It's not the words that caused him to kill himself it was the harsh vibes that he was getting from his peers. I call my friends "fags" and "gay" all the time but it doesn't have the same vibe that a bully would use. Words don't kill, they never have, they never will. Banning words is the comb-over of the anti-hate speech movement, you ban one word and people will come up with another to replace it. The problem isn't the words, its the environment we subject our children to.
Goddamn, I hate when you make valid points. I hate you! Lol.
No, but seriously, you are right. For example, humbug is a funny word today, but go back 30 or 40 years and it was the same as saying bullshit today in proper society.
Quote from "flukeh" »
People should stop arguing about who is to blame, it's a mixture of all the things that have been mentioned in this thread. the teachers (bad ones) the way schools bullying systems work, and the individual kid(s) (bullies and bullied).
Yes, it's true, but it all comes together to form the big problem of the school system, which is only a side effect of today's American Politics.
It truely scares me. I'm half tempted to go to Dutchland...
Quote from "flukeh" »
Cheers Linkx for posting this. <3
I know I'm awesome. Thanks.
Quote from "Lydeck" »
I can guarantee you that if a bully gets popped in the mouth by the kid he's attempting to bully, then that shit will stop. I've seen it happen many times.
Actually, there's a girl in Britain that, at age 11, got pregnant.
So I wouldn't be so bold as to say that children that old don't know about there bodies.
And yea, it was about bullying, but calling people names in general, or what this forum would consider flaming, really can bring a person down, even to the point of suicide...
I think it's really just the root issue, here. The bullies, themselves. What if they just called the kid a bitch or a whore all the time? Would he have still committed suicide? Probably. Since he wasn't actually able to determine if he was or was not gay, the word, itself, isn't what was the issue. It was the condescending, brutal spirit behind it, which was the result of the use of the word and its focus, and was the result of the bullies, not the word.
Exactly. It's the actions and the meaning behind the word.
People that stand around and watch this crap unfold. People that see the kid getting ridiculed and do nothing to help him.
Indeed, and when children go and try to get help, and they just stand there like deer in the headlights....
Ugh...
Quote from "Genesis" »
All you have to do is land one punch on a bully and the whole thing disappears. Even if hes way bigger than you and can kick your ass. It ruins the bullies effort\reward ratio, if you're going to start throwing punches (even if he does beat you) everytime he starts something then hes just going to give up
Sacrifice the short term consequences because it will get rid of the long term ones
Parents need to stop telling their children that violence doesn't solve anything. It doesn't when you're an adult, but if you're a little kid then violence solves everything
Many bullies are stronger and don't care if it get's physical though. I myself didn't get bullied too often, but it wasn't unusual to overhear something going on in the next row of lockers...
Quote from "Freak_of_Nature" »
The phrase "That's so gay" has nothing to do with this linkx, you're thinking something along the lines of " kid you're so gay ", and I can definitely see when that crap is built on the child every single day it could get really tough.
I used the same name as ABCNews. If you would kindly read the article, the child overhearing "that's so gay" did not kill the child, it was the fact that he was bullied. Relentlessly. And the teachers and school administration would do nothing about it.
What's worse, the child hung himself on the day his mother was going to go talk to them for the umpteenth time.
Quote from "Number1SuperGuy" »
I know a lot of teachers, and none of them are idiots. Perhaps the true idiot is the one who insults a group of people without reservations yet doesn't bother to use decent spelling and grammar.
The teachers aren't at fault. The system is at fault. In today's schools if a teacher so much as taps a child's shoulder it's either battery or sexual harassment. If a teacher holds two fighting students apart they can be accused of inflicting the bruises. It's not that the teachers are "idiots", it's that there are legal ramifications if they interfere with the students.
If the teacher's cannot do something, then bring in people who can do something to stop bullying.
From what I've seen, the teacher's are just as much to blame as the administration (Administration referring to the Principal and such.).
Yes, there are good teachers out there. But there are more bad teachers. And more bad administrations as well.
Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover was 11-- hardly old enough to know his sexuality and yet distraught enough to hang himself last week after school bullies repeatedly called him "gay." The Springfield, Mass., football player and Boy Scout was ruthlessly teased, despite his mother's pleas to the New Leadership Charter School to address the problem.
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.
This is why it's not allowed to use such language.
This poor child hung himself from his second story bedroom with extention wire, because he was bullied and called "fag" and "gay".
And to think, his birthday was to be the same day as the International Day of Silence.
Edit: Added link to full story.
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Goddamn, I hate when you make valid points. I hate you! Lol.
No, but seriously, you are right. For example, humbug is a funny word today, but go back 30 or 40 years and it was the same as saying bullshit today in proper society.
Yes, it's true, but it all comes together to form the big problem of the school system, which is only a side effect of today's American Politics.
It truely scares me. I'm half tempted to go to Dutchland...
I know I'm awesome. Thanks.
Yea, I did that once. He laughed at me...
So I wouldn't be so bold as to say that children that old don't know about there bodies.
And yea, it was about bullying, but calling people names in general, or what this forum would consider flaming, really can bring a person down, even to the point of suicide...
Exactly. It's the actions and the meaning behind the word.
Saying anything to be hurtful...is just wrong...
Indeed, and when children go and try to get help, and they just stand there like deer in the headlights....
Ugh...
Many bullies are stronger and don't care if it get's physical though. I myself didn't get bullied too often, but it wasn't unusual to overhear something going on in the next row of lockers...
I used the same name as ABCNews. If you would kindly read the article, the child overhearing "that's so gay" did not kill the child, it was the fact that he was bullied. Relentlessly. And the teachers and school administration would do nothing about it.
What's worse, the child hung himself on the day his mother was going to go talk to them for the umpteenth time.
If the teacher's cannot do something, then bring in people who can do something to stop bullying.
From what I've seen, the teacher's are just as much to blame as the administration (Administration referring to the Principal and such.).
Yes, there are good teachers out there. But there are more bad teachers. And more bad administrations as well.
Then imagine going to teachers, parents, school administration, anyone, and nobody doing anything, saying boys will be boys.
How would you feel?
This is how so many kids have to grow up in.
And people try to sweap this kind of thing under the rug...
It's a sad world...
(Also, added link to full story on opening post. But it's 3 pages, so it may be a bit of a read.)
ABCNews.com
This is why it's not allowed to use such language.
This poor child hung himself from his second story bedroom with extention wire, because he was bullied and called "fag" and "gay".
And to think, his birthday was to be the same day as the International Day of Silence.
Edit: Added link to full story.