Family of Unanderra teenager Jessica Tolhurst have penned a song in her memory, as efforts to establish anti-bullying legislation in her name continue.
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Fourteen-year-old Jessica took her own life on December 7, in circumstances clouded by bullying and depression.
Her devastated mother Melinda Graham and stepfather Dave Graham are now leading efforts to see anti-bullying legislation debated in the NSW Parliament.
They have collected 7000 of the required 10,000 signatures and raised almost $10,000 to create the Bobdan Foundation – a name partly referencing Jessica’s bob haircut at age six.
Mrs Graham believes families of vulnerable teens are being let down by the health system, educators and politicians.
“Some professionals tell you that bullying had nothing to do with [Jessica’s death],” she said.
“They weren’t living with her, they’d didn’t know the ins and outs of everything that was going on.
“We are trying to work alongside schools in the Illawarra, so that when kids come to me and tell me that they’re getting bullied I … take it to the [Department of Education and Training’s] health and wellbeing officer.
“We are hitting brick walls. It’s taking a little bit for the schools to realise that I’m not going away.”
At the weekend the Grahams performed a song, Heaven has some wings, written for Jessica, at a fundraiser in North Wollongong that raised almost $1000 for the foundation.
“You’d be surprised by the amount of kids that didn’t even know her that this has affected,” Mrs Graham said.
“It’s real to them and it’s close to home. The whole situation, with no one listening to her – I think the kids really relate to that.”
The fundraiser, at North Wollongong’s Flip Out Trampoline Arena, was organised by 17-year-old staffer Tyler Warnest.
Tyler didn’t know Jessica but said he believed in the cause being championed by her family.
“A lot of my friends were close friends with Jessica,” he said. “I saw how much [her death] affected everyone around her, and just wanted to do something.
“Mel and David both have a really good vision for what could be, by helping people. I wanted to get on board because I knew they would do something good with it.”
Visit gofundme.com/xqe22b24 for more information about the Bobdan Foundation.
Copies of the family’s petition are available to sign at Illawarra stores including Dymocks Wollongong, Drift cafe in Corrimal and Video Ezy at Figtree.