STOKES COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — An eighth-grade student pleaded for help to stop bullying at school.
Kallie Fagg’s father received her school records this week and found an email she sent to her principal this time last year. The Southeastern Stokes Middle student took her own life less than two months ago.
The letter details the ways Kallie said bullies would make fun of her and her friends. She suggested the school bring awareness to the issue since October is Bullying Prevention Month. Kallie sent that email a little more than a year before she committed suicide.
“The first thing I thought is she’d been begging for help since last year,” said Jimmy Fagg, Kallie’s dad. “She’d asked them last year to help her and her friends.”
Kallie turned to her school principal for help. She sent an email on Oct. 3, 2022.
“People get made fun of for their looks, what they like, what they wear, their hobbies and their culture,” said Jimmy as he read the email to FOX8 crews. “They sometimes even make fun of them for diseases or something they can’t help like a lazy eye or eating disorder.”
In the note, the 12-year-old didn’t focus on her own suffering.
“My other friend gets made fun of for her looks and skin condition she has and the stuff she likes,” the note said in part.
Kallie ended her email with a call to action.
“Bullying can lead to bad things like harm to others, themselves or anyone around them,” it said. “I would love it if we could make the school a place where nobody has to worry about what’s going to happen to them today.”
Jimmy told us he cries each time he reads the email.
“If they had taken it seriously, she’d probably still be here today,” he said.
FOX8 reached out to Stokes County Schools Superintendent Dr. Brad Rice, who said he is aware of the letter Kallie submitted last year.
In a statement, he said in response, “Dr. Lessane met with Kallie personally to discuss her concerns and ideas, and following that conversation worked with Kallie to implement a week of bullying prevention programming at the school.”
The statement goes on to say, “Our schools have taken and continue to take bullying very seriously and will continue to work to reduce these behaviors.”
Jimmy hopes to see that change and will do what he can to be part of it.
“I always wanted to help people and especially enjoyed helping kids,” he said. “My daughter has given me a purpose, and I’ll fall over doing this the day I die in order to honor her.”
Part of honoring Kallie’s memory is through a scholarship fund Jimmy is raising money for.
He’s also started an anti-bullying group where members meet to spread kindness and discuss ways to prevent a tragedy like this family is going through.
