Bullying link to teenager's car death

The Age

Wednesday August 19, 2009

By PAUL MILLAR

THE parents of a 13-year-old boy who died when the car he was driving crashed in Warrnambool say he was fleeing to escape the spectre of school bullies.James Roney, of Allansford, took his grandparents' car early on Monday morning. After a few kilometres he hit a power pole and died instantly.His family said he had been the victim of schoolyard bullying and was due to start at a new school on the day he died."We all thought that he would be OK and that he wanted to go there," parents Lachlan and Tracey Roney said in a statement.They said their son had taken the car while everybody was sleeping and was trying "to escape starting a new school"."He obviously was not ready after his past experience of bullying. James had suffered significant bullying at Mount Gambier High School earlier this year."He stood up to his bullies, but he still suffered greatly because of them."Since then, he has experienced great difficulty and anxiety with attending school."In a statement released to Channel Nine, Mount Gambier principal Peter McKay said "the school took all matters of bullying seriously" and worked hard to resolve problems.

© 2009 The Age

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