A 13-year-old girl from rural Mantorville died last weekend.
Rachel Ehmke took her own life, and her parents say it was because of bullying.
She was smart. Pretty. "An amazing girl." "Truly loved."
On Friday she was at school, and three days later she was remembered on YouTube as a "beautiful angel," in a video set to the country song, "If I Die Young."
If you're a young person, or you have a child in school, you know that bullying happens. It always has. But with social media and text messaging, it's worse than ever.
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There are programs that try to stop it, and programs to help young people get through these years.
But more, obviously, needs to be done.
As one girl says on a YouTube video in Rachel's memory, "Just a couple weeks ago, my youth pastor told us to watch what we say because words hurt. ...I hope this is a wakeup call for a lot of people."
Will it be? That's up to you.
Will you stop it? Will you help?
