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I wonder if the bullies stole his iPod, too.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...n/7220896.html
Parents say bullies drove their son to take his life
They claim school district took no action
By PEGGY O'HARE HOUSTON CHRONICLE
Sept. 28, 2010, 4:23PM
Asher Brown, 13, shown in August, killed himself at home in Cypress on Thursday. His mother, Amy Truong, believes he killed himself because of bullying he had endured at school. He attended Hamilton Middle School in the Cy-Fair Independent School District.
Asher Brown's worn-out tennis shoes still sit in the living room of his Cypress-area home while his student progress report — filled with straight A's — rests on the coffee table.
The eighth-grader killed himself last week. He shot himself in the head after enduring what his mother and stepfather say was constant harassment from four other students at Hamilton Middle School in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District.
Brown, his family said, was "bullied to death" — picked on for his small size, his religion and because he did not wear designer clothes and shoes. Kids also accused him of being gay, some of them performing mock gay acts on him in his physical education class, his mother and stepfather said.
The 13-year-old's parents said they had complained about the bullying to Hamilton Middle School officials during the past 18 months, but claimed their concerns fell on deaf ears.
David and Amy Truong said they made several visits to the school to complain about the harassment, and Amy Truong said she made numerous phone calls to the school that were never returned.
'We want justice'
Cy Fair ISD officials said Monday that they never received any complaints from Brown's parents before the suicide about the way the boy was being treated at school.
School district spokeswoman Kelli Durham, whose husband Alan Durham is a Hamilton assistant principal, said no students, school employees or the boy's parents ever reported that he was being bullied.
That statement infuriated the Truongs, who accused the school district of protecting the bullies and their parents.
"That's absolutely inaccurate — it's completely false," Amy Truong said. "I did not hallucinate phone calls to counselors and assistant principals. We have no reason to make this up. … It's like they're calling us liars."
David Truong said, "We want justice. The people here need to be held responsible and to be stopped. It did happen. There are witnesses everywhere."
Numerous comments from parents and students on the Web site of KRIV-TV Channel 26, which also reported a story about Brown's death, stated that the boy had been bullied by classmates for several years and claimed Cy-Fair ISD does nothing to stop such harassment.
Durham said the school counselor and an assistant principal received an e-mail from Amy Truong earlier this month, asking them to keep an eye on her son, but Durham said it was because of ongoing concerns at home and not about bullying.
Shot himself with pistol
Brown was found dead on the floor of his stepfather's closet at the family's home in the 11700 block of Cypresswood about 4:30 p.m. Thursday. He used his stepfather's 9 mm Beretta, stored on one of the closet's shelves, to kill himself. He left no note. David Truong found the teen's body when he arrived home from work.
On the morning of his death, the teen told his stepfather he was gay, but Truong said he was fine with the disclosure. "We didn't condemn," he said.
His parents said Brown had been called names and endured harassment from other students since he joined Cy-Fair ISD two years ago. As a result, he stuck with a small group of friends who suffered similar harassment from other students, his parents said.
His most recent humiliation occurred the day before his suicide, when another student tripped Brown as he walked down a flight of stairs at the school, his parents said.
When Brown hit the stairway landing and went to retrieve his book bag, the other student kicked his books everywhere and kicked Brown down the remaining flight of stairs, the Truongs said.
Durham said that incident was investigated, but turned up no witnesses or video footage to corroborate the couple's claims.
'I hope you're happy'
The Truongs say they just want the harassment to stop so other students do not suffer like their son did and so another family does not have to endure such a tragedy.
"Our son is just the extreme case of what happens when (someone is) just relentless," Amy Truong said.
To the bullies, she added, "I hope you're happy with what you've done. I hope you got what you wanted and you're just real satisfied with yourself."
Services for Brown will be held Saturday.
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I wonder if the bullies stole his iPod, too.
I'll be honest, I'm a firm believer in innocent til proven guilty, but something about this story smells fishy.
that sucks.
Damn this modern trend they call "bullying"!!!!!!!
How the weren't these school employees able to stop such acts! It's as if this so called "bullying" has been going on for thousands of years!
So sad. Don't know what the real story is, but it's nothing but tragic when a child is distressed enough to take his own life.
I don't understand that . Why not shoot the bullies then yourself? At least make the stupid kids who ruined your life feel a little pain.
If your son is being bullied like that there is a lot more you should be doing then emails and phone calls. I want kids names and parents phone numbers, I'm makng personal visitsto the school andto these kids' houses.
Seriously. If you're gonna kill yourself you might as go Columbine on that .
Why? You'd just be bullied, too.
I think I'd be causing a scene in the principal's office every morning until something was done. This stuff is ing depressing.
Tough guy bullies in priceless. Sad story. Some people just don't deserve life, and by some people, I actually mean the vast majority of our population, because stupid people don't deserve to live.
That is ed up. People need to know when to stop acting like dumbasses and just leave people alone. Suicide is never a right option because I think things can be settled but I can relate to this . Had a freshman last year at my school commit suicide because of bullying.
imho, it will be interesting to see how this turns out. School says the parents didn't do anything while parents say school didn't do anything. One of them is trying to cover their ass tbh
I was bullied when I was in middle school, I was 5'2 and 170lbs in 6th grade lol, I was fat as ! I stood up for myself though, I got up in their face and punked them lol (I was fat, but I've always had balls and a bad temper, I never back down from ANYONE). All bullies are good for is talking but when you get in their face and tell them to do something they back down like pussies.
Since then I've grown to 5'11 and I weigh 175lbs, I've also got a couple years of boxing under my belt and I'm not a scrub.
These kids need to toughen up.
That flavor is called a school shooting. Maybe you've heard of it.
I'd be willing to bet any given amount of money the school is lying.
Yeah and if you're gonna end your life, at least go down as the guy who shot up the school and got revenge, don't go down as some punk who just killed himself.
and how old are you now, tough guy?
the dude died because of cowardliness tbh. a real man would have used the gun against the bullies rather than himself.
Easy to fight back when you are big and can actually mix it up with bullies. But, how are you gonna fight if you're a scrawny gay 8th grader?
His parents should have visited the bullies parents.
It seems that if he had used the gun against the bullies, not only would he be a real man, he would also be a murderer.
I honestly believe that this is a direct result of the parents.
I could probably think of what was going through the kids head and why he shot himself.
My reasoning is this...
Kid is being bullied all the time during school, but still gets good grades so the parents are proud of him. This gives him the emotional support, confidence, and strength he needs to endure the harassment at school.
Kid fesses up that he is gay. Parents overreact and the kid feels like even his parents are abandoning him. He feels worthless.
The parents could very well have notified the school, however, in their personal guilt are lashing out at the school for not putting a stop to the bullies. It was clearly in their power to stop it. They knew about the bullying, but didn't try hard enough. When they turned their back on their son, it was the last straw for him. Guilt is hard to deal with, and most parents do react to it with anger.
It doesn't take much to get the name of the bullies if the kid wanted it to stop. You have the name, you know what school district you live in, check the phone book. Do this if the school doesn't give the name of the parents.
I would have taken matters in my own hands the first day I found out he was being bullied.
I was and still am a short guy, but my father taught me that if they want to fight, make sure I am the one that finishes it.
Last edited by xellos88330; 09-29-2010 at 01:29 AM.
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