A parent recently reached out to me with a horrifying and heartbreaking story about his 8th-grade daughter. It was a story that had been going on for the better part of a year, and he was only now just learning of it. His daughter, Kelly, during her 7th-grade year, sent a topless image to her boyfriend. The relationship ended and the image that she intended for only one person to see was shared with others. On her last day of the 7th grade, Jason, a boy at her school, pinned her against the wall and forcibly grabbed her breasts. Kelly pushed him away. Jason smiled and said, “If you tell anyone, I’ll send the naked picture I have of you to everyone!” Kelly was terrified into silence.

I could hear the sadness and strain in the parent’s voice. He felt he completely failed his daughter. He noticed a change in Kelly following the attack. He described Kelly as “daddy’s little girl.” She would hang out with him and his wife, chat with them about school and her friends, but something changed. Now he knows why. The summer after the event, she became withdrawn, avoided him, and spent a lot of time in her room on her phone. He thought she was “going through a phase.” He heard teenaged girls sometimes do this and wanted to give her space. Looking back on it now, he realizes her reclusive behavior were warning signs she was in a crisis. Something was very wrong, and he felt horrible he missed it. Kelly was anxious and depressed. She had the daily feeling something terrible was going to happen to her. She was assaulted, violated, and then shamed into silence. It was like a heavy weight was wrapped tightly around her chest and dragging her under the waves. She said it felt hard to breathe sometimes.

Kelly went to a new school for 8th grade. She thought maybe the horrible experience of the 7th grade and Jason was behind her. As she settled into her new classroom, she looked up and saw Jason. There he was, stan ...