School bullying causes suicide contemplation

There was the namecalling: “Faggot,” “gay,” “retard.” There was the physical abuse, the bruises to his arms and hands.

The 13-year-old boy began to contemplate suicide.

But the bully didn’t win.

The boy told his parents before he carried through with a plan to run out in front of a fast-moving transport on Highway 11 and end the daily torment and ridicule he endured since Grade 5.

Now in Grade 8, the boy is seeing a counsellor and made the decision recently to leave his friends and start over at a new school.

“They would push me, I would walk away. They would slam my hands between the lockers. I would move faster so they wouldn’t have much of a chance to get me and they would tease me and I would just take it,” he said in a recent interview.

“It hurts, but I don’t cry because that would make it worse. I just keep everything inside.”

The boy said most of the kids at his old senior elementary school are scared of the “head bully,” who had been his classmate since Grade 5.

“They talk to him, they tell him to stop punching and teasing and that’s about it. He stops and then continues again. It happens every day, but on the good days it would only happen every second day.”

Wiping the tears from her eyes, the boy’s mother said she blames herself for not addressing the issue sooner.

She said she realized the seriousness of the situation when, during an argument about school work, her son told her he wanted to kill himself.

“I knew there was bullying in elementary school, but I thought he was dealing with it better. I thought it was just boy stuff,” she said. “All it takes is for one kid to start and then they have a reputation of being the odd man out. The other kids don’t want to be the ones being teased so they do it too.”

Const. Larry Asselin, school liaison officer with the North Bay Police Service, said bullying has become an issue that every generation can relate to.

“Parents need to take ownership. They need to teach kids values and respect,” he said, noting bullying is the worst in grades 7 and 8 and continues into high school.

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Iowa Gay-Straight Alliances work

West Des Moines, IA – January 30 – Iowa Pride Network today announced findings from the 2007 Iowa School Climate Survey (ISCS), the only state survey to document the experiences of students who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) in Iowa's schools. The survey results were released today at West Des Moines Valley High School in conjunction with Iowa Pride Network's 2nd Annual Gay-Straight Alliance Day.

"The 2007 Iowa School Climate Survey reveals that anti-LGBT bullying and harassment remain commonplace in Iowa's schools," said Iowa Pride Network Co-Founder and Director Ryan Roemerman. "On the positive side, it also makes clear that inclusive policies, supportive school staff and student clubs, like Gay-Straight Alliances, all relate to reduced harassment and higher achieving students."

Anti-harassment and non-discrimination policies with enumerated categories such as “sexual orientation” and “gender identity” do work to end bullying, harassment and discrimination in our schools.

Students who have a Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) in their school report having decreased absenteeism, lower rates of name calling, harassment and assault.

In response to the survey findings, the Governor’s Office has declared today “Iowa Gay-Straight Alliance (GSA) Day”. The goals of Iowa Pride Network’s GSA Day are to honor GSAs, students and staff around that state that work to end violence, homophobia and transphobia in Iowa schools and colleges.

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ACLU sues Florida high school

PONCE DE LEON, FL – A Florida high school has been trampling the First Amendment rights of students who support equal rights for gay people, according to a federal lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union. In its lawsuit, the ACLU describes an atmosphere of fear and censorship at Ponce de Leon High School, where the school board’s attorney says even expressions like a rainbow sticker may mean students are members of an “illegal organization.” Ponce de Leon High School is located in Holmes County in the Florida Panhandle.

“All any of us wants to do is be able to talk about gay rights issues without having to be scared,” said Heather Gillman, a 16-year-old junior and straight student at the school. “Nobody should have to worry about being kicked out of school just for having a rainbow sticker on your notebook.”

The ACLU sent a letter in November to the school board’s attorney on behalf of Gillman, asking for clarification as to whether a variety of symbols and slogans, such as the rainbow flag or “I support my gay friends,” would be allowed at the school. The school district replied that it would not allow any expressions of support for gay rights at all because such speech would “likely be disruptive.” The district then went even further, claiming that such symbols and slogans were signs that students were part of a “secret/illegal organization.”

“Because the Supreme Court has held that students have a right to free speech at school unless that speech disrupts the educational process, many administrators think they can just slap the label ‘disruptive’ on anything they don’t like and get away with stomping on students’ First Amendment rights. The law doesn’t work that way,” said Benjamin James Stevenson, ACLU of Florida staff attorney who is representing Gillman. . “School should be a marketplace of ideas, where students share new ideas and learn about themselves and others. Just talking about gay rights or any other topic outside of class isn’t inherently disruptive.”

“Schools shouldn’t be in the business of trying to frighten students into silence.”

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