Coronation Street airs disturbing setback in Liam Connor bullying story
- Oops!Something went wrong.Please try again later.
This story discusses topics including suicidal ideation/thoughts and bullying.
Coronation Street spoilers follow.
Coronation Street has aired a disturbing setback for Liam Connor in his bullying story.
Wednesday's (February 14) episode revolved around Maria Connor desperately trying to help her son as she discovered the true extent of the bullying he was facing from Mason Radcliffe and Dylan Wilson.
After Liam announced that he wasn't going back to school, Maria turned to his teacher, Mrs Crawshaw, for help but was told the school couldn't do anything for Liam without proof.
Maria decided to set up a fake SendPx account to document the bullying Liam was receiving, yet she wasn't prepared for the vile abuse being left on her son's account.
His mum and stepdad then spoke with Liam, as they asked to finally know the full extent of the bullying he'd been enduring.
"I need you tell me their real names now," she said of the people leaving abusive comments.
The teen was furious that his mum had catfished him, reminding her that he already had "enough to deal with". After Liam stormed out, Gary ran into Dylan and Sean in the street and warned them he was going to present bullying evidence to the school.
Meanwhile, Liam finally opened up to Maria about the way Mason and Dylan have physically and emotionally tormented him for months.
"I just want it to go away," Liam told his parents.
Maria understood his POV but explained that the only way for it to go away was to tell his school everything. Gary later confronted Sean and Dylan once again, but they refused to hand over Dylan's phone.
Back at home, Maria was horrified to discover that all of the abusive messages had been deleted on social media. Gary and Maria told Liam that their only option was for him to change schools.
In a harrowing finale scene, Liam retreated to his room and searched "how to kill yourself" on his laptop.
The soap's writers are working with the National Bullying Helpline to ensure that Liam's suicidal ideations are handled sensitively for viewers.
"We felt it was important to show the mental damage that bullying can do to people on the receiving end, especially in the modern world, when children are faced with what can seem like inescapable cyber-bullying," executive producer Iain Macleod explained.
"The aggression doesn't stop at the school gates but can find you in the safety of your own home.
"Having said that, it was also important that across the story as a whole, we showed some hope for Liam and that by speaking up, finally, he can begin the process of escaping his nightmare and beginning to heal."
Coronation Street airs on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays at 8pm on ITV1 and streams on ITVX.
Read more Coronation Street spoilers on our dedicated homepage
Coronation Street has been working on Liam's storyline with support from the National Bullying Helpline (0300 323 0169 between 9am-5pm on weekdays, and 10am-12 midday on Saturdays, or email help@nationalbullyinghelpline.co.uk).
Further organisations which can offer help include Samaritans on 116 123 or Mind on 0300 123 3393. Readers in the US are encouraged to visit mentalhealth.gov or the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
You Might Also Like
