Amy Jayne "Dolly" Everett (1 May 2003 – 3 January 2018) was a 14-year-old Australian teenager who died by suicide after extensive bullying. Her death sparked debates about teen suicide, racial and gender imbalance in media reporting of suicide and the dangers of publicity around suicides and emphasising victim playing, glorifying and promoting suicide. Everett was from

Katherine Katherine, also spelled Catherine, and other variations are feminine names. They are popular in Christian countries because of their derivation from the name of one of the first Christian saints, Catherine of Alexandria. In the early Christ ...

in the Australian

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

and had attended

Scots PGC College The Scots PGC College is an independent, co-educational, Uniting Church, day and boarding school, located in Warwick, Queensland, Australia. The College currently caters for approximately 450 international and Australian students from Prep to ...

Warwick Warwick ( ) is a market town, civil parish and the county town of Warwickshire in the Warwick District in England, adjacent to the River Avon. It is south of Coventry, and south-east of Birmingham. It is adjoined with Leamington Spa and Whi ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

.Wurm, Elyse (13 January 2018
Goodbye: Warwick farewells Dolly in intimate service
''Warwick Daily News'', News Corp Australia. Retrieved 6 April 2018. When she was younger, Everett had been a face in advertisements for

Akubra Akubra is an Australian hat manufacturer. The company is associated with bush hats made of rabbit fur felt with wide brims that are worn in rural Australia. The term "Akubra" is sometimes used to refer to any hat of this kind, however the compa ...

hats.Akubra girl Dolly's bullying suicide shocks Australia
''BBC News'', British Broadcasting Corporation, 10 January 2018. Retrieved 6 April 2018.

Tributes and legacy

Everett's suicide prompted tributes and reactions, including many from those who had not known her.Sorensen, Hayley (13 January 2018
Heartbroken mourners say goodbye to Amy 'Dolly' Everett in Katherine
''NT News'', News Corp Australia. Retrieved 6 April 2018. Memorial services for Everett were held in Katherine and Warwick at which mourners were encouraged to wear Everett's favourite colour, blue. Everett's parents launched a social media campaign using the hashtag #DoItForDolly to raise awareness of the effects of bullying and a foundation called the Dolly's Dream Foundation, with support from the Alannah and Madeline Foundation, which raised over $106,000 in three month by

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the be ...

. and shared a drawing by Everett, depicting a figure underneath the words "stand up, speak even if your voice shakes", a quote which has since been used to encourage young bullying victims to speak up about their experiences. The New South Wales Liberal/National Government passed legislation criminalising certain cyberbullying which was referred to as Dolly's Law.

Reporting issues

The

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

media initiative, "Mindframe", raised a number of concerns about the way the media were covering the death of Everett.Media alert: Reporting on passing of Dolly Everett
mindframe website, 12 January 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018. It criticised the media for sharing a memorial video released by Everett's family, suggesting that the promotion of such public memorials should be avoided, due to the risk it posed to those experiencing similar life circumstances, or who were having suicidal thoughts. Mindframe also urged the media to stop implying Everett's suicide was caused solely by cyberbullying. In the wake of Everett's death, there were also calls to ban or police social media apps known to be used for cyberbullying, such as

Sarahah Sarahah ( ar, صراحة, ṣarāḥa) is a Saudi Arabian social networking service for providing constructive feedback. In Arabic, ''sarahah'' means "frankness" or "honesty". It was created by Zain-Alabdin Tawfiq at the end of 2016 and reached a ...

. However, some commentators, such as Ginger Gorman, described the calls as

knee-jerk reaction The patellar reflex, also called the knee reflex or knee-jerk, is a stretch reflex which tests the L2, L3, and L4 segments of the spinal cord. Mechanism Striking of the patellar tendon with a reflex hammer just below the patella stretches the mus ...

s that would likely be ineffective and could potentially remove online support for bullying victims. Other commentators viewed the substantial media interest and

public outcry A protest (also called a demonstration, remonstration or remonstrance) is a public expression of objection, disapproval or dissent towards an idea or action, typically a political one. Protests can be thought of as acts of cooper ...

generated by Everett's death as an example of what they perceived to be an indifference to an ongoing youth suicide crisis among

Aboriginal Australians Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isl ...

, which attracts little media interest.Georgatos, Gerry (18 January 2018
The death of a child by suicide
''The Stringer''. Retrieved 8 April 2018.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Everett, Dolly 2018 suicides 2018 deaths Deaths by person in Australia Suicides in Queensland Victims of cyberbullying