(WTNH) – Bullied to the brink, a high school student who wants to be called Jim says he even thought about taking his own life. His mother was desperate to help, but parents aren’t there to protect around the clock. How do you know if your child is a victim of bullying?

“I didn’t tell my parents what was going on,” Jim said, keeping it a secret for years. “They thought I was just being resistant going to school and just didn’t want to do my work.”

Jim has special needs, was born deaf, and wears a device that helps him hear. That device made him the target of bullies, starting in middle school.

“Throughout middle school and high school it was focused on the same thing, my disability, and they focused on that because they thought I was weak,” Jim said.

Ashamed, he never told his parents.

“I was afraid to tell them because I didn’t want them to think I was weak,” Jim said. “Especially being a guy, that has something to do with it; as a guy, I don’t want to admit I was bullied.”

His mother knew something was wrong.

“He would start to hide in bathrooms and have an upset stomach,” she said. “He lost quit a bit of weight.”

“He looked like he was in chemotherapy,” she continued. “It looked like he was dying in front of me.”

Jim was called names, harassed in the lunch room and at his locker. It got so bad he ran away from home and thought about suicide.

“Several times I thought of running away and jumping in front of a car and just ending it that way because I didn’t want to live with it anymore,” he said.

“He said that no one believed me, no one listened to me; that no one listened to him and that he was going to cut his throat in front of me,” his mother said.

Desperate pleas for help were made to school officials.

“I have been virtually watching my son disappear and descend a downward spiral,” Jim’s mother wrote in a letter.

The school’s solution?

“I was put into a special program in the basement of the high school. It is hidden away from all the classrooms,” Jim said.

That was the last straw. The family moved and Jim is finishing his senior year separated from his class, getting an education from a tutor and treatment for Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

“I’ve lost my school experience completely,” he said. “I never really got to enjoy high school; they are supposed to be some of the best years of your life and I lost it.”

Jim expected to graduate in November. He hopes sharing his story can help another child or even save a life.

“Since I can’t get back what I lost, at least I can help somebody else,” Jim said.

Signs your child may the victim of a bully include:

  • Inexpiable injuries
  • Feeling sick or faking illness
  • Changes in eating habits
  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Declining grades
  • Sudden loss of friends
  • Feelings of helplessness
  • Self-destructive behaviors

If you see any of these symptoms or have any concerns, talk to your child and a professional.