After brother's suicide, grieving man's post on cyberbullying goes viral
Two days after his brother's suicide, Cliff Molak decided he could no longer be silent. He took to social media to tackle an important issue: cyberbullying.
"In today’s age, bullies don’t push you into lockers, they don’t tell their victims to meet them behind the school’s dumpster after class, they cower behind user names and fake profiles from miles away constantly berating and abusing good, innocent people. The recent advances in social media have given our generation a freedom of which has never been seen before," Molak writes on his Facebook page. "Freedom is a beautiful thing, however as freedom and personal liberties expand (and they rapidly are), there needs to be an equal expansion of personal accountability. Right now there is no expansion of personal accountability. The households and the school systems are failing."
Molak hopes his post opens "the eyes of the Alamo Heights community and other communities around the nation." He writes, "I saw the pain in David’s eyes three nights ago as he was added to a group text only to be made fun of and kicked out two minutes later. I spoke to him right after to comfort him and he didn’t even hear me."
Facebook Post
Cliff Molak
Dear Friends and supporters,
I first would like to thank you all for the overwhelming support you have and are continuing to provide to myself and my family. It means more to us than words can describe. What happened to my beloved brother was a tragedy. A tragedy set into motion by a boy whom I will not further empower by naming. I’ve never posted anything emotional on Facebook before as I’ve always felt it reserved for people preaching political ideals they had formulated from Buzzfeed headlines. I am writing this post to open the eyes of the Alamo Heights community and other communities around the nation. We’ve all heard the word bullying and we’ve all had to attend those stupid mandatory anti-bullying classes or seminars. I don’t know anyone, including myself, who actually paid any heed to what the lecturers had to say. To me they were a waste of time. Time away from athletics or homework or any other more appealing or less redundant activity. In hindsight, I wish more than anything people had actually listened. I saw the pain in David’s eyes three nights ago as he was added to a group text only to be made fun of and kicked out two minutes later. I spoke to him right after to comfort him and he didn’t even hear me. He stared off into the distance for what seemed like an hour. I could feel his pain. It was a tangible pain. He didn’t even have the contact information of any of the eight members who started the group text. It is important to note David had been enduring this sort of abuse for a very long time.
In today’s age, bullies don’t push you into lockers, they don’t tell their victims to meet them behind the school’s dumpster after class, they cower behind user names and fake profiles from miles away constantly berating and abusing good, innocent people. The recent advances in social media have given our generation a freedom of which has never been seen before. Freedom is a beautiful thing, however as freedom and personal liberties expand (and they rapidly are), there needs to be an equal expansion of personal accountability. Right now there is no expansion of personal accountability. The households and the school systems are failing. The only way to end the suffering in this nation whether it be from bullying or discrimination is not to highlight differences between groups of people, but to focus on the importance of accountability and ultimately character. The only way to heal this country and our communities is to accept and embrace the notion that we have to begin character building from the ground up before the elementary level or our society will never recover. The healing needs to start now before we fall even further down into the pits of evil. It is my dream for the healing of this nation to be David’s legacy. Please help me share this message.
Sincerely,
His grieving brothers
David Molak, 16, took his own life Monday night, according to CNN affiliate KSAT. "He was a kind soul. He didn’t know how handle the situation,” Cliff, David's oldest brother, told the station. “Over the past few months, he sort of became a shell of a person.”
Cliff Molak's message focuses on solutions, writing, "The only way to end the suffering in this nation whether it be from bullying or discrimination is not to highlight differences between groups of people, but to focus on the importance of accountability and ultimately character. The only way to heal this country and our communities is to accept and embrace the notion that we have to begin character building from the ground up before the elementary level or our society will never recover."
He ends with, "It is my dream for the healing of this nation to be David’s legacy. Please help me share this message." A call to action readers are more than willing to answer. The post has been shared over 15,500 times in the last two days.
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