Parents: Bullies drove 13-year-old to suicide

[driveby]

This district as a whole and this school in particular are infamous for not responding to parents requests in general and for sweeping problems under the rug so as to keep up the appearance of being a "nice" environment.

 

The shyte is going to hit the fan.

 

 

heartbreaking

[WaterMan]

You are lucky none of these kids pushed back.

[SEC=UGA]

Sad, indeed.

 

One question, I don't remember this happening when I was in school, the suicides. People were bullied, some times mercilessly, but it seems they took it in stride and would eventually push back, at which point, of course, the bullying would end. Is the bullying much more malicious of late or are the kids just taking a different route to get out of being bullied?

[SayItAintSoJoe]

Sad, indeed.

 

One question, I don't remember this happening when I was in school, the suicides. People were bullied, some times mercilessly, but it seems they took it in stride and would eventually push back, at which point, of course, the bullying would end. Is the bullying much more malicious of late or are the kids just taking a different route to get out of being bullied?

 

I think we just hear about it more now.

[dmarc117]

i remember my mom chased a second grader that was picking on me(kindergarten) for 5 blocks. if all the correct avenues did nothing to fix a bullying problem, i would handle it myself probably with a call to the parents of the perps. if that didnt work, i would have to get creative.

[SEC=UGA]

i remember my mom chased a second grader that was picking on me(kindergarten) for 5 blocks. if all the correct avenues did nothing to fix a bullying problem, i would handle it myself probably with a call to the parents of the perps. if that didnt work, i would have to get creative.

 

Despite my ramblings to the contrary in the sexual predator post... I would definitely talk with the parents, if no resolution was found there, I might have to take the dad out. Fortunately, it probably wouldn't go that far, I'd unleash my wife on them and the full force of the GA Department of Juvenile Justice on them, for which she works. She can make children disappear and it's all legit.

[dmarc117]

Despite my ramblings to the contrary in the sexual predator post... I would definitely talk with the parents, if no resolution was found there, I might have to take the dad out. Fortunately, it probably wouldn't go that far, I'd unleash my wife on them and the full force of the GA Department of Juvenile Justice on them, for which she works. She can make children disappear and it's all legit.

 

 

true with the wife. mama grizzlies are very persuasive......

[whomper]

Bullying in very sad cases leads to this . The flip side is when bullying or any kind of teasing and degrading of a kid leads to a Columbine situation. Sometimes the kid being picked on snaps and takes matters into their own hands. Either way it ends in tragedy and is very sad and heartbreaking. My prayers to his family and true friends

[Savage Beatings]

This is so incredibly sad.

[BeeR]

IMO ultimately you can think our society's growing hatred of/cowardice towards discipline and our joke of a legal system. We have so many people suing whoever at the drop of a hat and far too often getting away with it, including the schools. This has in turn left the school faculty spineless and the inmates running the asylum.

 

Bullying in very sad cases leads to this . The flip side is when bullying or any kind of teasing and degrading of a kid leads to a Columbine situation.

No it doesn't and no, it doesn't IMO. As tragic as this is, I don't buy bullying as "the" cause of this, any more than i bought it for the Columbine POSs. It takes more than bullying to decide to end your life. And why didn't they pull him out of the school if it was THAT bad? Not trying to put the blame on them by any means, but cmon - you kill yourself because some kids are picking on you?

 

And hey how about some cameras in all the hallways, gym etc etc? Then you could see and know what's going on. Or would that cause people to sue for invastion of privacy

Edited October 7, 2010 by BeeR

[Savage Beatings]

IMO ultimately you can think our society's growing hatred of/cowardice towards discipline and our joke of a legal system. We have so many people suing whoever at the drop of a hat and far too often getting away with it, including the schools. This has in turn left the school faculty spineless and the inmates running the asylum.

 

 

No it doesn't and no, it doesn't IMO. As tragic as this is, I don't buy bullying as "the" cause of this, any more than i bought it for the Columbine POSs. It takes more than bullying to decide to end your life. And why didn't they pull him out of the school if it was THAT bad? Not trying to put the blame on them by any means, but cmon - you kill yourself because some kids are picking on you?

 

And hey how about some cameras in all the hallways, gym etc etc? Then you could see and know what's going on. Or would that cause people to sue for invastion of privacy

 

Who the F are you to say that bullying isn't enough for someone to become so desparate to end it that they decide death is a better alternative than continuing to put up with it? You weren't inside this kid's head. Maybe there were indeed other things going on the finally drive this poor kid to suicide, but to dismiss the weight of bullying on its face seems idiotic at best.

[redrumjuice]

The 13-year-old's parents claim that the bullying went on for two years, ever since he got to the middle school. They claim that during that time, they had gone to complain to coaches, an assistant principal and anyone who would listen. They say nothing was ever done.

 

The parents knew and didn't take their kid out of this school? They are culpable, and have blood on their hands.

[SEC=UGA]

The parents knew and didn't take their kid out of this school? They are culpable, and have blood on their hands.

 

To an extent, agreed (I'm liking this "to an extent" phrase I've started using).

 

Like I said, I would have been raising immortal hell to somebody... The school would have known, the kid's parents would have known, the local authorities would have known... I may even have been in jail for trespassing, disorderly conduct, or assault on a principal or parent... But, something would have been done. People have to do a better job of raising and protecting their kids.

 

There is also something to be said for the parents not telling their kid, "Hey, if they mess with you again, you may get your ass kicked, but you put one of those guys testicles into his stomach and punch the next dude dead square in the throat."

[WaterMan]

Who the F are you to say that bullying isn't enough for someone to become so desparate to end it that they decide death is a better alternative than continuing to put up with it? You weren't inside this kid's head. Maybe there were indeed other things going on the finally drive this poor kid to suicide, but to dismiss the weight of bullying on its face seems idiotic at best.

 

You should have expected him to be taking this stance.

[SayItAintSoJoe]

People have to do a better job of raising and protecting their kids.

 

+1

 

This sort of reminds me of the line that Carroll O’Connor came out with after his son died of a drug overdose..” Get between your kid and drugs, any way you can…”. I like to take it one step further “Get between your kid and their problems any way you can”. If you don’t take care of your kid’s problems, who will?

 

As far as suicide goes, people kill themselves for problems that are huge to them. The size and scope of those problems may not make sense to anyone else but to them they are huge. I heard of kids (and even adults) killing themselves because a boyfriend or girlfriend broke up with them. When we minimize the reasons that someone may have to take their own life is when we fail to see the signs.

[Duchess Jack]

Sad, indeed.

 

One question, I don't remember this happening when I was in school, the suicides.

 

Chances are this wasn't in your town or even in your state (can't be sure). I know it wasn't in mine and if it were not for the 1,001 cable news stations and the internet (tailgate), that I'd likely not have heard about it. I suspect that this is no more common now than 20 years ago - but we have occasion to hear about these tragities more than ever - so it seems more common than it is.

[SEC=UGA]

Chances are this wasn't in your town or even in your state (can't be sure). I know it wasn't in mine and if it were not for the 1,001 cable news stations and the internet (tailgate), that I'd likely not have heard about it. I suspect that this is no more common now than 20 years ago - but we have occasion to hear about these tragities more than ever - so it seems more common than it is.

 

Probably true...

 

I also wonder, if there is an increase, if it is because the parents are more detached from the realities of what is going on in their Child's life. While growing up, I was in the house, at the dinner table at 7:30 and we sat there until 8:30/9:00, if I had issues or if my parents had issues with me, they came out then and were discussed. We didn't beat around the bush and my parents didn't coddle me. If I screwed up, I knew that I did and we talked about ways to correct it. If I had problems we talked about those problems and mulled over ways to surmount those issues.

 

Did I do stupid crap that other kids did, yes... did I get in trouble, yes... did my parents know about these things and take what they felt were the appropriate actions, 95% of the time. And in some of those cases it was the old "buck up, son, and deal with it..." Which at times can be the best advice you can give a kid.

 

You don't want to step into a kids problems too much, I understand, if you do they become too dependent and can't think or stand up for themselves... they become pussies. But when things get to this extreme, where the kid is being incessantly and violently picked on, that is when it is incumbent upon you, as a parent, to go kick some ass for your kid and do whatever is necessary to ensure their safety and sanity.

 

You can't completely blame the school, the parents, or the kid for what transpired. A little bit of the onus for what happened here rests with all parties. Hopefully this tragedy will not be a complete loss, though, and parents of the bullies, the bullied and teachers will stand up and start taking this diaper dirt more seriously and lead their children in the right direction.

[driveby]

Scroll down to the bottom and read some of the comments here.

[TimC]

+1

 

This sort of reminds me of the line that Carroll O’Connor came out with after his son died of a drug overdose..” Get between your kid and drugs, any way you can…”. I like to take it one step further “Get between your kid and their problems any way you can”. If you don’t take care of your kid’s problems, who will?

 

As far as suicide goes, people kill themselves for problems that are huge to them. The size and scope of those problems may not make sense to anyone else but to them they are huge. I heard of kids (and even adults) killing themselves because a boyfriend or girlfriend broke up with them. When we minimize the reasons that someone may have to take their own life is when we fail to see the signs.

 

Well said. I remember getting Net Nanny for the kids when the kids got their first computers. It blocked AOL IM (which was the text messaging of the day) and all kinds of sites. I was strict as heck, but I'll be damned if I was going to take any chance. IMO cyber-bullying may worse than person-to-person bullying. On the internet, with sites like Facebook nowadays, all their friends see it instantly. It's the wild wild west out there. Insanity reigns.

 

Anyways, they hated the thing. Now that they have a kid of their own, I ask them if they'd let them on the internet unrestricited. No f'n way. Your job as a parent isn't to be their best friend and buddy. It's to protect them from a cruel world as much as possible with any means necessary.

[Yukon Cornelius]

There is also something to be said for the parents not telling their kid, "Hey, if they mess with you again, you may get your ass kicked, but you put one of those guys testicles into his stomach and punch the next dude dead square in the throat."

exact advice i have given my kids. Last year my oldest son was suspended for 2 days because he punched a kid in the face on the playground after he watched said kid trip his handicapped brother. I bought him a new fishen poll and took him fishen those 2 days.

[dmarc117]

exact advice i have given my kids. Last year my oldest son was suspended for 2 days because he punched a kid in the face on the playground after he watched said kid trip his handicapped brother. I bought him a new fishen poll and took him fishen those 2 days.

 

 

i would gladly come into the office to pick up my son for that. need to get him into karate asap.

[driveby]

exact advice i have given my kids. Last year my oldest son was suspended for 2 days because he punched a kid in the face on the playground after he watched said kid trip his handicapped brother. I bought him a new fishen poll and took him fishen those 2 days.

Good advice for backwoods sconny.

[whomper]

exact advice i have given my kids. Last year my oldest son was suspended for 2 days because he punched a kid in the face on the playground after he watched said kid trip his handicapped brother. I bought him a new fishen poll and took him fishen those 2 days.

 

 

atta boy

[dmarc117]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_bullying_one_town

[Shaman]

Sad, indeed.

 

One question, I don't remember this happening when I was in school, the suicides. People were bullied, some times mercilessly, but it seems they took it in stride and would eventually push back, at which point, of course, the bullying would end. Is the bullying much more malicious of late or are the kids just taking a different route to get out of being bullied?

 

With cyber-bullying (text, email, etc) it is a lot harder to get away from it now. Before we left school and pretty much avoided the bullies. I was always in the sports teams but we had a close group of friends of like 12-18, the rule was if you messed with one of us you'd mess with all of us. we took down some kids 4-5 years older than us . Relationships (In the friends sense) are more harder to come by now with all the electronics and "one" person alternatives (Like this forum) you have now. Before we had to get more creative in person to do "stuff" (You know like getting an older kid to buy adult magazines, cigarrettes and booze for you ), IMHO.