Parents disappointed by Principal's response to daughter's suicide
Charlotte O'Brien was only 12-years-old when she took her own life on September 9 after allegedly suffering years of bullying at Santa Sabina College in Strathfield, Sydney.
A month later her grieving parents Mat and Kelly said they have met with the school's principal but were left disappointed after she reportedly showed "no empathy" during their 20-minute meeting.
“That glimmer of hope that anything positive to come from that meeting was squashed the moment we arrived,” Mat told Ben Fordham on 2GB on Tuesday.
Mat explained how "incredibly hard" it was to walk through the school full of other young girl's their daughter's age.
“We had to navigate ourselves across the school grounds, surrounded by other girls in their school uniform, knowing that we will never see our daughter again. That was incredibly hard for us,” he said.
“We arrived there and met with the principal. When I shared the feedback, she wasn’t interested in receiving that. The feedback was interrupted. It was discounted. It was disagreed with.
“I sat across the room from a lady (the principal) that showed myself and the rest of the family no emotion or empathy at all.”
He claimed that the principal did not offer any kind of apology and said "there was no accountability at all".
“The questions we wanted answered were simply not answered at all,” he said.
“We were left to show ourselves out of the school ground.”
“The last image that I will have of that school was as I looked behind me, Kelly was carrying some items of Charlotte’s and watching her squeeze herself and that box through those closed gates was one of the hardest things that I’ve seen.
“Kelly got in the car and that was the worst I had seen her since the funeral. She said to me “I felt my daughter’s life did not matter”.
Charlotte's parents had previously said they raised bullying concerns multiple times with the school, and although an investigation was conducted, no further action was taken.
Santa Sabina College principal Paulina Skerman previously said the school was continuing to support Charlotte’s family through their “unimaginable grief” and was working with youth mental health foundation Headspace.
Need to talk to someone? Don't go it alone.
Lifeline: 13 11 14, lifeline.org.au
SANE Support line and Forums: 1800 187 263, saneforums.org
Headspace: 1800 650 890, headspace.org.au
Beyond Blue: 1300 224 635, beyondblue.org.au
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