Found teen’s close friend describes extent of school bullying

A teen who says she’s a close friend of Lily Christopherson, the Bonney Lake teen who was found this weekend after going missing for nearly a month, gave KIRO Radio’s Dori Monson some insight as to what teens like Lily go through in high school.

After hearing from Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist that Lily had likely been sold into the sex trade after meeting predators online, Dori wondered aloud on his show how a teenage girl could feel so helpless that she would look for validation from a sex offender.

RELATED: Teen’s heartbreaking letter sheds light on Lily Christopherson

High school freshman Marci, 15, who said she has been friends with Lily since the sixth grade, answered Dori’s query in the form of a letter. In the letter, Marci outlined her own struggles with bullying, describing how she is tormented every single day at school.

“I never have a good day at school — everybody is just shaming me,” Marci said.

Dori said that he was so moved that he invited Marci as a guest on Monday’s show.

Marci told Dori that every single day as she is walking in the halls between classes, the other students jeer and insult her.

“I get told or yelled at every time that I’m a slut, or I shouldn’t be here at school because of me, just because of how I am,” she said.

Marci said that although she wishes people would focus on the present, her peers relentlessly judge her for events that occurred in the past.

“People still judge me for it, people still bring it up every day of my life, saying, ‘Oh, she’s still that slut she used to be,’ or, ‘She’s still that person that she always was, and she will never change,'” Marci said.

The tormentors do not stop at verbal abuse — Marci is also routinely pushed and shoved in the halls.

“I get bullied to the point where I get pushed down the stairs,” she described.

Despite the fact that the bullying openly takes place in the middle of class, Marci said that her teachers do not intervene. In fact, on more than one occasion she has even had to get up and leave class due to the cruelty.

“Teachers don’t care — they don’t say anything,” Marci said. “And it hurts inside of me.”

While Marci does not understand why someone would ever choose to vent their anger in the form of shooting children, she said that she does understand the pain that school shooters who have been bullied are feeling.

“It hurts, but I kind of understand what they’re going through, why they feel like crap,” she said.

Marci herself has depression, anxiety, and is bipolar, and has considered suicide.

“It’s to the point where I tell my dad, ‘I can’t,'” she said.

Some of her school counselors are wonderful, Marci said, but when she has expressed her suicidal thoughts, she said that the school has not been able to help.

“I know things are gonna get better, but now in my head I’m thinking that it won’t,” she said.

Right now, Marci is focusing on the support of her loved ones. In the near future, she is looking forward to her quinceañera celebration with 150 family members.

“I’m gonna try to be happy for that day,” she said.

Helpful resources for bullying

If you or someone you know is suffering from bullying, you don’t have to go through it alone. Dori recommended these websites to Marci and encourages everyone going through a rough time to look into them for help.

​Forefront/Suicide Prevention: Forefront is a U.W.-based program for suicide awareness and prevention. There are about three dozen schools and school districts in the state that participate. It makes students, parents and staff more familiar and aware of warning signs.

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