Latest news with #Atreyu
Daily Mail
18-06-2025
- Daily Mail
Grieving mum's brutal final parting shot at the school she blames for the suicide of her son
Shattered mum Clare McCann paraded her son's coffin past the school where she claims he was bullied to death, in a final defiant act during his funeral cortege. McCann's son Atreyu died by suicide at his home in April aged just 13. But before his heartbreaking funeral on Monday, she instructed the hearse driver to slowly take his coffin past South Sydney High School. A pipe and drum escort joined the procession as it slowly made its way around the Maroubra campus, before heading to Mary Immaculate Catholic Church in Waverley, in Sydney's eastern suburbs. 'They will not get away with all they have done. They have to face justice!' Clare said in a searing Facebook post early yesterday morning. McCann - a journalist and actress best known for starring in Channel V's Blog Party -said the bullying began in Atreyu's first week at the school in February and continued relentlessly until he died. She alleges Atreyu was held underwater 'in a violent incident during a mud run' during a Year 7 camp from February 7 to 9, but no report was made to her. She says Atreyu endured sexual harassment, threats and abuse throughout the camp and was not offered psychological support. She also claims her son was subjected to a racial slur during sport, and verbal taunts about his size and appearance, which relate to a congenital condition. According to Ms McCann, the school was informed in March that other students had crafted a weapon to coerce Atreyu into self harm, but no action was taken. He missed multiple days of class, and was diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder. He ultimately took his own life at home after sending a last message expressing love and an apology. The message included a red heart emoji. The distraught mum, who kissed photos of her son and hugged his coffin at the funeral, added: 'I begged for help. 'I submitted complaints. I shared medical records. No one listened.' She believes the school 'silenced' a year seven student's apology to her son. The student's online post stated, 'What I did was very wrong, bullying is not a joke. I realise that now. My deepest apologies'. But that post was later deleted, with McCann believing 'teachers made' the student take it down. The Education Department said the school denies telling the student to delete the post. But Atreyu's mum furiously responded on social media, saying, 'The school are trying to cover up their inaction by coercing a 12-year-old-child! 'Now they are trying to deny it, but we have the evidence.' On the day of Atreyu's funeral, McCann said: 'First they ignore and act in neglect, failing their duty of care. Then they try to cover it up. Now they lie. 'The Premier has stepped in. We will have justice for Atreyu'. NSW Premier Chris Minns this week promised to assist McCann in her search for answers. He said the government would 'do anything we can do to ease the family's pain in coming months and years'. Like his mother, Atreyu had artistic aspirations. In his short acting career, he won two drama awards and played roles in US documentary series Deadly Women, as well as a 2019 movie written, directed by and starring his mother called Benefited. After Atreyu died, Clare attempted to raise $300,000 through a Gofundme appeal to have him cryogenically frozen. 'We only have one chance left to cryogenically preserve his body within the next seven days,' she wrote in May. But she was unsuccessful in her bid to raise the cash needed. At Monday's funeral, friends and family wiped away tears as McCann approached the pulpit, breathing heavily, before sharing stories of her lost 'best friend'. She added: 'You were the most intelligent, funniest and talented person I've ever known.' Help is available 24/7. Lifeline: call 13 11 14 or text 0477 13 11 14. Beyond Blue: 1300 22 4636.
News.com.au
16-06-2025
- News.com.au
Inside the terrifying bullying epidemic that is killing our kids
A 12-year-old girl named Charlotte left behind a note before she died. She asked her mother to tell her story so that no other child would suffer like she had. She was smart, funny, loved by her family. And still, she felt so cornered by the relentless cruelty of her classmates, both online and in person, that she made a decision no child should even comprehend, let alone carry out. A few months later, a boy named Atreyu, just 13, followed her. He had begged for help. His mother had filed complaints. He had been diagnosed with PTSD. But the bullying didn't stop. Not at school. Not on his phone. It chased him everywhere. After he died, his mother, Clare McCann, did something almost unimaginable. In her grief, in the rawest days after losing her child, she spoke. She shared her son's story with heartbreaking honesty. She described the love he had for sci-fi dreams, for cryogenics, for the idea of being brought back to life some day, in a better world. She should not have had to do that. No mother should have to turn the death of her child into a national wake-up call. But she did. And we must listen. These are not isolated tragedies. They are part of a pattern. A national quiet crisis, hiding in plain sight, fed by silence and delay. Every parent who reads this knows the fear. The dread that your child might one day come home and say the words Charlotte said. Or, worse – say nothing at all. We imagine bullying as playground taunts and mean nicknames. But what we're seeing now is darker. Social media has made cruelty a 24-hour performance. Leaked images. Mocking posts. Accounts created to degrade children by name, with captions too vulgar to print. And what kind of child does this? Usually, a child who's been hurt too. That's the problem with bullying. It metastasises. It turns pain into power and makes torment contagious. But the children on the receiving end? They carry it like a wound no one else can see. It lives in their posture. In the quiet way they slip into rooms. In the tears they save until the bathroom stall. In the way they start to believe what they're told, that they are ugly, that they are stupid, that they are less than human. Some don't survive it. And so, this is a plea. Not just to governments and school systems, but to every adult who ever loved a child. We must stop treating bullying as a rite of passage and start treating it as a moral emergency. We owe these children something better than hand-wringing and hashtags after they're gone. The good news is, there are signs that we are finally listening. The NSW Department of Education, the Association of Independent Schools, and Catholic Schools NSW recently came together to sign a landmark anti-bullying statement of intent. For the first time, the three major school systems are working together to prevent and respond to bullying in a unified way. This isn't just symbolic. It is real, co-ordinated action. The Federal Government's Anti-Bullying Rapid Review, led by respected experts Dr Charlotte Keating and Dr Jo Robinson, is now open to public submissions. This is a chance for every parent, student, teacher, and survivor to speak. Lived experience must inform national policy. Even more encouraging, the government's decision to raise the social media age to 16, following the Let Them Be Kids campaign, is a brave and necessary move. It acknowledges that tech companies will not protect our children, so we must. At the same time, meaningful educational programs are planting the seeds of empathy. One of the most promising is Click Against Hate, a free, curriculum-aligned digital platform that teaches students to recognise and reject hatred through interactive, engaging lessons. Requiring minimal teacher preparation, this groundbreaking initiative has already been adopted by hundreds of primary and secondary schools across Australia. It empowers educators to foster inclusion, challenge bigotry, and build a culture of dignity and respect inside the classroom — and far beyond it. But policy and programs alone are not enough. We must change the culture. The quiet acceptance. The excuses. The tendency to look away. That starts with naming the harm. Bullying is not just 'kids being kids.' It is humiliation. It is isolation. It is dehumanisation. It is the teacher who ridicules a child for her weight in front of the class. It is the account that posts a child's face with a pig emoji every day for a year. It is the student with Tourette's who is followed to the car park, shoved, and told he should disappear. It is every adult who knew and did nothing. I spoke recently with a father who was bullied as a child and now has a daughter of his own. 'I want her to know,' he said, 'that silence is the bully's weapon. That she can always speak. That she is never alone.' I think of that now. I think of Atreyu and Charlotte and Alex and Anzac. I think of the ones whose names we don't know yet. And I think of the mothers who carry this grief in their bones and still find the courage to speak up, to protect other people's children even after they've lost their own. That kind of love should not be necessary. But it is. And so, let us build a new standard. Let us become a country that values kindness as much as achievement. Let us teach our children that strength is not domination. It is compassion. Let us treat every cruel message, every mocking post, every shove and slur as an alarm bell, not a shrug. Because one day soon, another parent will get the call no parent should ever receive. And when that happens, the question will not be whether we had the policies. It will be whether we paid attention in time. Let this be the moment we did.
Metro
16-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Metro
Actress loses fight to cryogenically preserve teenage son
An actress who was racing to raise $300,000 (£143,000) in a week to cryogenically preserve her son has been forced to hold his funeral. Last month Australian actress Clare McCann begged for help following the death of her son Atreyu, who died aged 13. Best known for appearing in the Channel [V] shows Blog Party and Clublife, Clare shared that her son had died by suicide after 'months of relentless bullying'. Soon after she asked for support to 'help me preserve his life' and shared a link to a fundraiser, explaining she wanted to 'allow him to live again' with cryonics – the practice of freezing an individual who has died with the aim of reviving them sometime in the future. But with a seven-day window in which to achieve her aim, Clare said she was fighting against the clock to drum up enough support. However, a few weeks on, she's now been forced to hold her son's funeral after not raising the money in time. On Monday, Atreyu's funeral was held in Sydney, with loved ones given their chance to say their final goodbyes. During the service, held at Mary Immaculate Church in Waverley, videos were shown of him riding a horse, skateboarding and cuddling his favourite animals. Standing in front of her son's coffin, which was covered in sunflowers, Clare spoke to the congregation about her 'best mate', who she named after the hero in The NeverEnding Story. reported her speaking about her son being 'looking so forward' to starting high school until bullies 'dimmed his light'. 'Atreyu you saved me from the nothingness, you brought my life indescribable joy when I had none,' she said. 'As you grew I revelled in your beauty. I always felt so blessed to have such a beautiful and wonderful boy. You were and will always be my best mate. 'You were the most intelligent, funniest person I have ever known.' She then went on to vow to make him proud and dedicate her life to campaigning against bullying. 'I'm sorry if I failed you. I'm sorry if I loved you too much and made you too gentle,' she said through tears. 'Now the world knows his name, his story and his message,' she added. More Trending When first announcing the death of her son, Clare posted on social media: 'It's with shattered hearts that we share the passing of my beautiful son, Atreyu McCann. He was the brightest light in my world — kind, creative, and endlessly loved. 'Right now, we are grieving a loss that words can't hold. Please give us time and space as we process this unimaginable pain. 'Thank you to everyone who has supported and loved Atreyu. We'll share more when we're ready. For now, please hold him in your hearts.' Got a story? If you've got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@ calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we'd love to hear from you. MORE: My farts make me £20,000 a year – I'm blown away by the demand MORE: Rapper Yung Filly faces two new sexual assault charges MORE: Mushroom 'killer' Erin Patterson accused of 'making it up as she goes along'
Perth Now
15-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Perth Now
Inside Australia's School Bullying Crisis: A special 7NEWS investigation
To see Chris Reason's special investigation on Australia's bullying crisis, watch 7NEWS tonight live at 6pm. Clare McCann was a single mum with a single child — who has now been taken from her. After what she describes as a sustained and often violent campaign of horrific school bullying, her son died by suicide. His name was Atreyu McMann. He was just 13 years old and in his first year of high school. Atreyu was named after the hero character in the 1984 classic The NeverEnding Story. Tragically, Atreyu's story ended long before it should have. When I first met McCann, it was just days after Atreyu had died. She was a broken woman. Her eyes were red, her face pale, as she climbed out of her friend's car at the place she wanted to talk — Atreyu's favourite surf spot. Maroubra Beach. As we walked around the headland to the spot where mother and son used to sit and watch the waves, she let the memories of Atreyu wash over her. 'He was so beautiful,' she said. 'He was excited to be 13 and to meet friends. He was so excited for school, so excited for his future.' But McCann told how she watched her son gradually drown in the brutality of teenage life. It was an awful, heartbreaking story — told through unending tears. Atreya McMann died by suicide after what his mother Clare McMann describes as a sustained and often violent campaign of horrific school bullying. Credit: 7NEWS Atreyu had been mostly homeschooled through his primary school years, and McCann admits that by the time he hit high school, he was probably under-prepared. South Sydney High School was a shock to his young system. It wasn't long before he was identified and targeted by bullies, McCann said. It became increasingly hard to get him to go to school. McCann reached out to school authorities repeatedly for help. There were text messages, emails, phone calls, and visits. Did they do anything? 'Nothing, nothing, nothing,' McCann said. It was an agonising, ongoing cry for help — delivered over weeks — but it got her nowhere. 'I just didn't get a response,' she said. 'For weeks, I kept reaching out, kept calling, kept emailing.' Clare McMann believes South Sydney High School did not do enough to help her son Atreyu McMann, even after she reached out repeatedly for help. Credit: 7NEWS She recalls one day she went to the school to complain — but staff couldn't see her because the Education Minister was touring the facility, being held up as a shining example of the NSW education system. 'We got to the point where my son told me, 'If you make me go to school, I'll kill myself'. So, I took him out.' Atreyu had only started at the school in February. McCann removed him from the school in April. She sought help, taking him to mental health professionals. 'I thought he was getting better, but he developed PTSD,' McMann said. And six weeks later, Atreyu was found dead in his bedroom. 'He'll never get married ... never have children,' she sobs. 'I'll never have grandchildren.' 'I can't believe it was my son ... never thought it would be my son.' I asked McMann if she felt let down by the system. 'I feel completely let down,' she said. 'It needs to change.' McMann is an actor by profession, but this could be the most important role of her life — campaigning for the safety of children. Other parents' children. Because hers is now gone. WATCH TONIGHT: To see Chris Reason's full report on Australia's bullying crisis, including more on Clare's story, what went wrong, how she plans to create change, and what the school authorities had to say, watch 7NEWS tonight live at 6pm. If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For further information about depression contact Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 or talk to your GP, local health professional or someone you trust. Lifeline can be contacted on 13 11 14 for 24/7 crisis support. Kids Helpline can also be contacted on 1800 55 1800 for support for children aged 5 to 25.
7NEWS
14-06-2025
- Entertainment
- 7NEWS
Inside Australia's School Bullying Crisis: A special 7NEWS investigation
WATCH TONIGHT: To see Chris Reason's special investigation on Australia's bullying crisis, watch 7NEWS tonight live at 6pm. Clare McCann was a single mum with a single child — who has now been taken from her. After what she describes as a sustained and often violent campaign of horrific school bullying, her son died by suicide. His name was Atreyu McMann. He was just 13 years old and in his first year of high school. Atreyu was named after the hero character in the 1984 classic The NeverEnding Story. Tragically, Atreyu's story ended long before it should have. When I first met McCann, it was just days after Atreyu had died. She was a broken woman. Her eyes were red, her face pale, as she climbed out of her friend's car at the place she wanted to talk — Atreyu's favourite surf spot. Maroubra Beach. As we walked around the headland to the spot where mother and son used to sit and watch the waves, she let the memories of Atreyu wash over her. 'He was so beautiful,' she said. 'He was excited to be 13 and to meet friends. He was so excited for school, so excited for his future.' But McCann told how she watched her son gradually drown in the brutality of teenage life. It was an awful, heartbreaking story — told through unending tears. Atreyu had been mostly homeschooled through his primary school years, and McCann admits that by the time he hit high school, he was probably under-prepared. South Sydney High School was a shock to his young system. It wasn't long before he was identified and targeted by bullies, McCann said. It became increasingly hard to get him to go to school. McCann reached out to school authorities repeatedly for help. There were text messages, emails, phone calls, and visits. Did they do anything? 'Nothing, nothing, nothing,' McCann said. It was an agonising, ongoing cry for help — delivered over weeks — but it got her nowhere. 'I just didn't get a response,' she said. 'For weeks, I kept reaching out, kept calling, kept emailing.' She recalls one day she went to the school to complain — but staff couldn't see her because the Education Minister was touring the facility, being held up as a shining example of the NSW education system. 'We got to the point where my son told me, 'If you make me go to school, I'll kill myself'. So, I took him out.' Atreyu had only started at the school in February. McCann removed him from the school in April. She sought help, taking him to mental health professionals. 'I thought he was getting better, but he developed PTSD,' McMann said. And six weeks later, Atreyu was found dead in his bedroom. 'He'll never get married … never have children,' she sobs. 'I'll never have grandchildren.' 'I can't believe it was my son … never thought it would be my son.' I asked McMann if she felt let down by the system. 'I feel completely let down,' she said. 'It needs to change.' McMann is an actor by profession, but this could be the most important role of her life — campaigning for the safety of children. Other parents' children. Because hers is now gone. If you need help in a crisis, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
