Bullied to Death: Chicago’s Most Elite Private School Accused of Contributing to Student’s Death, Cover-Up Afterward
Bullied to Death: Chicago’s Most Elite Private School Accused of Contributing to Student’s Death, Cover-Up Afterward
Parents of deceased 15-year-old say the Latin School ignored their son’s numerous cries for help, then later tried to hide the history of bullying after his death
CHICAGO, IL – In January, Robert and Rose Bronstein endured every parent’s worst nightmare when they discovered that their son had died by suicide in the family bathroom.
In the weeks following, the grieving parents were shocked to discover the depth of bullying that their son had endured at the Latin School of Chicago…bullying that the parents say Latin administrators have been trying to cover up ever since.
“We had known that my son was being ostracized and harassed at Latin School,” says Rose Bronstein, grieving mother. “We contacted the administrators over 30 times, but again and again we were rebuffed by staff, including Bridget Hennessy, the 9th and 10th Grade Dean of Students, and Kristine Von Ogden, Upper School Director at Latin.”
Seeing how unhappy their son had become, the Bronsteins made plans to transfer him to a different Chicago school once the semester ended.
“We thought that would be the end of it, but we were so wrong,” says Rose. “Latin knew our son was being bullied (led by the JV basketball team but later school-wide) and never told us. In his last month at Latin, our son was targeted by vicious cyber bullying so widespread that even students in other schools saw the messages on Snapchat and other social media platforms.”
In a lengthy group message with nearly 20 basketball players, the 15-year-old was told “don’t show up tomorrow,” called him a “snake ass n****” and “it’s on sight,” insinuating that the boys intended to physically harm him. A Snapchat widely circulated said “ur a terrible person”.
