One thing that bothers me about this article is that a couple of these kids weren't actually bullied. They had other issues going on, whcih isn't that uncommon.
For instance, from the link.
"Meredith ended up coming out that she was a lesbian," he says. "I think much of that sparked a lot of the bullying from a lot of the other girls in school, 'cause she didn't fit in."
Her best friend, Kevin Simon, doesn't believe that bullying played a role in Rezak's death. She had serious issues at home that were unrelated to school, he says. After Mohat's death, people saw Rezak crying at school, and friends heard her talk of suicide herself.
A year after Rezak's death, the older of her two brothers, 22-year-old Justin, also shot and killed himself. His death certificate mentioned "chronic depressive reaction."
This March, her only other sibling, Matthew, died of a drug overdose at age 21.
Their mother, Nancy Merritt, lives in Colorado now. She doesn't think Meredith was bullied to death but doesn't really know what happened. On the phone, her voice drifts off, sounding disconnected, confused.
"So all three of mine are gone," she says. "I have to keep breathing."
In 1983, in my high school, 3 kids killed themselves, all in the same year. One thing the media talked about a lot that year was how there was a domino effect with teen suicide. One kid was definitely a social outcast and was bullied. One was a good friend of mine and was an extremely popular and well-liked guy whose parents had just gone through a nasty divorce. Another was a jock with a lot of money who was extremely popular (his dad and mine were business associates and our families socialized). One suicide can trigger others.
I think these stories are tragic, and I'm not really sure how a kid can be bullied IN A CLASSROOM as is described in the article (I've seen it more commonly in hallways, bathrooms, and the cafeteria), but I am also not sure exactly what people think should be done. I mean, when we do training with schools around gangs, I talk to teachers about being highly visible, in the hallways/bathrooms/lunchrooms, etc., because having a strong adult presence tends to quell student behavioral problems; and I talk to them about forming bonds with the students.
But the fact of the matter is that a lot of bullying isn't observed by school staff. And it's really hard to control what you don't see. You may hear reports of kids being picked on, but I've also seen kids who ARE bullies whose parents complain that their child is BEING bullied.
Do you think kids should be suspended from school for being mean? That would result in nearly 70% of most high school students being out of school, in my experience.
Better maybe would be teaching kids how to take care of each other. My daughter is pretty fierce (shocking, I know), and there is a kid with asperger's syndrome in her band (we also suspect he's gay). My daughter caretakes him a lot, and we've basically adopted him. I know he takes a lot of crap at school, but having some defenders who have his back among his peers is the best option, I think.
