunbartonshire Council, said: The council made a commitment last month to conduct an authority-wide review of the systems in place in all schools to deal with allegations of bullying. "

Organ donation
After Nicola’s death, her organs later helped save lives. Her family also were involved in National Health Service (NHS) organ donation campaigns and were later featured in a 2005 BBC TV documentary on organ donation entitled Life on the List where they met a young boy named Jack who was one of the recipients. The Life on the list documentary was broadcast widely and won a Peabody award that year (2005)

Although Nicola had carried a donor card for several years hospital staff did not ask the family about donation. Instead Nicola's mother had to approach staff herself to make sure her daughters wishes were carried out.

Stop bullying campaign
After Nicola's death, her friend Ashley and others including Nicola's family were inspired to create an anti-bullying website/campaign to highlight the extent to which bullying goes on.

"Last month, Ashley took a further stand against bullying when she went online to offer advice and help to other victims of playground torment.

She set up a website and email address See Internet address. and invited bullied children too afraid to tell an adult to write in with their experiences.

She has been inundated with messages and now intends to compile To translate a program written in a high-level programming language into machine language. See compiler. figures from the emails to launch an anti-bullying campaign in a bid to force the Scottish Parliament

She says: "I was amazed at how many people wrote to me with their stories - and just how many people are being bullied."

Tim Field was among those Who became involved and was one of many who termed Nicola as a victim of Bullycide.