Houston-area 13-year-old kills himself, parents blame bullying

[pawe]

Report said even after the kid confessed he was gay, the parents did not condemn him.

[xellos88330]

Report said even after the kid confessed he was gay, the parents did not condemn him.

Wouldn't you say that too to render yourself free of blame? Would you want the whole town to know that you don't like gay people?

Even if they didn't condemn him, they may not have taken his choice too well. I know that if my daughter/son told me that they were sexual, I would be disappointed. I would respect their decision, but disappointed nonetheless.

A teenager dealing with that amount and degree of harassment is a delicate situation that makes normal reactions critical.

Bottom line is the parents didn't do enough to help their son in multiple areas of the kids life. It is not ENTIRELY the schools fault.

I feel for the parents and their loss, and I know they would change it if they could. It happened, hopefully in the future it will be a lesson for not only them, but parents everywhere concerning bullying in school.

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

Gee, let's totally disregard the fact that you had a gun and bullets on a shelf in your closet with an emotionally fragile teenager in the home.

Buy a gun lock, pull your kid out of the school and seek real help.

[xellos88330]

Gee, let's totally disregard the fact that you had a gun and bullets on a shelf in your closet with an emotionally fragile teenager in the home.

Buy a gun lock, pull your kid out of the school and seek real help.

You know this makes me think of something else too.

If the child wasn't insured, or he was insured but had a suicide clause, maybe the parents are blaming the school to get some sort of compensation from them.

I know I may sound like a jerk, but there are always two sides to every story. , sometimes there are more than two.

[DisgruntledLionFan#54,927]

It just makes me think that people don't want any part of the blame.

Personal responsibility went out the window long ago.

[CubanSucks]

For everyone blaming the school just remember that bullying is rarely that ass kicking in the courtyard for everyone to see. So what's the school to do every time the bullies call the kid a or start rumors? Set up a sting operation to try and catch them as they're saying these things? Bullying can sometimes be dodged but it can never be stopped

[xellos88330]

Report said even after the kid confessed he was gay, the parents did not condemn him.

One more fishy thing about this is the fact that he had told them he was gay the same day he shot himself. Something tells me something went down in that house.

[CuckingFunt]

Gee, let's totally disregard the fact that you had a gun and bullets on a shelf in your closet with an emotionally fragile teenager in the home.

Buy a gun lock, pull your kid out of the school and seek real help.

Yup.

[Spurminator]

In all of the comments on the news sites about this article, and all of the conversation I've heard (I grew up in this area and went to school at Hamilton for a year), xellos is the only other person to share the same skepticism of the parents' claims I felt when I first read about this...

Doesn't it seem convenient that the parents reacted so perfectly to his confession? Doesn't it seem odd that the school would deny ever being contacted by them about bullying? Wouldn't there have been obvious evidence that this kid was getting to a point where he was a danger to himself? (i.e. refusing to go to school, tantrums, threats that he'd kill himself if he had to go back, etc.)

I have a hard time believing he went from a straight-A kid who was having bully problems at school to just killing himself without even leaving a note. A 13-year old killing himself in this way takes a perfect storm of completely illogical and irrational things happening.

And I'm not saying it couldn't happen. But what I am seeing is a lot of people jumping to accuse the school of hiding something in what, for now, is a case of they-said/they-said. I'm interested to see where this investigation goes.

[xellos88330]

In all of the comments on the news sites about this article, and all of the conversation I've heard (I grew up in this area and went to school at Hamilton for a year), xellos is the only other person to share the same skepticism of the parents' claims I felt when I first read about this...

Doesn't it seem convenient that the parents reacted so perfectly to his confession? Doesn't it seem odd that the school would deny ever being contacted by them about bullying? Wouldn't there have been obvious evidence that this kid was getting to a point where he was a danger to himself? (i.e. refusing to go to school, tantrums, threats that he'd kill himself if he had to go back, etc.)

I have a hard time believing he went from a straight-A kid who was having bully problems at school to just killing himself without even leaving a note. A 13-year old killing himself in this way takes a perfect storm of completely illogical and irrational things happening.

And I'm not saying it couldn't happen. But what I am seeing is a lot of people jumping to accuse the school of hiding something in what, for now, is a case of they-said/they-said. I'm interested to see where this investigation goes.

Glad that I am not the only one that noticed something fishy. I was beginning to feel like an insensitive prick.

[ploto]

Glad that I am not the only one that noticed something fishy. I was beginning to feel like an insensitive prick.

You are not the only one. It seems odd that the school would claim the only e-mails they received were about problems at home for the kid unless it was true. It is really easy to produce the e-mails to verify their content.

[thispego]

One more fishy thing about this is the fact that he had told them he was gay the same day he shot himself. Something tells me something went down in that house.

lol, dude, stop it. you sound like a fool.

[xellos88330]

lol, dude, stop it. you sound like a fool.

I am not saying his parents shot him lol! After rereading what I posted, I can see how it could be taken that way. I am just saying that whatever it was really sent the kid off the deep end.

[JoeChalupa]

I'm dealing with bullying right now. My youngest has been tripped several times when getting off the bus. I've called the kids mom and she wasn't too happy with me but this isn't the first time this kid has been a bully to someone. Another kid who rides the same bus has had the same issue. I've told my daughter though that she must stand up for herself or the bullying will continue. Karate kid time.

[SpursWoman]

I'm dealing with bullying right now. My youngest has been tripped several times when getting off the bus. I've called the kids mom and she wasn't too happy with me but this isn't the first time this kid has been a bully to someone. Another kid who rides the same bus has had the same issue. I've told my daughter though that she must stand up for herself or the bullying will continue. Karate kid time.

My son had this problem when he was in 5th grade. He finally got tired of it and fought back ... and got 5 days at the alternative school.

He's 13 and 5'11" now ... so he's pretty much left alone. Except for the occasional Napoleon-complex little dude that likes to talk crap to the big dude to see if he can push the right button.

Very sad, either way ... but emails shouldn't be hard to produce if they really sent them.

[The_Worlds_finest]

I believe the proper term for this kid is "an hero".

[mrsmaalox]

I'm dealing with bullying right now. My youngest has been tripped several times when getting off the bus. I've called the kids mom and she wasn't too happy with me but this isn't the first time this kid has been a bully to someone. Another kid who rides the same bus has had the same issue. I've told my daughter though that she must stand up for herself or the bullying will continue. Karate kid time.

I think it's interesting how school districts hire so many "blind" bus drivers!

You know Joe, we dealt with a similar problem a couple of years ago. I say "we" but really my kids took care of it before I was even aware anything was going on. Some kid on the bus was tripping my youngest and taking his things and playing keep away. My son told my daughter and older son (1 and 3 yrs older than him), and they took it upon themselves to meet the bus at the stop the next day. When my son got off the bus, the 3 of them just stood there and stared down the bully as he walked off the bus and headed home. He has never even glanced at my kid ever again

[Stringer_Bell]

I'm dealing with bullying right now. My youngest has been tripped several times when getting off the bus. I've called the kids mom and she wasn't too happy with me but this isn't the first time this kid has been a bully to someone. Another kid who rides the same bus has had the same issue. I've told my daughter though that she must stand up for herself or the bullying will continue. Karate kid time.

I've never been around bullying other than one kid in the 3rd grade that bullied everyone (and I knew karate but sometimes people are just stronger), but I imagine if I was in the type of environment where weak, quiet kids were getting put down every day and I was one of the bigger, stronger kids - I could prolly make a few extra bucks a day protecting them. Not like extortion, but like "Give me a buck and I'll up that vato if he s with you" . I think that's a more profitable business model than bullying gets you. I here good things about kids who get into jui-jitsu, they tear off bully limbs.

Sad story, and details need to be clairified, but the tragedy is that a child took his own life because he thought it was the only way out.

[phxspurfan]

I think it's interesting how school districts hire so many "blind" bus drivers!

You know Joe, we dealt with a similar problem a couple of years ago. I say "we" but really my kids took care of it before I was even aware anything was going on. Some kid on the bus was tripping my youngest and taking his things and playing keep away. My son told my daughter and older son (1 and 3 yrs older than him), and they took it upon themselves to meet the bus at the stop the next day. When my son got off the bus, the 3 of them just stood there and stared down the bully as he walked off the bus and headed home. He has never even glanced at my kid ever again

I'm convinced this always works. My big bro (way more badass than me and 6 years older) did this to a bully of mine when I was in elementary, and I dont ever remember getting messed with again