"In a rare and forceful act of advocacy, an Iowa newspaper devoted the entire front page of its Sunday edition to an anti-bullying editorial after a gay teen committed suicide.
Relatives have said 14-year-old Kenneth Weishuhn Jr. suffered intense harassment, including threatening cellphone calls and nasty comments posted online, after coming out to family and friends about a month ago. He died April 15 from what the local sheriff's office described only as a "self-inflicted injury."
The Sioux City Journal's front-page opinion piece calls on the community to be pro-active in stopping bullying and urges members to learn more about the problem by seeing the acclaimed new film, "Bully," which documents the harassment of a Sioux City middle school student. It notes that while many students are targeted for being gay, "we have learned a bully needs no reason to strike."
"In Kenneth's case, the warnings were everywhere," the editorial said. "We saw it happen in other communities, now it has hit home. Undoubtedly, it wasn't the first life lost to bullying here, but we can strive to make it the last.
Editor Mitch Pugh said the newspaper has run front-page editorials before but has never devoted the entire page to one. "A lot of newspapers shy away from putting editorials on the front page, but we feel we have to be a strong advocate for our community," he said. "And if we don't do that, we're not sure who else is."
Weishuhn's mother, Jeannie Chambers, told the Journal last week that she and the rest of the family knew he was being harassed but didn't realize the extent of the bullying. His sister told a local television station that Weishuhn, a freshman, had many friends and was popular at South O'Brien High School in Paullina until he came out. Then students turned on him."
WHAT!!! Look at that last paragraph again! He was a popular student and had many friends until he "came out." What the hell? he changed instantaneously from a kid most kids loved to hang with, to being so disgraced that he took his life!! This completely reminds me of SDL's post and responses found right here http://www.danoah.com/2011/11/im-christian-unless-youre-gay.html.
I thought the Midwest was full of Christian people. Do they not teach Christian values to their children? I am not talking about the young man's distress with having same gender attraction, but his classmates turning their backs on him and creating such a hostile environment. Why did he suddenly feel the only way out was to be permanently gone. I am disgusted with youth who believe they are above others, for whatever reason. As a country we are overly concerned about the debt we are leaving to the next generation. We are overly concerned about leaving a better world for the next generation. But we fail to identify who the next generation consists of. It is disgusting--all of it. Adults need to interfere in the horrible behaviors of their adolescents, and that starts long before age 13!! How stupid that anyone thinks their child is above treating another in such a horrible fashion. It is called "gang mentality" or for those professionally brained persons who insist their child would never join the gang--consider how often "Groupthink" occurrs in your office, or in our legislature, and in the media!! Why would you believe that your child would never let a little bullying bother them to that extent. What a joke!!
We need to learn to live, and let GOD!!
No comments:
Post a Comment