Dafter the suicide live on TikTok of a young man from Bologna, yesterday the news of another young man, only thirteen years old, who would be committed suicide in Palermo because he was a victim of bullying. «Once again I fall back into that abyss of almost 11 years ago», says Paolo Picchio, father of Carolina Picchio, the first full-blown Italian victim of cyberbullying. Her daughter killed herself at the age of 14 in 2013 by throwing herself from the balcony of her bedroom. The first cyberbullying trial opened for her in Italy and is named after her first law on cyberbullying in Europe (71/2017). «A void that opens up in the lives of families affected by the dark evil of the web. A tool created to share, communicate and break down distances. Yet our kids are increasingly alone.”
As chance would have it, if the case exists, the Foundation created in memory of Carolina is today in Sicily to activate important projects in the area. The Liceo Galilei in Palermo inaugurates a multifunctional space dedicated to her. And the Foundation is taking action on site NET. – REscue TEam, the Cyber emergency response which guarantees effective and timely support in the most serious cases of cyberbullying and online violence.
«In recent years, in the name of my daughter, important steps have been taken, but every time a boy suffers, every time a life is extinguished I feel like I’m going back to the start. I am close to the pain of this family from Palermo and with me the entire Carolina Foundation. There is still a lot to do, but we must do prevention. Serious and continuous, otherwise our children will always be at risk.”
Victim of bullying, he kills himself at 13, in Palermo
The suspicion that the thirteen-year-old from Palermo found dead by his parents last Saturday was a victim of bullying emerged from the chats of students and parents. The critical situation was there for all to see. But evidently no one expected the epilogue to be so dramatic. He attended middle school at the Vittorio Emanuele Orlando institute in Viale Strasburgo in Palermo. In the past months, the director of the institute had informed the parents of a profound discomfort experienced by the thirteen-year-old. According to thethe Messengerit seems like it was targeted by some bullies, his peers, with homophobic harassment. The student would have been the victim of jokes and teasing about his alleged sexual orientation: words to this effect were written in class chats between classmates and parents. In the meantime, two investigation files have been opened, by the prosecutor’s office for minors and by the ordinary prosecutor’s office, for incitement to suicide.
Suicide live on TikTok
The other case to which Paolo Picchio refers is that of Vincent Plicchi, a 23-year-old from Bologna, who killed himself during a live broadcast on TikTok: he was a cosplayer passionate about Cod, the American video game Call of Duty, known by the nickname Inquisitor Ghost. To try to help him, someone called 118. It is assumed that he was a victim of cyberbullying. A girl had accused him of harassment, complete with screenshots made on purpose, to the point of unleashing a hate campaign against him.
All guilty, no guilty?
One of the biggest problems of the Internet is the difficulty of tracking down those responsible. Due to the proliferation of fake profiles. But above all because it is the exponential diffusion and publicity of the insult or mockery that makes them powerful. They go viral, and the guilt of those who relaunch and share them seems to vanish. How guiltless those who have seen and minimized feel.
This is not the case, explains Ivano Zoppi, president of the Carolina Foundation. «Once again we find ourselves commenting a tragedy without sense, without logic, but not without culprits. The same silence that descends into the hearts of all Sicilians today is often the decisive factor for a boy to sink into solitude. The loneliness of the victim who finds no support, hope and, therefore, motivation.”
The new faces of bullying
Once upon a time there was the class bully who stole the snack from the youngest: «Today kids have the world in their jeans pocket. Their smartphone updates automatically at least three times a year, while the adult world remains at a standstill and is no longer able to communicate with children and adolescents. And not even to see the new faces of bullying.”
Zoppi speaks about the web as a “new educational agency”. «From the family, to the school, from the administrations to the Oratories, up to sports and recreational activities, we all must find the courage to educate, listening, setting a good example and accompanying our children in their daily growth path, where the Internet has a role at least as important as the physical dimension.”
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