Someone's little brother said...?

The little brother of a friend of mine has been saying things like "I want to kill myself," or "I wish I'd never been born," or other things along those lines. The most the parents have done is say "don't talk like that," but they usually chalk it up to him being over-dramatic. The thing that worries me, and his sibling (My friend) is that he's going to enter 6th grade next year, and he's starting to get bullied because of his dramatic ways and being a "crybaby," which his parents have aided him in, such as going downstairs with him when he says he's afraid to do so, because they don't want him to cry or throw a fit. Particularly since the parents don't believe my friend about it, and don't think anything of it...Is there anything my friend or I can do to help?