Discuss.
He was gay.
He Was 14
What about all the other kids that are bullied, even if they’re not gay. If we’re thinking of criminally prosecuting the kids that bullied Rodemeyer, are we going to prosecute everyone whether it’s based on a “hate crime” or not? This isn’t a bullying issue, it’s a parenting issue.
Kids these days are too soft. It’s up to the parents of the bullying kids to raise them right to know being an asshole to people all the time isn’t the right thing. It’s not up to anyone else.
Someone just told me about this late yesterday. Honestly, bullying is going on and with social networking people have more power than ever to rally people against someone to be “cool”. Some of the messages to the kid they showed were pretty messed up so I feel bad.
This seems to be a legit issue and not mommy america trying to prevent kids from growing up and defending themselves and failure of the kids doing the bullying parents.
new Darwinism?
When I was young kids made fun of my name…I was the only Joshua and they singled me out for that. There wasn’t one day I wanted to kill myself. Kill the other kids? Sure lol That is why I got in a few fights lol.
+1 I was bullied for wearing glasses since 1st grade. never did I want to end my life. that was the furthest thing from my mind, knock out a few of the other idiots, well sure lol
I agree with the above. My last name was made fun of all the time, those who know me or are friends with me on social networks know what it is. I just went with it, didn’t bother me at all. If you let words bother you, then your life is going to suck. If you brush it off people tend to care less about making fun of you.
Don’t blame them. Joshua is a stupid name. Shoulda went with something tougher like Adam Ultradriver1000 or Crusher Ultradriver1000.
As long as the bullies in this case don’t get charged with manslaughter I’m OK with them getting in legal trouble. Bullying sucks and shouldn’t be tolerated, though I think it takes a certain amount of mental illness to bridge the gap between bullying and suicide. I hate how the media is just pouring it on the bullying until there’s no print left for the mental illness part. At least that’s my armchair psychoanalysis.
Sounds like the parents were decent here too so I don’t even see that as much of a problem. Seems like they were involved with him, recognized that he was having a rough time and got him counceling/therapy. He supposedly talked to them about him thinking he might be gay.
Just a sad situation all around.
---------- Post added at 09:00 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:59 AM ----------
Anybody hear how the kid ended it? The news stories just say he was found outside but the police aren’t releasing details.
Seems like CNN and other places have a lot of discussion about bullying being a hate crime, legal charges, and freedom of speech also comes up.
Should be rather interesting if people try to charge middle school kids with a crime based on testimony from other children.
It’s pretty interesting to see how much social networking and youtube have influenced this story.
Being 14 sucks enough.
I just remember boobs being the most amazing thing in the world. I wonder how much the internet has destoryed that…
Kids these days…
ugh, I got bullied on hard in those days (beyond innocent name calling). Shit sucks, but I never wanted to kill myself.
This is the only reason I’m kind of undecided on this whole issue. Part of me wants to just say that kids have always been mean and it’s just part of growing up, but it’s hard to put myself in the shoes of today’s kids with how they use and abuse social media.
I think there’s a much deeper underlying problem that parents are preaching the “you’re so special” mentality too much though, and as kids reach the age where their peers start telling them they’re not perfect and aren’t always going to be on the winning team they can’t handle it.
The term “generation therapy” is getting tossed around now, because this current generation that has never played games where someone gets picked last (or not at all) is hitting the real world like Ryan Dunn hit that tree.
I dunno. I am sure there is more to it than what we know. Bullying has and always will happen. Its just nature. I got bullied…hell did some bullying myself, never once did it get out of control. Most of the time its kids being kids. I am sure there are extreme instances like this, I guess all people can do is make it aware on whats going on and deal with it. As far as the internet goes with facebook and other social media…if your being harassed…how about you cancel your account and lay low for a while. Thats my take on it
I got picked on because I had a strong southern accent when I first moved to buffalo. + I was really quiet. School sucked I can’t say i miss it. I enjoyed work much more than school.
I think we need to make a few points for this discussion.
- Kids get picked on because they’re different. (pack mentality)
- Gay/Lesbian kids have a stereotype of going out of their way to look different to make a point.
- We all have certain coping mechanisms to deal with these things. Someone people just don’t have them.
- Where do you draw the line for what is a “hate crime” and what isn’t? Who decides?
When are we going to start calling it a hate crime when a boss is an asshole all day long to his workers?
Here is the deal, this is a true reflection on parents not being parents. This is on BOTH sides.
I am sure if I was a bully to someone and got in trouble for it I would have had my a$$ handed to me when I got home. If I felt like I was being bullied, I didnt tell my family, I stood up for myself and got my a$$ handed to me when they beat me up.
Remember the cookie thread…
I fell sorry for the loss of a child, 14, that was such a short time to live. Now with the holiday’s coming up, I wish the best for the family.
that is the best thing I have read on here in the long time.
I think there’s a much deeper underlying problem that parents are preaching the “you’re so special” mentality too much though, and as kids reach the age where their peers start telling them they’re not perfect and aren’t always going to be on the winning team they can’t handle it.
I agree with this 100% the whole you can be anything you want to be thing is retarded. I want to be a fighter pilot but my vision sucks so I know that will never happen. Tell kids they suck and they need to work hard to suck less than the shitty example of a human that is sitting next to them so be successful.