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Roanoke, Virginia — Ten-year-old Autumn Bushman of Salem brimmed with energy, but her mother says school bullying over braces and late-night phone use shadowed her final years. Autumn died by suicide on March 21, after looking at her smartphone in bed, according to records cited by her mother. A Virginia Tech study of hospitalized 12- to 17-year-olds who intentionally overdosed found roughly two-thirds did so after 8 p.m., and about three-quarters had been on screens just before. Researchers urge keeping phones out of bedrooms, practicing good sleep hygiene, and reducing access to medications. Her mother now regrets giving her a smartphone.

Prepared by Olivia Bennett and reviewed by editorial team.