A former teacher of teenage suicide victim Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett has taken aim at social media companies, saying they must do more to protect children.
Dolly, 14, from the Northern Territory outback, took her own life on January 3 after an onslaught of online harassment and bullying.
In a public Facebook post, Dolly’s former rugby coach at Scots PGC College said in the ‘old days’ people could witness bullying and step in.
‘But this horrific creature – cyber bullying – is next to impossible to see, manage or stop, particularly in the hands of teenage users,’ he wrote.
‘You are loved and you will never be forgotten’: Amy ‘Dolly’ Everett, 14, died by suicide on January 3 following a vicious cyber-bullying onslaught
Ms Everett, left and right, was remembered as a ‘tough girl’ with a ‘cheeky little grin’
Mr Cahill, who remembered Dolly as a ‘tough girl’ with a ‘cheeky little grin’, said children do not have the maturity to handle the medium.
It was ‘next to impossible’ for adults to monitor and many parents were oblivious to what their kids were up to.
‘There are also too many parents out there that… stick their head in the sand under the misguided belief that ‘it couldn’t be my child that’s involved in this sort of activity’.
He said he hoped social media would be put ‘under the microscope’ in the coming days.
‘I just wish (social networking companies) would prioritise sensible usage of their products by children, and focus on preventative methods for their product becoming a carriage service for this sort of hideous activity,’ he wrote.
Dolly was laid to rest at a packed funeral service at her primary school in Katherine, Northern Territory, last Friday.
‘Salt of the earth people’: Mr Cahill had kind words for Dolly’s family – father Tick, sister Meg and mother Kate pictured
About 300 mourners packed a funeral service for Dolly Everett last Friday – releasing silver balloons as I Wish I Was a Punk Rocker played over the speakers
Her father, Tick Everett, invited her tormentors along so they could ‘witness our family’s devastation’.
Dolly’s death sparked a national conversation about bullying – with Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull saying more needs to be done.
‘Dolly, you are loved and will never be forgotten,’ Mr Turnbull said.
In his post, Mr Cahill said the world was poorer for Dolly’s death.
He was approached for comment.