Gay taunts lead to suicide of 11 yo

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iVillage Member
Registered: 12-22-2000
Gay taunts lead to suicide of 11 yo
16
Tue, 04-14-2009 - 12:32pm

Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover was 11 when the taunts of schoolmates became too much for him to endure. Sirdeaner L. Walker, 43, found Carl hanging by an extension cord on the second floor of the family's home April 6, just minutes before she was going to a meeting to confront school authorities again.


Full story: http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/Story?id=7328091&page=1


This is such a tragedy; my own son is that age and has seen much the same kind of harassment being hurled at students. It's really hard to get some school officials to see that bullying of any kind is not just "kids being kids"; they tend to ignore anything that is less than a physical altercation. Words can do a lot of harm, especially to young people who are in the stages of developing and building their self esteem.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Tue, 04-14-2009 - 5:43pm

I've never tried a Catholic school. I know from firsthand experience that our public schools do a very poor job of handling bullying.

Our private school experience has been wonderful. I guess it can vary by private school.

iVillage Member
Registered: 04-11-2009
Tue, 04-14-2009 - 6:29pm
I think that the administration (principal and staff) set the tone for the behavior of the students.

 

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-30-2008
Tue, 04-14-2009 - 9:15pm

There's a couple of things going on - standard bullying (which should never be condoned) and enduring the type of bullying that this boy received .. which I see as more of a hate crime.


There are bullies in all neighborhoods and all schools .. even adults are bullies.

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-30-2002
Tue, 04-14-2009 - 9:16pm

I loved my nephews/foster sons



iVillage Member
Registered: 03-23-2003
Wed, 04-15-2009 - 12:41pm

And that's what I was trying to point out...that all schools are different.


iVillage Member
Registered: 02-19-2008
Wed, 04-15-2009 - 3:06pm

I have never encountered a public school that handled non-physical bullies well. I have never encountered a private school which didn't handle these situations well.

I guess it's a matter of picking a good private school.

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