Funeral held today for 14-year-old Kenneth James Weishuhn Jr., who hanged himself after relentless homophobic bullying at South O’Brien Community School in Pauline IA

Four sophomore boys at the school seem to have been the prime movers in Weishuhn's abuse. 20 threatening voicemail messages were found Weishuhn's cell phone by what appeared to be a disguised mail voice. One of Weishuhn's tormentors is rumoured to be the son of  a teacher.

Kyle Munson of the Des Moines Register has been reporting this story in news articles and in his blog at the Register.

Today, he added the following:

… During a school walkout on Tuesday afternoon at South O’Brien, a small group of local parents and townsfolk held aloft signs alongside several students in support of Weishuhn. They kept reiterating that it was a pro-Weishuhn walkout and not anti-school. But at least one male student heckled marchers with a shout of “S.O.S.!” out the window – as in “South O’Brien School.”

… One student told me that she might feel safer if video cameras were installed in the high school hallways. Later, the superintendent told me that his district took bids on cameras about two years ago — primarily to combat theft. (But the district hasn’t yet installed cameras.)

… More horrendous stories of bullying have been emerging. One mother at last night’s visitation for Weishuhn told me about how she had approached school administrators in a different Iowa district a few dozen times about a bully harassing her son. The son finally was assaulted and hospitalized, the bully received a day of in-school suspension, and then she and her kids switched districts.