Gay Rutgers Student Suicide Blamed on Cyber Bullying
Bullying in Schools and Adult Life
Gay Rutgers Student Commits Suicide
Quoting the Associated Press, WABC-TV details the aftermath of a Rutgers student's suicide. The young man killed himself after a secretly recorded and subsequently released online sex act outed him as being gay. The cyber bully in question was the gay student's roommate and another accomplice.
Bill Handel, the well-known lawyer-turned-radio-talk-show-host in California, explained on his morning show that the students accused of cyber bullying had already lawyered up, with one of them claiming that the initial Internet release of the taped sex act was an "accident."
Anti-gay Bullying in Schools: Nothing New
Cyber bullying against gay students is not reserved for the halls of higher education. A 13-year young middle school student hanged himself after being taunted by classmates. KGET TV reports that the boy was "picked on for years because he was gay." Students point out that the middle school failed to offer any assistance to the boy. Adding insult to injury, there will be no charges filed in this anti-gay bullying case because the children who did the taunting are just that: children.
When the Anti-gay Bully is a Government Official
It is difficult to demand for children to stop bullying in schools when adults are leading by example and bully gays. Case in point is the bizarre case of Andrew Shirvell, the assistant attorney general for the State of Michigan, who has targeted - some would consider it bullying -- Christopher Armstrong, the gay University of Michigan student body president.
Ann Arbor chronicles the rather odd incidents of Shirvell taking Armstrong publicly to task for "pushing a radical homosexual agenda" and going as far as stalking events where the latter appears. In addition to taking his opinion to the blogosphere, the assistant attorney general has taken to holding up signs depicting the gay-friendly rainbow with a painted-on swastika.
When adults are behaving badly in this manner, is it any surprise that anti-gay bullying in schools is an ongoing problem, on which tepidly-enforced written policies and regulations have little effect?
Sources
WABC-TV: "Rutgers University pays tribute to late student"
KGET TV: "Police say no charges in death of bullied 13-year-old"
Ann Arbor: "University of Michigan student body president seeks restraining order against assistant state attorney general" by David Jesse
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5 Comments
Post a CommentThank you all for stopping by and for commenting. @Suspect: 'Back in the day,' we also had so-called scientific proof that men were smarter than women or whites smarter than blacks. Some of us have gotten off the trees and evolved since then.
What if the student who committed suicide was a pedophile instead of a homosexual? And who committed suicide after having been filmed having sex with a 6 year old. Would everybody be so sympathetic? Back in the day, homosexuality was considered a mental disorder right along with pedophilia.
After 23 years in juvenile court, I believe that teenagers learn from the experiences of their peers. Consequently, "Teen Cyberbullying Investigated" was published in January, 2010.
"Teen Cyberbullying" is the only book availabl;e written for tweens and teens to read in order to learn about the consequences of unintended mean or thoughtless online messages.
Endorsed by Dr. Phil on April 8, 2010 ("Bullied to Death" show) this book presents real cases of teens in trouble over their emails, blogs, IM icons, Facebook and YouTube entries and more.
Future suicides can be prevented through the education & awareness by our teens of what's happened to some teens across the country who abused the Internet and cellphone.
Take a look at "Teen Cyberbullying Investigated" on www.freespirit.com or on www.askthejudge.info (a free, interactive website for & about teens and the law).
Regards, -Judge Tom
kdk
Great coverage. The Rutgers incident is so tragic.