‘How many more have to die?’: Mother whose son, 15, killed himself after being cyber-bullied slams Mark Zuckerberg’s ‘not enough’ apology because ‘children are still being harmed and dying and all they care about is profits’

A grieving mother slammed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s apology to the parents of children cyberbullied on Facebook, asking: “How many more have to die?” during a heartbreaking interview.

Rose Bronstein lost her son Nate, 15, to suicide in January 2022 after he was brutally bullied on social media by his classmates at the $43,000-a-year Latin School in Chicago.

At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, Zuckerberg, urged by Republican Josh Hawley, stood and addressed families holding up photos of their children they said had been harmed by social media.

Speak with Fox news’ Martha MacCallum, Bronstein accused Zuckerberg of being “full of it” and said he and other tech CEOs have no interest in children’s online safety because they only care about profits.

At the start of Wednesday’s hearing, the committee played a video of children talking about being bullied on social media platforms.

Senators told stories of young people committing suicide after being extorted for money after sharing photos with sexual predators.

“Based on the rejection and denial of the CEOs who sat there to testify, legislation must be introduced at this time to hold these CEOs accountable,” MacCallum said. “All they care about is profit.”

The Chicago woman denounced Zuckerberg’s comments, saying, “It really didn’t mean anything.”

“Whatever protection these CEOs are offering is not working,” she continued, describing the apology as “spontaneous.”

Republican Hawley from Missouri put pressure on Zuckerberg to apologize.

“Would you now like to apologize to the victims who have been harmed by your product?” The hearing was broadcast live in the US.

Zuckerberg stood up, turned around and addressed the families.

“I’m sorry for everything you’ve all been through. No one should have to experience the things your families have suffered and that is why we are investing so much and will continue to make industry-wide efforts to ensure no one has to experience the things your families have suffered.” he said.

Hawley aggressively criticized Zuckerberg during a contentious altercation. “Your product is killing people,” Hawley told Zuckerberg, who also owns Instagram.

Last year, the Bronstein’s filed a lawsuit against their son’s school, seeking $100 million in damages.

The parents claim that Dean of Students Bridget Hennessy quickly informed them that Nate was not wearing his mask properly during COVID.

But they claim Hennessey didn’t put much effort into telling them about the bullying they say Nate told her about.

“Their first instinct, their second instinct and third instinct was to protect themselves and their career,” Robert said Fox news. “They can literally care less about the truth.”

They enrolled Nate at the school in 2021 after his institution still opted for virtual learning and his parents wanted him to return in person.

However, when he entered Latin school, he immediately encountered students who said he had transferred for “nefarious reasons,” questioned his vaccination status and accused his parents of being anti-vaxxers, Rose said.

“They spread rumors that he hadn’t been vaccinated, which of course seemed like The Scarlet Letter at the time,” Rose said, adding that her son had indeed had the shot.

The 15-year-old boy eventually requested a meeting with the Latin School dean to report that several students were bullying him via text messages and on Snapchat – one of which encouraged him to commit suicide.

The dean listened to Nate, a 10th grader, but took no disciplinary action, according to a $100 million lawsuit filed by his parents.

His parents had already planned to transfer Nate at the end of this year after hearing about his experiences, but it was already too late.

A month after meeting, Nate was found hanged in his home.

Before his death, his parents had encouraged him to join the junior varsity basketball team, hoping he would make friends, but the bullying only got worse. When Latin played at his old school, Nate posted a ‘W’ for victory because his former school won the award, which upset his teammates.

In a group chat of around 20 boys, messages like ‘don’t show up tomorrow’ and ‘snake ass n****’ would float on his phone for hours. The family’s lawsuit accuses the boy of even trying to harm Nate.

The day after Nate committed suicide, other parents gave evidence of bullying to student principal Randall Dunn, according to Fox News. However, according to the lawsuit, the school did not give this evidence to the Bronsteins until two weeks after their son’s death.

‘January 13 was the most horrible day of our lives. And when we discovered what had happened on January 27, it was like reliving that trauma for me. It was absolutely shocking,” Rose said.

“Our son would still be alive today if Latin had done its work and told us what happened inside the school,” Rose Bronstein said. CBS News last month.

Nate hadn’t been attending the Latin School of Chicago, one of the most prestigious private schools in Chicago, long, but he had a promising future.

His parents described the 10th grader as a “super sharp, funny kid.”

“He definitely wanted to go to a college that had a lot of sports,” his father Robert Bronstein told CBS News. “He loved to make people laugh, and he laughed himself.”

But the school was “a toxic culture,” Rose said. “So poisonous that we lost our son to it.”

According to the filing, Nate began experiencing and complaining about the bullying in September 2021.