THE HEARTBROKEN mum of a former Pershore High School student who took his own life met the Duke of Cambridge to raise awareness of the devastating consequences of cyber bullying.
Lucy Alexander, whose son Felix died in April last year, shared her son’s tragic story with Prince William on Wednesday at Kensington Palace, as part of yesterday’s launch of the ‘Stop, Speak, Support’ Action Plan campaign by The Royal Foundation’s Taskforce on the Prevention of Cyberbullying.
During their meeting, His Royal Highness heard how Felix was just 17 when he was hit by a train at Norton, near Worcester, in April last year and asked Lucy to be one of the parents to help inform the taskforce.
In an emotional video posted on Kensington Palace’s Twitter account, Lucy said: “As soon as I lost Felix, I knew I had to talk.
“Social media was his life. His whole life revolved around it. It was the way everyone communicated, and if you weren’t on it you were isolated.
“If he was invited to a party, someone would text saying ‘You don’t want to invite him. Everyone hates him’. All he saw was negative. He saw himself as stupid and ugly. It just ate away at him inside I think
“But I just had no idea of the depth of his despair, at all.”
His Royal Highness replied: “It’s so brave of you to speak so honestly about it. I know it can’t be easy, but I can’t thank you enough.
“It’s worth reminding everyone the human tragedy of what we’re talking about here isn’t just about companies and online stuff, it’s actually real lives get affected. We’re still responsible for our own actions online.”
Since her son’s tragic death, the grieving mum has launched a mental health awareness campaign, called Felix’s Campaign for Kindness, to prevent more young lives being lost as a result of cyber-bullying.
She has also teamed up with West Mercia Police as part of their campaign to shine a light on the devastating consequences of cyber bullying and online harassment.
Stop, Speak, Support will see social media giants Facebook, Google, Snapchat and Twitter, work with the NSPCC and Diana Award to announce a code of conduct for the internet, urging young people to speak to an adult, a charity or report any abuse if they observe negative activity online.
For advice and support on cyber bullying visit www.internetmatters.org/issues/cyberbullying
