My heart goes out to the surviving family members of suicide victims....especially children suicide victims.
Most of our children don't have the capacity to see beyond the here and now. They don't understand that childhood doesn't last forever...that "this too shall pass." All they feel is their own pain and all they see is a long stretch of never-ending torture from classmates.
Teachers, administrators, parents....it's OUR job to protect our children and to teach them what bullying does to other people. It's up to the ADULTS to keep an eye open for harmful behaviors.
Sure, our kids will tease one another at least once in thier youth. Sure, they'll do stupid things to act "cool" and cave under peer pressure once or twice.
But for these children to become active bullies and thrive on other's pain....that is NOT something we have the luxury to "ignore"!
NOT when it's costing our children thier very lives!!
SO what should we do, you ask??
Listen to our children....listen to how they treat others or how they talk about themselves.
Watch our children....watch how they interact with other kids.
Discipline them if they are bullying others.
Do whatever it takes to STOP their behavior...even if it means segregating them from other children until they learn to stop!
Bullying leads boy, 11, to commit suicide
by Tracy BaimWindy City TimesFriday Apr 17, 2009
Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover. A disturbing cluster of bullying-related suicides of children and young adults has sparked outrage from regional and national LGBT leaders.Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, 11, hung himself at home April 6 after enduring bullying at his Springfield, Mass., school, including daily taunts of being gay. His mother reportedly complained to the school weekly, according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network
Click link below to read full story
My bullied son's last day on Earth
By Mallory Simon CNN
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)
ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN)
Eleven-year-old Jaheem Herrera woke up on April 16 acting strangely. He wasn't hungry and he didn't want to go to school.
But the outgoing fifth grader packed his bag and went to school at Dunaire Elementary School in DeKalb County, Georgia.
He came home much happier than when he left in the morning, smiling as he handed his mother, Masika Bermudez, a glowing report card full of A's and B's. She gave him a high-five and he went upstairs to his room as she prepared dinner.
A little later, when his younger sister called him to come down to eat, Jaheem didn't answer.
So mother and daughter climbed the stairs to Jaheem's room and opened the door.
Jaheem was hanging by his belt in the closet.
"I always used to see these things on TV, dead people on the news," says Bermudez. "I saw somebody die and to see this dead person is your son, hanging there, a young boy. ... To hang yourself like that, you've got to really be tired of something."
Bermudez says bullies at school pushed Jaheem over the edge. He complained about being called gay, ugly and "the virgin" because he was from the Virgin Islands, she said.
But the outgoing fifth grader packed his bag and went to school at Dunaire Elementary School in DeKalb County, Georgia.
He came home much happier than when he left in the morning, smiling as he handed his mother, Masika Bermudez, a glowing report card full of A's and B's. She gave him a high-five and he went upstairs to his room as she prepared dinner.
A little later, when his younger sister called him to come down to eat, Jaheem didn't answer.
So mother and daughter climbed the stairs to Jaheem's room and opened the door.
Jaheem was hanging by his belt in the closet.
"I always used to see these things on TV, dead people on the news," says Bermudez. "I saw somebody die and to see this dead person is your son, hanging there, a young boy. ... To hang yourself like that, you've got to really be tired of something."
Bermudez says bullies at school pushed Jaheem over the edge. He complained about being called gay, ugly and "the virgin" because he was from the Virgin Islands, she said.
Click link below to see full story
These boys should be enjoying life right now. They should have been able to go to school without fear of harassment, without dread of being teased and humiliated.
These boys....and every other young victim of suicide...should be alive right now. These deaths COULD HAVE BEEN PREVENTED.
It's up to us...the adults....to STOP THE BULLYING!
