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In January 2022, Robert and Rose Bronstein's 15-year-old son died by suicide after The Latin School of Chicago allegedly ignored the teenager's complaints about bullying on social media from his peers.
The Bronsteins allege that the school never notified them after their son, Nate, went to school staff with concerns about the bullying he was being subject to on apps like Snapchat about a month prior to his death.
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"Their first instinct, their second instinct and third instinct was to protect themselves and their careers. They could literally care less about the truth," Robert Bronstein said of the school, which he claimed acted with "cruelty and callousness" before and after their son's death.
Issues at school
Prior to his suicide, the school's dean of students allegedly contacted the Bronsteins to tell them Nate had been put on notice for not wearing his mask correctly over his nose.
The Bronsteins allege that the school never notified them after their son, Nate, went to school staff with concerns about the bullying he was being subject to on apps like Snapchat about a month prior to his death. (Rose and Robert Bronstein)
The same dean of students, however, apparently failed to contact the Bronsteins when their son was being bullied, according to their lawsuit against the school.
The Bronsteins enrolled Nate, whom they described as a "bright" and "energetic" boy with an intense love for sports, at The Latin School of Chicago as a sophomore in the fall of 2021.
He had spent the last year online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and his parents wanted him to go back to in-person learning, which The Latin School, founded in 1888, promised parents.
But when Nate started school, he was apparently subject to rumors that he had enrolled during his sophomore year "for nefarious reasons," Rose Bronstein said.
The Bronsteins enrolled Nate, whom they described as a "bright" and "energetic" boy with an intense love for sports, at The Latin School of Chicago as a sophomore in the fall of 2021. (Rose and Robert Bronstein)
Students wondered why he was there, whether he was a problem child, whether he had been kicked out of his last school or expelled — none of which is true, Rose said.
"They spread rumors that he was unvaccinated, which, of course, at the time was like 'The Scarlet Letter,'" she explained.
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The Bronsteins had already made plans for Nate to transfer schools by the end of the spring semester after hearing about the harassment their son had been enduring, but by January it was too late.
Cyberbullying
The bullying allegedly got worst after Nate joined the school basketball team. Most of the bullying took place online via social media apps including Snapchat, which allows messages to disappear after 24 hours or immediately after users open them.
Prior to his suicide, the school's dean of students allegedly contacted the Bronsteins to tell them Nate had been put on notice for not wearing his mask correctly over his nose. (Rose and Robert Bronstein)
In a group chat with about 20 of his basketball teammates, included in the lawsuit, other players told Nate, "[D]on’t show up tomorrow," and called him a "snake ass n****." They also insinuated that they would physically harm the 15-year-old when they saw him, according to the family's lawyers.
Additionally, a widely circulated Snapchat message called Nate "a terrible person." A student also apparently saw a Snapchat that told Nate: "[G]o kill yourself."
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The family sued the school for $100 million in damages, alleging that Bridget Hennessy, the Dean of Students for the 9th and 10th grades, had failed to take action or notify them after Nate had brought the online harassment to her attention, despite having a legal duty to be a "mandated reporter" under Illinois state law.
Days after Nate's suicide, parents of other students apparently went to the members of The Latin School administration, including Head of Students Randall Dunn, to show evidence of the bullying Nate had endured on social media, the lawsuit states.
The complaint alleges that the school did not disclose that evidence to the Bronsteins until Jan. 27, 2022 — about two weeks after Nate's suicide.
Dunn, head of the Board of Trustees of the National Association of Independent Schools, has since taken on a new role as the head of Rye Country Day, a similar elite private school in a New York City suburb. He did not immediately respond to an inquiry from Fox News Digital.
Days after Nate's suicide, another student apparently went to the members of The Latin School administration to show evidence of the bullying Nate was subjected to by his peers. (Google Maps)
"January 13th was the most horrific day of our lives. And to me, January 27, when we found out what had happened, it was like reliving that trauma all over again. It was absolutely shocking," Rose said.
The Latin School did not return a request for comment from Fox News Digital.
Cyberbullying is the second-largest discipline issue across U.S. schools today, more than double what it was over the past decade, according to the Department of Education.
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Teens and adolescents who are subject to cyberbullying are also four times more likely to inflict self-harm or attempt to or commit suicide, a 2022 study by researchers Shay Arnon, Anat Brunstein Klomek and Elina Visoki found.
Social media and private schools
The Bronsteins have since tried to turn their anger and grief into awareness for other parents through their nonprofit, Buckets Over Bullying, which aims to "help prevent other families from enduring similar tragedy by the loss of a child in the same way."
The Bronsteins want parents to be aware that their children may be subject to, or participating in, cyberbullying on social media. (Rose and Robert Bronstein)
First, they want parents to be aware that their children may be subject to, or participating in, cyberbullying on social media.
The Bronsteins believe that cyber-safety education should be a course in schools in the same way that health and physical education are.
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"Parents should demand that schools employ the resources of very specialized experts in the area, because it is specialized, and it's changing incredibly quickly," Rose Bronstein said.
Parents give their children iPhones and iPads at young ages assuming they are watching funny videos or playing harmless games, when in reality, they are exposed to "violent acts online, hate speech [and] threats" until "they become ... desensitized to it."
The Bronstein family sued The Latin School of Chicago for $100 million in damages. (Rose and Robert Bronstein)
Additionally, parents need to be aware that private schools are held to different standards from those of public schools, the Bronsteins said.
Their son's suicide is comparable to the recent death of Jack Reid of The Lawrenceville School in New Jersey. Reid, 17, died in a dorm on campus, which is situated just outside of Trenton, on April 30, 2022, after he had endured "bullying and other forms of cruel behavior" at the boarding and day school.
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The difference, according to the Bronsteins, is that The Lawrenceville School conducted an independent investigation into Reid's death and posted a statement on its website as part of a settlement with the Reid family. The Latin School of Chicago has not done the same for the Bronsteins, the family said.
"They worked overtime to see that we never heard about it and hoped that it would go away," Rose alleged. "They immediately removed our names from the directory. ... They worked very hard to hope that what happened would never come up."
"It's arrogance, it's selfishness, and it's disrespectful," said Robert.
Jack Reid, 17, died in a dorm on The Lawrenceville School campus, which is situated just outside of Trenton, N.J., on April 30, 2022, after he had endured "bullying and other forms of cruel behavior" at the boarding and day school, Lawrenceville said in a statement. (The Jack Reid Foundation)
"This is about our children. We send our children to school every day under the assumption that the adults in these schools are going to keep our kids safe, especially private school... when you're paying $40, $50, $60, $70,000 a year. As a parent, you assume you are paying this money because your child... is in good hands," Rose said.
There is a "higher level" of "egregious negligent behavior" within the private school system, because school officials make a more significant effort to cover up concerns, she continued.
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"They're failing our children. They're pushing parents out. And with the Lawrenceville situation, [the Reid family] said that they were not notified... about some of the bullying that went on with their son. So, these school parents who are at private schools — we need we demand transparency about reports of bullying and cyberbullying that involve our children. And we're not getting it," Rose said.
The Bronsteins are accepting donations to various organizations combating cyberbullying and promoting other educational opportunities through their website, BucketsOverBullying.org.
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