Boy's Family Sues over "Bullicide"

[Majic Walrus]

I think this issue was talked about before, but seriously this family is apparently suing the school for not making their son happy enough to not kill himself. Trying to sue under the guise of accusing the SCHOOL of not preventing a bully which may have lead to their son's suicide.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/MindMoodNews/story?id=7228335&page=1

I want to go ahead and call BS right now. There's simply no way that the school should be held responsible for your son's actions or reactions to bullying in school. Everyone gets bullied in school and schools were not create to keep your kid happy but to maybe make him smart enough to pass for a human being on the outside world. To expect anything more is ******ed.

What could've happened is maybe the parents could've had an open line of communication with their son so that when he was tempted to kill himself because someone called him a "homo" he went to them first before taking the final voyage.

 

[stextc]

I'm against frivolous litigation. However in this case, if the school officials were aware of the bullying (not enough information in the article) and did nothing to prevent it then surely they have to wear some of the responsibility. Schools are to meant to provide a safe learning environment.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

Ooohh....this story hits close to home. I was bullied alot in school as well.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

I took a hit to the face last week from someone twice my size who had repeated grade 12 for the second time. And it was all cause this guy and his buddies were making fun of my friend and made her cry. Those guys know I don't fight and for some reason they ended up respecting that. School is weird. You can't really label school in one particular way. Weird **** happens all the time and that's no reason to go kill yourself over.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

I took a hit to the face last week from someone twice my size who had repeated grade 12 for the second time. And it was all cause this guy and his buddies were making fun of my friend and made her cry. Those guys know I don't fight and for some reason they ended up respecting that. School is weird. You can't really label school in one particular way. Weird **** happens all the time and that's no reason to go kill yourself over.

I know that people in general can really suck when it comes to being respectful of other people, but I speak from personal experience when I say this. The reason why those who've been bullied resort to suicide is because they want to escape the constant, self esteem destroying torment. That's how I was in High School and I have a nasty scar as a reminder. When I feel the urge to just let go, I look at that and remember that time.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

I was having a rough time at one point too and before making the decision I thought about it for a second and whent "damn what a dumb decision. No one'll condem me to death without me putting up a fight" So I got back and got even with every single one of those *******s. Now am I the most popular kid for messing with the jocks? No. But do I care? No, cause we're on neutral grounds now.

 

[Majic Walrus]

I'm against frivolous litigation. However in this case, if the school officials were aware of the bullying (not enough information in the article) and did nothing to prevent it then surely they have to wear some of the responsibility. Schools are to meant to provide a safe learning environment.

Really they have to wear some of the responsibility? I think that they don't. There's no way that could have known how suicide-sam was going to react when bully-bill called him a homo. People get bullied all of the time.

I went to a mostly white High School and when we had 1 black transfer students a group of several white students literally filled his locker full of cotton balls on a weekly basis and called him N***** Nick.

Nick now owns his own business in town with a good chance of expansion. Nick's net worth is probably around 8.9 million. Nick didn't kill himself. He decided to make something of himself to prove all of those bullys wrong.

HOWEVER, suicide-sam bit a bullet. So whose fault is it that he died? The parents? Partially. The bully? A little. The school? Not hardly. Himself? YES! TOTALLY!

If you react to being bullied by killing yourself it's your own damn fault.

 

[Asteroid-Man]

Exactly. Don't ever ****ing give up on life. If anyone reading this is even considering suicide now that you're taking the cowardly way out of a problem while leaving a **** load of guilt on all those who were close to you. If you find that all you see in the world is bad or there is a lot of bad in the world look at it this way, if there was no bad how the hell would you be able to comprehend the good?

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

Well, it is one's own decision to kill themselves, but if people would just treat others with whatever kindness they'd want shown to them this world would not have as many suicides.

 

[Logan's Lady]

It makes no sense at all to blame the school or try to sue them.

It's called Bullicide... well then SUE THE BULLY!! I mean come on, you can sue the family of the bully(ies) that caused him the pain. There is much more sense in that, then suing the school.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

It makes no sense at all to blame the school or try to sue them.

It's called Bullicide... well then SUE THE BULLY!! I mean come on, you can sue the family of the bully(ies) that caused him the pain. There is much more sense in that, then suing the school.

I'm sure in a court of law if the bully, if we age him/her to adulthood, was being sued they would at least be charged with harassment.

 

[moraldeficiency]

This is sad, really it's the parents fault for not paying attention to their kid when he needed it the most. They're just switching their guilt to blame so they can hide from the truth. Everybody get's picked on, you toughen the **** up and it makes you a better person, don't like being called names? Go hit the gym then come back and kick that guy's ass in a year, it's amazingly cathartic.

 

[Majic Walrus]

It makes no sense at all to blame the school or try to sue them.

It's called Bullicide... well then SUE THE BULLY!! I mean come on, you can sue the family of the bully(ies) that caused him the pain. There is much more sense in that, then suing the school.

I'm sure in a court of law if the bully, if we age him/her to adulthood, was being sued they would at least be charged with harassment.

See that's the thing. They didn't sue the bully because they're no money in it. The worst that will happen is the bully will get charged with severe harassment charges and still serve less than a year at worst but will probably get off with probation. The family won't get any cash and it looks like for them it's all about green.

 

[Knightsaber Priss]

See that's the thing. They didn't sue the bully because they're no money in it. The worst that will happen is the bully will get charged with severe harassment charges and still serve less than a year at worst but will probably get off with probation. The family won't get any cash and it looks like for them it's all about green.

I think that's a sad thing that the parents care about the money instead of the problem.

 

[Logan's Lady]

See that's the thing. They didn't sue the bully because they're no money in it. The worst that will happen is the bully will get charged with severe harassment charges and still serve less than a year at worst but will probably get off with probation. The family won't get any cash and it looks like for them it's all about green.

I agree with you. The only reason they're going after the school is for the money.
With this economy though, I don't know how they're gonna get any money out of the schools

 

[moraldeficiency]

I agree with you. The only reason they're going after the school is for the money.
With this economy though, I don't know how they're gonna get any money out of the schools

sure they could, it'll just come at the expense of the staff and student resources. Kids don't really need updated text books anyway.

 

[Immortalfire]

this family is apparently suing the school for not making their son happy enough to not kill himself

I laughed. Why do parents not want to take responsibility for anything these days?

"Hmm...how can we make this not our fault? Ooh! Sue the school!"


Idiots.

 

[Majic Walrus]

sure they could, it'll just come at the expense of the staff and student resources. Kids don't really need updated text books anyway.

Sadly that's what will happen. The school can't afford to draw out litigation on the matter so they will settle out of court and the parents will get paid and the school will have to bend over.

Let's see them work hard to prevent suicides when they take another pay cut.

I laughed. Why do parents not want to take responsibility for anything these days?

"Hmm...how can we make this not our fault? Ooh! Sue the school!"


Idiots.

Exactly. People that play victim usually make me sick.

 

[amazingfantasy15]

Well, it is one's own decision to kill themselves, but if people would just treat others with whatever kindness they'd want shown to them this world would not have as many suicides.

Yeah, but that's not the way the world works, well never live in that shiny, happy utopia where everyone's best friends with everyone else. There'll always be that ********* who starts crap, you've just gotta ignore him/her/them. Kid was dumb to kill himself at that point, he was 17 so maybe a senior and he wouldn't been at college next year where everything most likely would change for him. I know someone will come in and say how courageous it is to pull the trigger, but real courage would either change what's happening or endure long enough to get in a new enivorment where you can change things.

 

[SuperFerret]

Yeah, but that's not the way the world works, well never live in that shiny, happy utopia where everyone's best friends with everyone else. There'll always be that ********* who starts crap, you've just gotta ignore him/her/them. Kid was dumb to kill himself at that point, he was 17 so maybe a senior and he wouldn't been at college next year where everything most likely would change for him. I know someone will come in and say how courageous it is to pull the trigger, but real courage would either change what's happening or endure long enough to get in a new enivorment where you can change things.

Beat me to it. Well said.

As for the thread title, "Bullicide" implies killing a bully (like Homocide is killing a person and Genocide is killing a race), so I was confused at first.

Also, am I the only one who thinks that starting "Anti-Bullying Programs" in school is just asking for more bullying? Hell, I was practically the white Steve Urkel in my high school and even I would bully someone who'd join something like that.

 

[Spider-Who?]

I've got alot of thoughts on this topic. I was suicidal for a while recently. I'm bipolar (unmedicated, mostly) and I went through a really horrible series of events a few months ago that made me seriously start to comtemplate suicide. So this sets close to my heart.

First off, IMO, if someone has it in their minds to commit suicide, and they really want to do it, they will. No amount of "oh, come here, son, gimmie a hug" is gonna change that. So I really dont point the finger at the parents and fault them for inaction. And honestly, how can you know how the parents were? They could have been the worlds best parents, and this kid still would have commited suicide. So I think its unfair and ignorant to blame them.

Secondly, I also think its unfair to call the parents greedy for sueing. Lets say your kid is constantly being harassed at school. The school knows it, both you and your kid have made complaints; hell, the teachers probably even SEE the constant bullying. But it goes on and on. Not to mention the fact that school is MORE then just a building in which you learn reading, writing and arithmatic. School is also an establishment based on learning social interaction, and that is one of its most important functions. If the school is allowing bullies to harass other students so much that one takes its life, the the school has failed dramatically. I do believe that the school should be held responsible to a certain extent, and it is fair to say that having the parents simply voice their complaint to the super intendent will do no justice. The only other reasonable alternative is to take the school to court, to force the establishment to look at itself and see where they need to change and how horribly they are failing their students. I think the parents are doing a good thing, even if they loose the case, they will (hopefully) bring the school closer to better protecting the students from eachother, and in turn saving some more lives.

I also believe that the bully must be repremanded in some way as well. Of course, I wonder how he feels knowing that his victim killed himself over his atrocious actions. But sadly, the bully will most likely just get a slap on the hand from the school, and a glare from his parents.

Of course, when it all boils down to it, the main person to "blame" is the victim himself. And I hate even using that word, "blame". How can you blame the victim? Yes, it was his choice, but it was a choice made out of desperation brought about by his enviornment, and an unhealthy mind. His suicide was a byproduct of his life and those surrounding him. Everyone related to this incident (and others) must realize this. That is not to say this is "your" fault (in some cases, maybe this is true). But mostly as a realization that we all have a part in eachothers lives, and our actions and inactions affect one another far more then we will ever realize.

 

[moraldeficiency]

I've got alot of thoughts on this topic. I was suicidal for a while recently. I'm bipolar (unmedicated, mostly) and I went through a really horrible series of events a few months ago that made me seriously start to comtemplate suicide. So this sets close to my heart.

Please get medicated, it's a dangerous road you're going down without help.

First off, IMO, if someone has it in their minds to commit suicide, and they really want to do it, they will. No amount of "oh, come here, son, gimmie a hug" is gonna change that. So I really dont point the finger at the parents and fault them for inaction. And honestly, how can you know how the parents were? They could have been the worlds best parents, and this kid still would have commited suicide. So I think its unfair and ignorant to blame them.

How do you know the kid was totally committed to it? What if he just wanted someone to reach out to him? Most suicides, at least as shrinks tell it, are cries for help that go unanswered.

Secondly, I also think its unfair to call the parents greedy for sueing. Lets say your kid is constantly being harassed at school. The school knows it, both you and your kid have made complaints; hell, the teachers probably even SEE the constant bullying. But it goes on and on. Not to mention the fact that school is MORE then just a building in which you learn reading, writing and arithmatic. School is also an establishment based on learning social interaction, and that is one of its most important functions. If the school is allowing bullies to harass other students so much that one takes its life, the the school has failed dramatically. I do believe that the school should be held responsible to a certain extent, and it is fair to say that having the parents simply voice their complaint to the super intendent will do no justice. The only other reasonable alternative is to take the school to court, to force the establishment to look at itself and see where they need to change and how horribly they are failing their students. I think the parents are doing a good thing, even if they loose the case, they will (hopefully) bring the school closer to better protecting the students from eachother, and in turn saving some more lives.

Isn't some level of harrassment just part of growing up? Not to be callous but school is supposed to prepare you for the real world and if you can't handle being called names and can't learn to deal with that you will not be able to cope in society which is far less monitored and fair play orientated than school.

I also believe that the bully must be repremanded in some way as well. Of course, I wonder how he feels knowing that his victim killed himself over his atrocious actions. But sadly, the bully will most likely just get a slap on the hand from the school, and a glare from his parents.

Agreed completely. This kid's a ****ing prick.

Of course, when it all boils down to it, the main person to "blame" is the victim himself. And I hate even using that word, "blame". How can you blame the victim? Yes, it was his choice, but it was a choice made out of desperation brought about by his enviornment, and an unhealthy mind. His suicide was a byproduct of his life and those surrounding him. Everyone related to this incident (and others) must realize this. That is not to say this is "your" fault (in some cases, maybe this is true). But mostly as a realization that we all have a part in eachothers lives, and our actions and inactions affect one another far more then we will ever realize.

agreed.

 

[Majic Walrus]

I've got alot of thoughts on this topic. I was suicidal for a while recently. I'm bipolar (unmedicated, mostly) and I went through a really horrible series of events a few months ago that made me seriously start to comtemplate suicide. So this sets close to my heart.

First off, IMO, if someone has it in their minds to commit suicide, and they really want to do it, they will. No amount of "oh, come here, son, gimmie a hug" is gonna change that. So I really dont point the finger at the parents and fault them for inaction. And honestly, how can you know how the parents were? They could have been the worlds best parents, and this kid still would have commited suicide. So I think its unfair and ignorant to blame them.

So suicide hotlines are all bunk too? I think that kids that are suicidal could avoid being suicidal if they had a good family life with plenty of love and support.

Secondly, I also think its unfair to call the parents greedy for sueing. Lets say your kid is constantly being harassed at school. The school knows it, both you and your kid have made complaints; hell, the teachers probably even SEE the constant bullying. But it goes on and on. Not to mention the fact that school is MORE then just a building in which you learn reading, writing and arithmatic. School is also an establishment based on learning social interaction, and that is one of its most important functions. If the school is allowing bullies to harass other students so much that one takes its life, the the school has failed dramatically. I do believe that the school should be held responsible to a certain extent, and it is fair to say that having the parents simply voice their complaint to the super intendent will do no justice. The only other reasonable alternative is to take the school to court, to force the establishment to look at itself and see where they need to change and how horribly they are failing their students. I think the parents are doing a good thing, even if they loose the case, they will (hopefully) bring the school closer to better protecting the students from eachother, and in turn saving some more lives.

Really? Is it the schools responsiblity to protect students or the parents responsiblity to train their kids not to bully and how to handle bullying?

I also believe that the bully must be repremanded in some way as well. Of course, I wonder how he feels knowing that his victim killed himself over his atrocious actions. But sadly, the bully will most likely just get a slap on the hand from the school, and a glare from his parents.

For what? Being a *****ebag isn't a crime. Like I said earlier even if he gets charges of harrassment it will be a light light sentance.

Of course, when it all boils down to it, the main person to "blame" is the victim himself. And I hate even using that word, "blame". How can you blame the victim? Yes, it was his choice, but it was a choice made out of desperation brought about by his enviornment, and an unhealthy mind. His suicide was a byproduct of his life and those surrounding him. Everyone related to this incident (and others) must realize this. That is not to say this is "your" fault (in some cases, maybe this is true). But mostly as a realization that we all have a part in eachothers lives, and our actions and inactions affect one another far more then we will ever realize.

Very true.

 

[Spider-Who?]

Please get medicated, it's a dangerous road you're going down without help.

I appreciate your input. I stopped taking medication prescribed for bipolar about a year ago. It just made me feel like ass, a zombie almost. (That helpped facilitate the end of my engagement). Then I was on antidepressents which made me fat, and even more depressed, so I said "screw it." None of this is helpping, lets do it my own way. I DO however take diazapam (sp) when needed and try to monitor my self and be aware of when my moods change and where they take me. Honestly, I believe I'm doing better off medication then when I was on. My sister's exboyfriend was bipolar and he killed himself a couple of years ago. Thats always stuck with me, seeing how close I got to that point and what it does to loved ones. At this point in my life, I consider my self a happy, albeit somewhat nerotic, person. But of course, most artists are, so I'm in good company

How do you know the kid was totally committed to it?

Not to sound rude, but well,...because he did it.

What if he just wanted someone to reach out to him? Most suicides, at least as shrinks tell it, are cries for help that go unanswered.

I don't disagree. I know that at my worst point, I did cry for help from my friends. It fell on deaf ears for the most part. Only one person out of my closest group of friends made any amount of attempts to help me out, and I think I'll thank him for the rest of my life.

Isn't some level of harrassment just part of growing up? Not to be callous but school is supposed to prepare you for the real world and if you can't handle being called names and can't learn to deal with that you will not be able to cope in society which is far less monitored and fair play orientated than school.

Again, I agree. ...To a point. Being an adult, I feel that public school is worse then "real life" in terms of harrasment and abuse. Everyday, young, weak, scared, angry, confused, malieable minds are forced into the sardine can that is public school and expected to play nice. This just doesnt happen. Yes, dealing with vehemence is a part of life, but that doesnt make it right, nor should it be used as an excuse for the status quo. And in this particular case, I doubt that the kid was simply faced with name calling. Teenagers can be the most cruel and bastardly people you will ever meet. In fact, I have yet to meet any adult that was as horrible as some of the bullies in my day. So, yes I agree that dealing with strife is an integeral part of growing up, but that doesnt mean schools should let it happen.

Its a rough situation. There is no completely right train of thought or solution. There will always be bullies, there will always be victims. ANd yes, there will always be casualties. The only thing we can do is try to reduce the numbers of each the best we can.

 

[Spider-Who?]

So suicide hotlines are all bunk too? I think that kids that are suicidal could avoid being suicidal if they had a good family life with plenty of love and support.



Really? Is it the schools responsiblity to protect students or the parents responsiblity to train their kids not to bully and how to handle bullying?



For what? Being a *****ebag isn't a crime. Like I said earlier even if he gets charges of harrassment it will be a light light sentance.



Very true.

I'll make my response quick.

The only thing about your post that I don't disagree with on some level, is your signature.