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| South O'Brien Secondary School, Paulina, Iowa |
From KTIV's Kristen Johnson:
She [Ken's mom] says they took their teases online, to websites like Facebook, creating a hate group against gays and adding Kenneth's friends as members. However, it was only the beginning, family say he started receiving death threats from South O'Brien students on his phone."When I'd question him about the phone calls, like he just blew it off, so I just thought everything was ok," said his mother.According to Kenneth's mother Jeannie, those South O'Brien boys were given a warning, but she was never contacted by the school. She's unsure whether she'll press charges against the students she says drove her son to his death.
Hey there... love reading Aksarbent... was a 24-year resident of Des Moines, from college through 2002, and appreciate your coverage of NE and IA now that I'm out of state.
ReplyDeleteSuicide is an up-close, personal experience to me since losing my partner to suicide a decade ago. I've done my fair share of reading and researching in the years since, without pretending to be anything more than a layperson.
One thing that leaves me concerned for surviving, but still vulnerable, youth is phrases like "bullying triggered a suicide," "bullies pushed a young person over the edge," or "bullying left this person no other choice but suicide."
The risk is that vulnerable people, young and old, may take it as fact that bullying can leave them powerless to survive.
The evidence shows that suicide seldom has a single unitary cause or trigger. While bullying can be a significant factor, when a person who is lost to suicide, compromised mental health -- in the form of severe depression, anxiety, and/or severely muddled/irrational thinking, for example -- is nearly always a factor, as well.
In that context, I'm not going to try to edit the way others write about suicide, but I've got to admit I'm concerned. I just wish that no one with possible suicide risk would hear it described as if it was inevitable and/or the only rational result after severe bullying.
The most unfortunate risk, in my mind, is that the way we talk about suicide and bullying could leave vulnerable youth, already struggling through a phase of muddled thinking, believing that their death could serve a greater good, by punishing their bullies.
At the same time, I get it that my OCD side comes out sometimes on language-related issues; my precise concerns are not everyone's concerns; and, my communication style is as unique as everyone else's. So, it's not my job to argue with or judge anyone else's choice of language...
Be well, and keep up the great work!