In another bullying case out of Fairfield, Ohio, the family of 13-year-old Emilie Olsen is suing the Fairfield City School District saying that school officials ignored bullying that lead to her death. Emilie committed suicide about a year ago.

According to the federal law suite, Emilie, who is of Asian-American decent, had been the target of bullies for three years prior to her death, but the school did nothing about it. It included cyber-bullying in which her tormentors set up a fake Facebook account claiming that Emilie was gay, chewed tobacco, and had sex with random people in the woods.

School officials have continuously denied any wrongdoing, and Fairfield Township police have said there is a lot of media speculation, but no substantial evidence to link her death to bullying.

In stark contrast, the 82-page lawsuit,listing Emilie’s parents and sister as plaintiffs, claim Emilie’s time in the Fairfield City School District became a battlefield that continued to escalate until she shot herself in the head Dec. 11, 2014.

This is  yet another sad example of the consequences of bullying, and illustrates that parents need to take the situation seriously. For more information on dealing with bullies or helping kids cope with bullying, see the following resources:

• How to prevent bullying
• Teaching kids to deal with bullies
• Helping a child cope with being bullied