Awareness

[Nadai]

Jamie Hubley was a 15-year old student in Canada who just recently committed suicide. He felt pressured and alone because he was the only gay teen in his sigh school.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/17/jamie-hubley-commits-suicide_n_1015646.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk2|104998
Also recently another teen, Jamey Rodemeyer, committed suicide for being bullied for being gay.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/jamey-rodemeyer-suicide-gay-bullying_n_972023.html
I don't know how many homosexual or bisexual, I am, but I wonder do any of you know of someone or had personal experience with being verbally or physically attacted for being different from others in your school?
There has to be a way to end this cycle of bullying and help people who feel that they are different to deal with and understand their differences. Parents should be able to talk to their children about anything that they feel and teachers should be cracking down on student who bully others. No child should feel that he has no other choice but to end his life.

 

[Myrddin]

Jamie Hubley was a 15-year old student in Canada who just recently committed suicide. He felt pressured and alone because he was the only gay teen in his sigh school.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/17/jamie-hubley-commits-suicide_n_1015646.html?icid=maing-grid7|main5|dl1|sec1_lnk2|104998
Also recently another teen, Jamey Rodemeyer, committed suicide for being bullied for being gay.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/jamey-rodemeyer-suicide-gay-bullying_n_972023.html
I don't know how many homosexual or bisexual, I am, but I wonder do any of you know of someone or had personal experience with being verbally or physically attacted for being different from others in your school?
There has to be a way to end this cycle of bullying and help people who feel that they are different to deal with and understand their differences. Parents should be able to talk to their children about anything that they feel and teachers should be cracking down on student who bully others. No child should feel that he has no other choice but to end his life.

Agreed. 100%.

 

[Wise Old Owl]

There are so many other groups that have been bullied. How about the ones who look different, whether by weight, height, color of skin, clothing that isn't stylish, religion which makes you different, or any other difference that people can pick up and use against you. I was bullied when I was a kid and a teen but I made it out. I know a lot don't but I did. When I was growing up though, we didn't think of the option of killing ourselves to get out of the situation. We just pretty much toughed it out and got on with life just because that's what happened.

 

[Nadai]

There are so many other groups that have been bullied. How about the ones who look different, whether by weight, height, color of skin, clothing that isn't stylish, religion which makes you different, or any other difference that people can pick up and use against you. I was bullied when I was a kid and a teen but I made it out. I know a lot don't but I did. When I was growing up though, we didn't think of the option of killing ourselves to get out of the situation. We just pretty much toughed it out and got on with life just because that's what happened.

I think a lot of people in our generations can say the same. I only ever heard of a few suicides when I was in middle and highscool. Two were friends of mine and their deaths were accidental drug overdoses, but aside from that I think people just dealt with it. I never even considered bullying to a serious problem when I was young, not for anyone. Now it seems as if it's besome an epidemic and that people are truly suffering from it. Times are so different from what they used to be.

 

[Enertia]

I think everyone was picked on, at some point in school. Bad haircuts, clothes, just being the weird kid, but I never knew anyone who was picked on so bad, they killed themselves. I think with the internet being so prevelant now, a kid can not even go home, and be in peace. I really think the book, Thirteen Reasons Why, should be read and discussed, in schools. The book really shows how little miniscule things to us, can add up big, to others. Something needs to be done about bullying, and there needs to be help for those being bullied, too.

 

[RLynn]

I know someone who had a problem. The school refused to do anything about it, so his mother had to pull him out of school. Of course, the school system threatened legal action against the mother, but she obtained approval to home school him before they could initiate action. He easily passed the GED tests when he was 17. It still makes me furious with the system when I think about it.

 

[Nadai]

I know someone who had a problem. The school refused to do anything about it, so his mother had to pull him out of school. Of course, the school system threatened legal action against the mother, but she obtained approval to home school him before they could initiate action. He easily passed the GED tests when he was 17. It still makes me furious with the system when I think about it.

A similar thing happened to me when I was younger. My parents had to pull me out of school and homeschooled me for 5th and 6th grade. It was actually a good thing because the school I was going to was shut down at the end of the school year because there had been so many problems involving students and teachers-teachers were let go and all of the students were sent all the way across town, so I guess they saved me a half hour bus ride.

 

[greekgoddess31]

When I was growing up getting picked on for being different was just a fact of life. I was picked on because I was a "nerd", "brainiac", "smart kid", "four eyes", "klutz". Pick your label. I think that kids in this generation especially aren't taught to deal with real life. They are cushioned from failure from day one so it is no surprise when they think suicide is the only option when they feel different. Heck,my local elementary school doesn't even give letter grades any more because it might hurt someone's feelings. Sports teams are given "participation" trophies. When you aren't taught to fail, you can't learn to win and rise above either.

 

[Wise Old Owl]

That's true, greekgoddess. I really think we need to let kids learn how to fail. It sounds bad to say that, but I really think it would prevent a lot of problems later in the teen years or as adults. It's part of life that you WILL fail at something in life, many times.

 

[Nadai]

I agree. I also think that kids aren't being taught to think for themselves. They seem to depend more and more on this type of "pack mentality", children acting in a group or pack making decisions based on the ideas of others. I think that that could be another factor. Children are less likely to have a physical confrontation when acting alone. It's when they get into a group, other kids are cheering them on, that they start to physically attack another.