Queensland boy’s desperate plea to bullies who torment him
On Sunday night, Queensland schoolboy Brian Birchall shared a desperate plea on The Project to the bullies that have tormented him throughout his entire schooling life.
“My name is Brian. I’m 12 years old. I’ve been bullied all my life and I want it to stop.”
The bullying is so extreme, Brian sadly tried to take his life twice in just one month. He has even changed schools seven times in seven years in the hope that he would find an escape from the bullies.
“It started with my red hair ... then there were names, then it turned into fights and then it would just get worse and worse and worse,” Brian told Lisa Wilkinson at his home.
Brian hasn’t returned to class at Gympie High School in six weeks because of the harassment he faces from his peers.
On his last day of school in 2017, Brian was surrounded by a group of six boys who bashed him for three minutes. The following day, Brian tried to take his own life. Less than a week later he tried again.
“I sat there and thought to myself, 'My 12-year-old brother has just tried to kill himself',” said Brian’s older brother, Murray Benton.
Brian’s family is desperately trying to find a solution as Brian is forced to stay home instead of attending school.
“If I’m breaking the law by keeping my son safe, come and charge me,” said his mother Patrina Benton.
“Brian has been to seven different schools in his seven years of school, and four of them, he’s left because of bullying.
“He’s not ever going to socially engage and be the class clown and have 50 people around him. He’s not that type of child. But to have a handful of kids around him would be a start. And he needs to be in school to gain that handful of friends.”
Talking about the day Brian tried to take his own life, Patrina said her son’s suicide attempt will always be lingering in her mind.
“I don’t think I could give these kids a message, I think I’d give their parents a message,” she said.
“[I’d] say come and have a listen to the path that we’ve walked. And if you’ve got any empathy or sympathy, make sure that your children don’t create that path for somebody else to walk.”
Last month, Murray took to social media to share Brian’s heartbreaking story, posting a photo of Brian lying in a hospital bed after trying to take his life. The post was shared over 90,000 times.
“For months now ... he has been pushed around, been called names, been involved in both group and one-on-one fights, been made the laughing stock in front of his peers and the list goes on,” Murray wrote.
“As a result my brother has been pushed to the point where he would rather turn to self harm (as) opposed to returning to school.”
Murray said that one of the alleged bullies was given a three-day suspension but can now return to school as normal.
Patrina said that moving schools and going to the police has done little to help Brian and how they don’t know where to turn to for help.
“Where is left?” she asked.
“At the end of the day, for him to survive and have a fulfilling life, he needs to go to school.
“He doesn’t have to be school captain, he just has to be at school.
“There’s nowhere for us to go, Lisa. As a parent there is nowhere. You’ve got to sit back and watch your kid try and hurt himself because you can’t find him the help.”
Murray has launched the campaign “Fight the Good Fight Against Bullying” to bring attention to the problem.
The campaign has received attention from people all over the world, including musician Ed Sheeran, who met with Brian.
If you are troubled by this article, experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide, you can call Lifeline 131 114 or beyondblue 1300 224 636 or visit lifeline.org.au or beyondblue.org.au.