By Megan Hickey
April 25, 2022 / 10:44 PM CDT / CBS Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) — A 15-year-old boy named Nate Bronstein was enrolled at one of the most prestigious private schools in Chicago and had a promising future — that is, until his parents say he became a victim of relentless cyberbullying by his classmates.
Nate took his own life.
And in an exclusive interview with CBS 2 Investigator Megan Hickey, his parents allege that the Latin School of Chicago could have done more to stop it.
Rose and Robert Bronstein never fathomed that they’d be speaking about their son, Nate in the past tense.
“I still can’t process it,” said Rose Bronstein.
“He definitely wanted to go to a college that had big time sports,” said Robert Bronstein. “He loved to make people laugh, and laugh himself.”
And of the school, Rose added, “It’s a toxic culture – so toxic that we lost our son from it.”
The Bronsteins’ 10th-grader was a super-sharp, funny kid; A pillar in their family of five. He was a new transfer last fall to the Latin School of Chicago, at 59 W. North Blvd. in the Gold Coast.
But he was bullied by his classmates to the point that he didn’t want to live to see his future.
“It had been kept from us, so that’s why we were completely, completely taken off guard when this happened,” said Robert Bronstein.
The Bronsteins had concerns about their son adjusting to a new school — and according to a 68-page lawsuit just filed in the Circuit Court of Cook County, they raised those concerns repeatedly with administrators.
But according to the filing, they had no idea about the extent of the cyberbullying that tormented Nate.
But the Bronsteins say Latin did.
“Our son would still be alive today if Latin would have done their job and reported to us what had gone on within the school,” said Rose Bronstein.
The Bronsteins say they were never told that on Dec. 13, 2021, Nate asked for a meeting with his dean of students to report that several students were bullying him via a text message thread provided to CBS 2,
Get involved!
Comments