A schoolgirl hanged herself because she could not cope with the ‘21st-century pressures’ caused by social media and mobile phones, her father said yesterday.
The family of 15-year-old Olivia Glennie had no idea anything was wrong before her death.
The father Alex said the pressures of 24-hour communication by text, Facebook and the internet mean teenagers are faced with ‘too much, too young’, and parents need to be more aware of the danger signs.
Olivia was found hanging from a tree in September by a dog walker. She was given resuscitation treatment and taken to hospital but died five days later.
Talented and popular, Olivia was outwardly happy but was hiding insecurities about her boyfriend, her friends and her looks, an inquest heard. Her family said they were unaware of this as she ‘had everything to live for’ and had enjoyed her sister’s wedding just days before.
Mr Glennie, 51, a contracts manager from Huddersfield, told the Daily Mail: ‘I can’t say what was going through her mind, I don’t think anybody in this world can.
‘Maybe people need to be more aware of the signs with teenagers in this day and age. With the internet and mobile phones and Facebook, I think they are getting too much, too young. It’s a cultural change.
‘Children are growing up so quickly. They have a lot of pressures, these 21st-century pressures.’ He said his daughter, who was 6ft 1in, could have been a model but was insecure about her teenage acne. ‘She would say to me, “Dad, I’ve got too many spots”,’ he said. ‘I have photographs of her with no makeup on and she still looks beautiful.’
A statement from Olivia’s mother, Diane, 49, was read to the inquest in Huddersfield. She said: ‘To be told that our beautiful daughter would not pull through brought unimaginable pain, all our hopes and dreams for her were shattered.‘
She must have been in a really dark place at that time. This is something, as a mother, I wish The inquest heard from Olivia’s friends that she was upset about splitting from her on-off boyfriend and had fallen out with a close friend. One friend was aware she had been self-harming by cutting her hip, but her parents did not know. Friends had been supportive and did not suspect she was suicidal.
Olivia had hoped to go to university and become a teacher.
