Brent Freeze addresses the Prince William County School Board, Mar. 16, 2016, about the bullying of students.Members of the Facebook group “Freeze Bullying for Payton” spoke at the Prince William School Board meeting, Wednesday, asking the school board and division to address the bullying problem at their schools.
Payton Freeze, 17, a Battlefield High School student, took her life on Feb. 10, 2016. Friends and family decided to make her death public to help others struggling with bullying and considering suicide.
According to Freeze’s father, Brent Freeze, as a result of a concussion, Payton suffered from CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy), which can cause impaired judgment among other symptoms. Although her parents tried to get her immediate help, she still showed signs of its effects, and her father admitted he did not know enough to know how lasting those effects could be.
Freeze said he just learned the evening before her death that Payton was been bullied “relentlessly” at school.
He said he did not want anyone else to have to experience such a loss.
What we’ve lost is in front of you. Every child, every person, who exists in this world is brilliant and important. For people to cause pain upon other people, we as a community have to stand together to stop it. I never got to speak to my daughter again. I am forever changed, but I stand before you, today, because I don’t want anyone else changed the way that I am.
Freeze said that while Payton’s concussion was treated, the bullying problem was not addressed.
“We can do better, and we’re here to help you do better,” he told the school board.
The Freeze Bullying group has 1300 members and continues to grow. The members are diverse, but they all share an interest in finding ways to prevent bullying and support its victims. Their members include not only parents and students, but clinical psychologists, researchers and law enforcements officers, one member explained.
Their three primary goals for the group are research, educational awareness and encouraging legislation to prevent bullying and support victims of bullying. Some of the speakers were those who knew Payton, and wanted to use her life to make a difference. Others were victims of bullying themselves.
Diane Fellenbaum, a family friend of the Freezes and administrator of the “Freeze Bullying” page, noted there have been 15 instances of bullying-related suicides among Prince William teens since 2008. Of those, eight have occurred since 2013. She said there has been an “uptick” in teen suicides nationwide and asked that the schools take a stand.
Said Fellenbaum, "students are not only bullying each other, but children are being bullied by adults as well. Teachers are bullies, coaches are bullies, faculty are bullies."
Others who spoke were students and former students who have endured bullying. A few said they had reached out to faculty or even started clubs to address bullying, but saw few changes in the culture. Even in an age where there is so much awareness about bullying, victims are still, by and large, being told to “suck it up” they said.
One recent PWCS graduate said that she had seriously considered suicide in April of 2014. Ultimately, she had to transfer out of Patriot High School because even after she informed the administration, the bullying did not stop.
“ threatened to suspend me if I complained one more time,” the young woman said. “It seems as if the bullies are being protected and those who are suffering on the inside are left to fend for themselves.”
Jenny Mischel Prince William resident and mother of four children is also a doctoral candidate in educational psychology with a focus on bullying. She said that while bullying used to peak in the middle school years, due mainly to cyber bullying, now it is prevalent during the high school years as well.
Mischel said the research shows the Olweus bullying prevention program, which many PWCS middle schools employ, does not work well in the U.S. In Scandinavian countries, where it does succeed, it is supported throughout the culture.
One student offered an idea that schools could have students who victims of bullying could turn to when things get rough. Another speaker noted Prince William County Schools do not staff as many counselors as recommended by the American School Counselors Association, so there are not enough people for students to turn to for help.
Gainesville School Board member Alyson Satterwhite thanked the Freezes for attending the meeting. She said Battlefield High School is holding an event Thursday night for their community members.
Brentsville School Board member, Gil Trenum, who lost his eldest son to suicide several years ago, after he suffered a concussion, also thanked the Freezes.
“That is harder than anyone else can possibly imagine," Trenum said.
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