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Mia Janin: “I’m preparing to be bullied tomorrow”
Item information
- Author: Guy Lynn
- Role, investigative reporter, BBC London
- Twitter, @guy_lynn
- January 26, 2024, 14:40 GMT
Updated 1 hour ago
North London student Mia Janin took her own life after being bullied by boys at her school, an inquest has heard.
Coroner Tony Murphy found the 14-year-old had died “while still a child and in the process of maturing into adulthood”.
While the inquest was taking place, Mia's family released a WhatsApp voice note to BBC London to express their sheer despair after months of relentless bullying from fellow pupils at the Jewish Free School (JFS) in Kenton.
Mia sent the voice note to a friend on March 12, 2021, the evening before she returned to school.
In it she said: “Tomorrow is going to be a hard day, I'm taking deep breaths and exhaling. I’m just mentally preparing myself to be bullied tomorrow.”
After the inquest concluded at Barnet Coroner's Court, her father Mariano Janin said he had been searching for answers about what happened to Mia for almost three years.
“My daughter experienced long-term and persistent bullying in various ways in person and online,” he said.
“In some ways it is a relief that this has now been acknowledged, but there needs to be accountability. Another family cannot live the way I lived.”
Mr Janin added: “We need to limit children's access to the internet and determine how we can store the data if something like this happened.”
“We need to create a safe environment for our children.”
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Mariano Janin said his daughter Mia had mild difficulties integrating but was adored by her close friends
Mia, who was in the 10th grade, had a small, close circle of friends at JFS, where she was a student for three years.
Rabbi Howard Cohen, a former deputy headteacher at JFS, told the inquest that after Mia's death there had been “some conversations at school” about what he called “boys-only bully groups” sharing images of girls.
He also said he was made aware of a boys' WhatsApp group where members rated the “attractiveness” of female students.
He told the inquest that he held a meeting with members of one of the group chats, who then agreed to dissolve the chat.
Mr Janin said “school is not just about the curriculum” but it must promote “clear values” to respect each other and create a better society.
“I’m not a specialist,” he said. “I have experience with what happened to Mia.
“I think the school needs to be more vigilant. It needs more young people who understand all this social media and this technology.”
He added: “I am a victim of this failing system. We must learn from our mistakes to prevent something like this from happening again.”
“She lit up every room”
Mia was born in 2006 and was a huge fan of art, cheerleading and taking care of her dog Lola.
She loved dressing up and doing make-up. Her friends described her as a somewhat unusual and unconventional person who preferred to be with small groups of people who knew her well.
Yasmin Bliss met Mia at the age of 10 and went to cheerleading with her.
She remembers that Mia “was like no one else I knew. She lit up every room.”
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The 14-year-old experienced bullying at school and on the internet
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Mia's friend Yasmin Bliss remembers her as a vibrant, loving person
The investigation found that Mia's parents had expressed concerns to JFS staff on several occasions that Mia was feeling lonely and isolated.
But Mr Janin said neither he nor his wife had any idea of the true extent of what his daughter had been through.
The day after Mia returned to school after the curfew was lifted, Mia's mother Marisa discovered her lifeless body in her bathroom at the family home in Harrow.
Mr Janin said: “Suddenly I heard a terrible scream from my wife. This time everything stopped for me and my wife. Life changed completely.”
In statements to the inquest, Mia's friends said her JFS friendship group was nicknamed the “Suicide Squad” in the months before Mia's death.
They also told police that one of Mia's TikTok videos had been shared to a Snapchat group created by male students at JFS in which they made fun of her.
Another child reported that the boys used the group chat to share fake nude photos of the girls.
“Children manipulated images of girls. And Mia was one of them. And she took it very badly,” Mr. Janin said.
Coroner Mr Murphy told the inquest there was no evidence that any images or videos about Mia had been circulated among the group, other than this TikTok video.
JFS stated that he only knew about the group after Mia's death. When Mia died in 2021, she became the third child to commit suicide at the school in five years.
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Mariano Janin says he and his wife were worried that his daughter would be bullied
So far, none of Mia's friends from JFS have spoken publicly about the bullying that occurred at the school while Mia was there.
Martha Gentely, who has since left school, was Mia's best friend at JFS. She remembers her small friendship group being bullied at the time, but said what happened to Mia “was on a different scale.”
“When we talked about it, it was all our experiences. Mia was very opinionated: 'I don't care'.”
Ms Gentely, who describes the bullying as “relentless”, says she was also harassed on the street by people “making fun” and was constantly insulted on social media.
At the inquest, Mr Murphy said Mia “had close friends, including at her secondary school, but she also experienced bullying from some male students”. He said Mia's teachers didn't know about this bullying.
Current JFS principal David Moody said changes had been made.
“We will continue to do everything we can to implement all the changes introduced over the last three years,” said Dr. Moody.
“Mia remains a sorely missed member of our school community and our thoughts continue to be with the family.”
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Mia took her own life in March 2021
The purpose of the examination was to determine Mia's well-being; her interactions with JFS students and staff and the support she received in this context; and what happened in the two days before her death.
The school said in a preliminary inquiry that it accepted that “Mia's experience was that she was bullied”.
Dr. Moody previously told the BBC: “Like the family, the school is awaiting publication of the results of the external investigations and we hope that publication will occur as soon as possible.”
He added that Ofsted inspectors were “pleased with the lasting changes” implemented by both governors and the new leadership team.
At its most recent inspection in April, JFS was rated 'Good' across the board by Ofsted, according to the inspection report published last week. It was previously rated “unsatisfactory”.
The school has been contacted for further comment. The coroner said he would inform legal representatives at a later date whether he would issue a report to prevent future deaths.
“I’ll never see her grow up.”
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Mia's mother, Marisa Janin, died of illness four months after her daughter's suicide
Mr Janin said he spends his days finding answers to the circumstances that led to Mia's death and gathering clues – and that includes social media.
He and numerous charities have called for social media companies to be legally required to release data that could help parents in his situation find answers.
The online safety law, which comes into effect in October, aims to give coroners and grieving parents easier access to social media data.
Four months after Mia's death, Mr. Janin experienced another tragedy: his wife and Mia's mother, Marisa, died as a result of an aneurysm and leukemia.
“I’m still alive, physically, I have a heartbeat – but in other ways my life is over,” he says.
“I will never see my beautiful daughter grow up. I will never meet her children, her grandchildren. There is no future for me, there is no future.”
If you are affected by the issues raised in this report, the BBC Action Line has a list of organizations that may be able to help.