CALIFORNIA: Bullied Gay Teen Seth Walsh Dies Nine Days After Hanging Himself

[meegbear]

After nine days on life support, 13 year-old Seth Walsh has died. Seth hung himself from a tree in his back yard after enduring years of anti-gay bullying from his classmates.

Tehachapi police investigators interviewed some of the young people who taunted Seth the day he hanged himself and determined despite the tragic outcome of their ridicule, their actions do not constitute a crime. "Several of the kids that we talked to broke down into tears," Jeff Kermode, Tehachapi Police Chief, said. "They had never expected an outcome such as this." He said the students told investigators they wish they had put a stop to the bullying and not participated in it. Friends said Seth was picked on for years because he was gay. School administrators said they have an anti-bullying program in place, but schoolmates said staff at Jacobsen Middle School in Tehachapi offered Seth no protection or guidance. A YouTube video by a family member sends a message about Seth: "He was bullied and teased, now in the hospital, this face right here is suffering because of bullying, never say a mean thing again."

A family member created this video while Seth was first hospitalized.

http://joemygod.blogspot.com/2010/09/california-bullied-gay-teen-seth-walsh.html

Two deaths in two days. THIS HAS TO STOP!

[marmar]

1. Good grief.....

This is terrible.

[GreenPartyVoter]

2. Oh, no. Not another one!

:cry:

[catbyte]

3. I wish I believed in hell, because

that's exactly where all those evil, self-righteous, bigoted teabagger bastards and their like-minded spawn belong. To burn in hell for eternity. My heart breaks for this young man and his family. RIP.

Diane
Anishnabe in MI

[lightningandsnow]

4. This is an epidemic.

:cry:

[EFerrari]

5. It is. And it's all over the culture. n/t

[myrna minx]

6. Oh god. This has to stop.

:cry:

[bokchoy19]

7. Disgusting

It's going to take 200 years for homosexuality to be fully accepted.

[political_Dem]

8. It's sad to say, but society has grown to be utterly cruel since the Reagan years.

W.'s administration brought this cruelty to its apex by showing a lack of responsibility in bringing misery to others. And when there is a man like Bush in the WH with his associates showing no amount of remorse, that sort of disrespect trickles down into the general population. The former administratiion brought this country to its knees. Regretfully, we've evolved into a society of bullies. My heart breaks that people are not as geniune or kind as they used to be. And when it gets to the point of young children killing themselves while they are supposed to be in the happiest time of their lives, America as we know it is gone. What's there is a hell on earth created by hardened, horrible individuals who are souless in their character and actions. :(

[kevinbgoode]

9. This just ticks me off even more:

"Several of the kids that we talked to broke down into tears," Jeff Kermode, Tehachapi Police Chief, said. "They had never expected an outcome such as this." He said the students told investigators they wish they had put a stop to the bullying and not participated in it.

What outcome did those kids expect? I mean, seriously. . .what the hell is the whole purpose of bullying anyway? And it pisses me off that this crap is not considered a crime. . .nor are the parents of the perpetrators ever held responsible.

In the case of the young man who was reported on yesterday (Ashton?) there were incidents in which he was KICKED DOWN THE STAIRS at school. . .now what part of that doesn't warrant being considered ASSAULT? Bullying, when accompanied by physical contact, is a crime, and it is high time we treated it as such. . .if we remove adults from society for attacking others, then why can't a bully even be removed from SCHOOL for attacking someone?

Now I understand the students in this case who participated in the bullying have to live with this the rest of their lives - but then so does the victim's families, and the victim's life is gone. And what is their disconnect to the responsibility for their own actions and words? Don't their parents EVER teach their children that their taunts can have serious consequences?

[benEzra]

10. Stuff like this...

makes THIS pretty reprehensible:

GOP lawmakers want to exclude gay students from anti-bullying bill

[Kievan Rus]

11. Being gay is just one of many things that bullies will ridicule people for

The homophobia behind this incident is sickening, but there are many other things that members of the middle/high school "in crowd" will ruthlessly harass people for.

The "in crowd" is bigoted and intolerant of anything that deviates from their shallow, materialistic, patriarchical, homophobic, anti-intellectual mindset. Youth are bullied for being "too smart," for being fat, for having a disability, for being from a foriegn country, for being black or Hispanic in white Republican suburban hell, for being open about having a serious interest in anything other than vapid high school gossip, and in this case, because he was gay.

At least in my opinion, I view the disgusting, bigoted homophobic behavior displayed as just one of many things said shallow youth will bully people for.

[TexasObserver]

12. recommend