Schools

Fermi Student Who Was Bullied Now at Peace With Her Tormentor

Six Enfield residents appeared on Monday's episode of The Steve Wilkos Show.

An Enfield teen who appeared on a nationally-televised talk show Monday to discuss bullying says the girl who tormented her for nearly a year has changed her ways.

Audria Kibbe, 15, a sophomore at , confronted a fellow student, identified only as Trina, on an episode of .

In a telephone interview shortly after the show was broadcast Monday morning, Kibbe told Enfield Patch she began receiving verbal abuse from Trina around the middle of her freshman year, and it continued into the early part of the current school year.

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"She'd call me a whore and a slut," she told Wilkos on the show. "I just walked away and laughed, but when I got home I fell apart."

Kibbe said she was cornered by her locker after an exchange on a social media site.

Find out what's happening in Enfieldwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

"A friend was being bullied on Facebook, and I stood up for her," she told Wilkos.

Her father, Kevin, said his daughter has always tried to do what was right.

"Audria has long been one to stand up for people being picked on, and as a result, she's become a victim," he told Enfield Patch.

Trina told Wilkos she picked on Kibbe because "she was a freshman, she was fresh meat and I wanted to see how far I could go with her."

Kibbe said the problem with Trina stopped after within a one-month period in late fall. "I think it made her eyes open," Kibbe said of her former tormentor.

Trina expressed remorse and apologized to Kibbe at the end of the program. "Knowing someone would take their own life because of someone bullying them put a hole in my heart," she said.

Kibbe said she contacted Wilkos after the pair of suicides. "There had been too many suicides, and someone needed to speak up," she said.

Wilkos commended both girls for opening up about the issue on national television. "It's brave for you to sit here and talk about it," he said.

Kibbe said she her relationship with Trina has improved drastically since the show was taped on Feb. 7. "I saw her at the mall about a month ago, and we hung out a bit," she said. "I would consider her a friend now."

Also appearing Monday on the Wilkos show was Jackie LeRoy, whose 17-year-old daughter took her own life on Oct. 31. Meghan's sister Jacqueline was also a guest.

"Talk to your kids," Jackie LeRoy said to parents watching the show. "If I could go back and change time, I would in a heartbeat."

Enfield residents Hannah Benoit and Taylor Lima, who organized a day at the Enfield Town Green in December, also spoke briefly from the audience during the program.

"Kids need to stand up, be courageous and say we're not going to tolerate it," Wilkos said. "Talk to a parent, a teacher, a friend or call me. Don't let somebody go through this."

Kibbe repeated a saying she has heard many times in recent months: "Suicide is not the answer - it's a permanent solution to a temporary problem."


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