What is your loved one’s full name: 

Nathan Isaac Bronstein

What was their date of birth & their age at the time of their passing?

June 6, 2002; 15 years-old

Tell us about your loved one: What five adjectives best describe the positive they brought to this world, that now shines on in how they impacted you and all those they touched?
Nate was warm, loving, witty, intelligent and had a great sense of humor, he loved sports and hanging out with his friends.

To the extent that you feel comfortable, please tell us what you believe were the circumstances/contributing factors around your loved one’s passing.
Nate was bullied and cyberbullied by teammates and classmates at the Latin School of Chicago via a group iMessage thread and via Snapchat. He was relentlessly harassed, humiliated and  threatened with physical and deadly harm.  He received a Snapchat message with a suicide-baiting message that read “go kill yourself.” Nate reported the cyberbullying to the Dean of Students at the Latin School of Chicago on December 13, 2021 and the Latin School of Chicago never notified us that Nate had reported cyberbullying. We did not find out about the cyberbullying until January 27, 2022 after we lost Nate to suicide on January 13, 2022. The information about the cyber abuse was shared with us by a parent and child from the school, but it was too late. If we would have been notified by the school when Nate reported the abuse, we would have had the opportunity to intervene and protect our son. We were denied that right.

What did you as a family wish you knew more about this topic in the year’s leading up to your loss?
How dangerous and deadly bullying and cyberbullying has become. And, how schools, specifically independent private schools like the Latin School of Chicago turn a blind eye to the dangers of bullying and cyberbullying and choose not to include parents in the notification process when these dangerous incidents occur.

Why did your family decide to go public about your loss, and why are you choosing to be so selfless in putting their/your story out there for others?

To heighten awareness of the bullying and cyberbullying crisis. This is a true crisis. Our precious children should not reach the point where bullying and cyberbullying leads to suicide. We must hold big tech, schools and parents of bullies accountable for their egregious behaviors.

What are the perceptions about suicide you would like your loved one’s story to help change?

In many cases, adolescents and teens are lost to suicide because they feel helpless and hopeless and this has been driven by the dangerous consequences of bullying and cyberbullying both online and offline. It is not because our children are “troubled” or have “mental health issues” beyond what has been traditionally been reported. Society chooses to victim blame the child and the parents who are victimized rather than hold perpetrators and enablers accountable. Digital devices and social media platforms have become weapons of mass destruction for our youth.

Links and/or descriptions to any resources you would like to drive people to:

Website: Bucketsoverbullying.org
Instagram: @bucketsoverbulying
Twitter: @overbullying
Facebook: Buckets Over Bullying
LinkedIn: @Rose Bronstein