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12-year-old Mallory Grossman died by suicide back in 2017 after she was cyberbullied by her classmates throughout the school year. The following year, Mallory's parents, Seth and Dianne, sued the school district claiming that the authorities didn't take measures to prevent the incident.
According to the lawsuit, the students bullied Mallory Grossman through texts and Snapchat. Following the 2018 controversy, the Rockaway Township School District has recently agreed to pay $9.1 million to Mallory's family.
Mallory was a student of Copeland Middle School when she died by suicide. Bruce Nagel, the attorney representing Mallory's family stated that the settlement is America's largest bullying settlement as of now.
Mallory Grossman died by suicide after being bullied by her classmates through texts and Snapchat messages in 2017
The Rockaway Township School District, a school district in New Jersey, will be paying $9.1 million to Mallory Grossman's family after she became a victim of cyberbullying and took her own life in June 2017. The settlement came after a lawsuit was filed in 2018. Talking about the settlement, attorney Nagel said:
"[The size of the settlement] speaks volumes with regard to the admission and the responsibility of the schools."
He further stated:
"This settlement should send a strong signal to schools around the country that bullying is an epidemic and schools have a responsibility to protect our children."
Dianne Grossman, Mallory Grossman's mother, said that the family is satisfied with the settlement and are ready to move on in life, leaving the tragic loss behind. She further stated that every school administration should take steps to ensure that no child is bullied and should take immediate measures against it.
"Schools get caught up – is it bullying? Is it not bullying? In our family, we don’t care what you call it. We just want the teasing, the harassment, the intimidation, the exclusion – we wanted all of that behavior to stop."
Seth remembers his daughter and talks about how much she loved the outdoors, sports, and gymnastics. He also revealed that Mallory Grossman had once raised money to fund a summer camp for students who were suffering from cancer.
The family believes that the school principal, Alfonso Gonella, is to be blamed equally for Mallory's death
A licensed clinical social worker in Charlotte, Nikki Pagano, said:
"Before social media, there might have been an unpleasant interaction at school and that’s mostly where it stops. Now, that interaction carries over to home and is inescapable."
In January 2022, New Jersey governor Phil Murphy signed a measure, dubbed "Mallory's Law." According to this measure, school districys had to provide proper consequences in anti-bullying policies for students bullying others.
Grossman mentioned that on the last day of Mallory's life, they spoke to the school principal, Alfonso Gonella, who had a meeting with them for three hours. Gonella just handed a poker chip to Mallory after the meeting. Upon recieving it, she felt more humiliated. The principal reportedly didn't even mention handling the situation or punishing the bullies.
Dianne Grossman revealed that she now goes to different schools and narrates her deceased daughter's story to them.
