Wednesday, October 20th, 2010

Bullying Blamed for HSE Student Suicide

Fishers - Hamilton Southeastern students returning from fall break are also mourning the loss of a classmate. 14-year-old Jamarcus Bell took his own life last week. His parents say he was a victim of bullying at Hamilton Southeastern High school. The parents of Jamarcus Bell are asking the school to take a more active stand to prevent bullying in the system. Anti-bullying has been in the news lately, after the suicide of several teens across the country, including 15-year-old Billy Lucas of Greensburg. President Obama posted a video and statement on the White House website encouraging young people to seek support and guidance if they are being bullied.

.........................

Here's the thing. I am tired of hearing stories like this. Want to know why? It sickens me to hear that a 14-year old boy took his own life because other people weren't nice to him. How can it go that far? How can a boy be so sick of living and so sick of people being mean that he takes his own life? This should absolutely not be happening. How can kids his age even bully someone so much that it has to go this far? It literally makes me sick to my stomach hearing that. I mean, I could go on for days about something like this.

You know when you were in like 5th grade and there was that convocation about bullying? You know, they brought in actors and actresses and they put on a scene and told us all about bullying and why it was bad? And everyone in the audience (myself and my peers) thought we were too cool to listen because we didn't think bullying was a problem? I wish we could all go back to that convocation day, AND LISTEN. Because Obviously, bullying is a problem. If 14 year old kids are taking their own lives because of it, IT IS A PROBLEM.

Seriously, I can't handle this kind of news anymore. I can't stand to hear that another student died because of bullying. It just should not be happening. There is absolutely no reason to bully something. I don't care how much you think that person is a loser or doesn't belong. But really, should it ever go so far as death? Absolutely not.

I didn't even know who Jamarcus Bell was. But I do know someone who did, my brother. And thanks to anyone who ever bullied Jamarcus, my brother has to deal with his death. No, he was not best friends with Jamarcus, but he did know him. So yes, he is being effected. And because my brother is being effected, so am I.

I don't know what I am going to do if I ever hear about a case like this again. I can't handle it. Like I said before, it just sickens me that bullying can so THAT far, to where a kid is honestly not happy enough with his life to even live anymore. I can't fathom that kind of unhappiness. But apparently, someone gave him hell.

My heart and prayers are going out to Jamarcus and his family. Although I have never known anybody that has taken their own life, I am still praying daily for their family to stay strong and know that the Lord is going to be there with them during this time of loss.

If you haven't already, read my blog about the movie "To Save a Life." It talks a little bit about bullying and suicide. The bottom line is we all just need to love each other. In the bible, the word "love" is used 558 times. Does that mean ANYTHING to ANYONE? Seriously, we are all so concerned about ourselves that we sometimes don't see the person who is screaming out for help, hurting. Around 8% of teens who are bullied attempt to commit suicide, and many succeed in doing so. You may be saying, well 8% isn't that high of a number. It's higher than 0%, which is what that number should be.

I once read a post secret that said, "To the lady at the bank: I'm glad you think my notebook is absolutely gorgeous. It's full of suicide letters. You can have it when I'm gone.."

Romans 13:10 "Love does no harm to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law."

Be a friend to someone, you never know what they are going through.