Ayden’s law: ‘Why I’m fighting to beat bullying’

In March this year, Ayden Olson took his own life. He was just 14 years old.

His mother, Shy Keenan, a well-known campaigner and advocate for victims of child abuse, has now spoken to Channel 4 News about the bullying Ayden suffered at school and of her pain at not being able to stop it.

Yet even in the midst of that grief, she also spoke of her desire to make a difference – to see a law introduced to deal with bullying.

He was, Ms Keenan told us, a beautiful boy. And it was not just a mother’s pride. He was good-looking. You can see it from the photos scattered around the house. His lovely smile, his deep brown eyes from his half-Japanese father.

He gave us ones and zeros. And I believed him. Shy Keenan talks about her son Ayden Olson, who rated his days at school out of 10 before taking his own life earlier this year.

He loved music, he was funny, he was clever at languages. He could sign for his deaf twin brother. In a rare moment, she laughs at one point and says: “French, Japanese and swearing.”

He was getting ready, too, his mother said, to record a song about bullies that he planned to put on You Tube.

But it did not happen.

Ayden was a pupil at the Philip Morant school in Colchester, Essex. He was first bullied after being falsely accused of sexually assaulting a girl at the school. It was simply not true but it did not stop the abuse.

‘Nothing happened so he stopped doing it’

Ms Keenan says the school asked him to fill in “orange cards” with the names of the bullies. She said it had no effect.

“Nothing happened so he stopped doing it,” she said. “If you are pushing the button and nothing works, you stop hitting the button, don’t you?”

The bullying escalated after he spoke about being gay and of liking another boy.

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“Someone told that boy,” Ms Keenan said. “They cornered him, got him on the ground and threw flour at his crotch. They called him dirty, Asian, gay.

“He came home and asked if he could have surgery to change his eyes. He started plucking his eyebrows to stop himself looking so Asian. But he was proud of being part Japanese. He was gorgeous.”

In November, Ayden first tried to kill himself but was found by his father. For a time he was kept away from school until he insisted on going back – determined to stick up to the bullies.

And for a time it seemed to abate. As far as his family knew, he was coping. They would ask him how his day had been on a scale of zero to 10 – from good to bad.

“He gave us ones and zeros,” his mother said. “And I believed him.”

When Ayden died, he left a note talking about the bullying, saying he felt sorry for them.

There is now a police investigation and an inquest will be held. And it is the case that people do not generally take their lives for one reason alone.

But the bullying is what they are focusing on because it happened so often and because little seemed to be done. Now Ms Keenan wants Ayden’s law to be implemented. Working closely with her good friend and fellow campaigner Sara Payne and with the charity BeatBullying, they want to make bullying and intimidation a criminal offence.

They also want to increase bullying prevention outside the school grounds because, they say, it happens in the community as well as in the playground. And they want to make it a statutory requirement for the government to publish an annual anti-bullying strategy.

Richard Piggin, the deputy chief executive of BeatBullying, told Channel 4 News: “Bullying is a serious issue. It is the most common issue and problem faced by kids as they grow up and one of the most serious concerns for parents.

“We know 44 per cent of child suicides are related to bullying. It should be seen as unacceptable in all its forms and Ayden’s Law is designed to take it forward and change the culture and the way we’re dealing with it as a society.”

Ms Keenan herself is adamant that she does not want to criminalise children. That would be as a last resort when all intervention has failed. But she also points out that if Ayden had been called “dirty, Asian, gay” outside the school gates that would have been considered a hate crime. Inside the school, it is not.

In fact, all schools have to have an anti-bullying policy and Ofsted ratings take into account how effective those policies are. And while charities like BeatBullying are pleased that Ofsted includes this, they are also concerned that schools may be reluctant to record all cases for fear of it affecting their ratings.

Dealing with bullying

In line with the Ofsted requirement, Philip Morant School does have an anti-bullying policy but we have no real idea of how they dealt with bullying in this case – apart from asking Ayden to fill in cards with the bullies’ names. They refused repeated requests for an interview. They did give a statement through a law firm which gave a potted history of the school for the first three paragraphs before stating: “The events earlier this year came as a great shock to the school, its teachers and pupils and our thoughts and condolences have always been with the family.”

A second statement on behalf of the school from a public relations firm said: “As the tragic loss of Ayden Olson remains the subject of an ongoing police investigation, it’s obviously difficult for us to comment in any great detail at this stage.”

It adds: “It was with great shock and sadness that we learnt of Ayden’s death and our thoughts are with his family, and everyone else who has been affected by his loss.”

It is also a matter of some frustration to Ayden’s mother that when he first tried to kill himself, she wrote to various authorities and nobody responded. And that pains her so much. That she, as someone who is used to fighting injustice, cruelty and abuse, could not get the help she need for her son. She simply could not, in the end, protect him.