Cyberbullying plea after Wolverhampton teenager's suicide

Her devastated parents Margaret and Phil Clark today opened up about their beloved daughter and revealed their daily battle to cope with her tragic death.

But they also revealed another heartbreak – a series of hurtful comments posted on websites about their daughter in the run-up to her death.

They today issued a plea for parents to be aware of what their teenagers are looking at online and said cyberbullying is a real danger facing teenagers today.

Mrs Clark, aged 57, of Finchfield Lane, in Finchfield, urged other parents to check their children's internet history to see what they are looking at.

There has been controversy in recent months about the dangers of children using websites such as Ask FM or the social networking site formerly known as Formspring, where people can log on anonymously to make comments about others. While parents across the region may not have even heard of such websites, the chances are their children have.

Following her death, Chelsea's family found evidence of hurtful comments posted on one website where people can log on anonymously.

Former teacher Mrs Clark said: "I looked on some of these sites as I wanted to see for myself what Chelsea had been looking at.

"There were anonymous messages on there and some of them were quite disturbing. I saw horrible comments that had been made about Chelsea.

"Some people may be able to go on these sites and see such comments and disregard them. But for people who are vulnerable or already feeling a little bit depressed, these could be a real problem."

The mother-of-nine called for action to be taken to shut down sites where there is evidence of cyberbullying.

"The message is not getting through. I can't stress it too clearly that parents need to check up on what their children are doing on the internet," she added. Mrs Clark said the family had faced a battle to try and stop Chelsea looking at such sites, even taking phones off her in the weeks leading up to her death in a bid to try and stop her going online and reading such negative comments.

They also said there were concerns she could have been looking on sites which fuelled and informed her desire to self harm.

Chelsea's father Phil Clark, aged 65, also of Wolverhampton, said: "I saw something recently from the father of a girl who had killed herself because of comments made to her online and he said these sorts of sites should be shut down. I can only agree with him."

Mr Clark, a sheet metal company owner, said the online comments about Chelsea could not be said to be the main cause of her death. But he added it could have been one of a number of factors..

"When I was growing up, you had to be big to be a bully," he said. "These days, as long as you know how to switch a computer on and can reach the keyboard you can be a bully." Chelsea died in the bedroom of the family home in June 2011. A serious case review was carried out in the wake of the tragedy, with the findings revealed earlier this week. It found Chelsea, a pupil at Wolverhampton Girl's High School, had told healthcare workers she would 'self harm or worse' if she left hospital following treatment for an overdose. But despite communicating her thoughts to workers, Chelsea was 'insufficiently heeded', the review found.

The report also revealed she was released from hospital after taking an overdose and no pre-discharge meeting was held. It said that while her death could not be said to be preventable, had best practice been followed in all cases there would have been a better chance of keeping her safe.

A 35-point action plan has now been put in place to try to reduce the chances of it happening again in the future.

Former teacher Mrs Clark said she hoped other children would benefit from the new recommendations but said she felt Chelsea had been let down by the system.

"It should be said that, in my opinion, I am glad there have been so many recommendations for change in this safeguarding serious case report that has been published," she said. "I feel Chelsea was let down by the system. I hope that somewhere and sometime in the future, when there is another child or teenager that presents like Chelsea, they may have better treatment and better all-round care so that someone else's child may benefit – and ultimately survive – from the changes that have been brought about." She thanked the authors of the report for their work, which had lasted more than 15 months.

Mr Clark, who lives at the couple's former home in Tettenhall Wood, added: "I think the case review board got it right. It's just a pity everybody else dealing with Chelsea was not quite so thorough."

The adoption of the action plan is just a small crumb of comfort for the Clark family. So too, they say, is the fact Chelsea has helped at least 13 other people following her death thanks to her decision to be an organ donor. The family is also focussing its efforts into fundraising for YoungMinds, a child and adolescent mental health charity. Bag packing and marathons are among the activities that have been held to try to raise £10,000 for the charity in the hope of getting a booklet produced by YoungMinds into as many secondary schools as possible.

But while the family is now focusing on Chelsea's legacy and making sure she did not die in vain, her parents say the pain of their daughter's death is something they live with every day.

Mr Clark said: "I don't want any other family to go through what we've gone through. If Chelsea was our only child, I don't think we would have coped. The other children have helped get us through and helped us carry on." Mrs Clark added: "It just never leaves you. I look for her all the time. You go out and you know full well it's not going to be Chelsea but you look for people who look like her. And I see things like Converse, she used to love her Converse, or hear a certain piece of music and it's there. Minute by minute there's reminders."

An inquest into Chelsea's death heard her behaviour began to change when she became a teenager. But her parents say this difficult period represented just a small part of a life that was filled with love and happiness.

"I had a very close and loving relationship with Chelsea," said Mrs Clark.

"She was always so kind and friendly and supportive to people. She was just so lovely, always there to make you a cup of tea if you were tired or had a long day. She was just a really lovely girl."

The stop bullying campaign has issued this advice:

• Don’t respond to cyberbullying messages

• Keep evidence of cyberbullying

• Save and print screenshots, emails and text messages

• Block the person who is cyberbullying

• Report cyberbullying to service providers

• Report it to police when there are threats of violence, sexually explicit messages, a breach of privacy and stalking or hate crimes

• Report it to schools

Other places may be able to help:

• Childline: 0800 1111

• Samaritans: 08457 90 90 90

• YoungMinds parents’ helpline: 0808 802 5544 or visit the website that can be found at www.youngminds.org.uk