INDIANAPOLIS— In the front yard of the Teusch's Greenfield home is a tree.
"It's right out his window," said Sam Teusch.
The tree was supposed to be home for a child's tree fort.
"I tried to explain it to him that tree won't be big enough by the time you move out of the house," said Teusch.
That tree now serves as a memorial for Sam's son, 10-year-old Sammy Teusch.
"I don't want to see another father or mother or brother sitting on TV crying," said Teusch.
It's the reason he's pushing for stricter anti-bullying laws at the federal level.
Sammy died by suicide on May 5, 2024. Sam says he endured bullying at Greenfield Intermediate School. Sam says he reported incidents of bullying countless times, it included being attacked in a bathroom, hit in the face while riding the school bus, and even choked.
"They promised me yes we're doing something, we're going to police. This is going to be huge," said Teusch.
In response the Greenfield-Centeral Superintendent says:
"The loss of a child to suicide is deflating to any community, and Greenfield was clearly in shock for a few weeks as we closed last school year.
Members of the school corporation and the larger community grieved with the Teusch family, and we will continue to extend them support and grace in the aftermath of the event.
Since that terrible day (May 5th), we have reviewed our records with great scrutiny and interviewed many people close to the situation.
To this day, we have found nothing to validate the allegation you referenced. We believe an objective review of the records would reach the same conclusion.
In Greenfield-Central we do want to ensure that we are doing all we can do to support our students, regardless of the needs they have when they walk through our doors.
We will always maintain that commitment to our students and families.
Sammy's story has spread across the country.
"I first found out about Sammy's story when it happened and it hit the news," said Ayaan Moledina.
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Moledina is a 15-year-old from Texas who is helping push the bill. Last month he and other advocates took two trips to Washington D.C.
"It really hit home for me the age of Sammy," said Moledina.
The Sammy Teusch Bullying Intervention and Prevention Act would require school districts to created a uniform bullying reporting form, establish a federal definition of bullying, including cyberbullying, and would focus on the mental health and suicide prevention.
Many advocates are urging Indiana lawmakers to sponsor the bill, that includes Angela Stagge, who in 2013 helped get anti-bullying legislation passed in Indiana after her daughters experience with bullying.
"I think you all need to step up and take on this challenge. We can not lose anymore kids. Suicide is the second leading cause of death in America and that is not okay," said Stagge. "I am so sick and tired of these politicians saying it’s freedom of speech, we need to let the school corporations have control, no they don’t because if they didn't have control we wouldn't be going through this right now."
