I’m totally in agreement with you on posts 45320 and 21! The two factors: the fact that they are often without support and that their bullying is more severe does beg for special consideration when addressing bullying in the schools.

I don’t really have much to add. I just thought it would be fun and unique to sincerely say “Jayhuck, I’m totally in agreement with you”. I couldn’t let this opportunity pass me by.

For me, its often the severity of the cruelty that often differentiates minority groups like gays or blacks from the rest.

Thanks for the explanation – that makes sense!!!

I think the problem with taking the focus off gay kids, or just gay people in discussions like this – and please correct me if I’m wrong – is that often the politically motivated religious right will try to minimize the suffering that often happens in the gay community so as to squelch sympathy for gay people – it does happen. I’m absolutely NOT saying that is what is going on here. I truly believe that almost everyone on this blog cares about gay AND straight people. But, the fact remains that people will do this. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be honest about the facts when they are being skewed.

Its also important to remember that while all groups suffer similar types of things, in minority groups, like black or gay people, the harassment or abuse is often more severe than it is for say straight or white people. I think that’s pretty evident when you look at how these groups are treated. You don’t often see people being killed for being white or straight or smart/geeky, but you do often see people being killed for being black or gay – or both for that matter.

The appeal of momentary ‘glory’ and the notion of ‘being remembered forever for what I did’ can be the final factors that take a person from just ‘thinking about suicide’ into taking action. Granted, this type of thinking seems to have a bigger hook in troubled straight kids than gays but that also is consistent with Mary’s point that suicide among ALL teens continues to be a serious problem. (Sorry, some of us who blog here are concerned about a number of issues impacting our world. When we can and where we can, we try to gain a bit more understanding. Apologies to those who are offended that we care about the straight kids too.)

The incidence of all teen suicides has become visible enough that even pop music–on the everyday radio–has actually addressed suicide. For the life of me, I can’t remember the name of Billy Joel’s song. The other song, Runaway Train, I heard just before dropping off last night.