Category: bullying

Youth suicide in Indiana; school asks for help identifying bullying

This time the scene is Hamilton, IN and the victim is Marcus Bell, 14. The tragedy happened last week.

His father reported that he was being bullied, but there is uncertainty about the relationship to the suicide, according to this report from the Indianapolis Star.

FISHERS, Ind. — A moment of silence was held this morning at Hamilton Southeastern High School in memory of a freshman who took his own life last week.

HSE officials still aren’t releasing many details about the suicide last week of a Jamarcus “Marcus” Bell, 14, that could link the tragedy to bullying.

In a news conference this afternoon, Superintendent Brian Smith cited privacy requirements for student disciplinary records and would not say whether the district had begun an investigation into the allegations of bullying before or after Bell took his own life on Wednesday.

Smith also wouldn’t say whether Bell had ever reported being bullying to school officials.

Bell’s father, Corey Moore, has said his son was bullied recently in welding class at Hamilton Southeastern High School.

This article gives more specifics and indicates the role of bullying.

Jamarcus had been bullied repeatedly at Hamilton Southeastern High in Fishers and earlier at Fishers Junior High, Moore said. Incidents included Jamarcus being hit, punched and kicked, and the theft of his shoes and some clothing, Moore said, adding that some students even kicked over and smashed candles at a vigil set up by his friends Friday night.

Golden Rule Pledge releases bullying prevention lesson plans for church youth groups

News Release

For immediate release – 10.20.10

Golden Rule Pledge releases bullying prevention lesson plans for church youth groups

Free downloads help church groups prevent bullying, speak against anti-gay harassment

On a day when many people are speaking out against bullying, the Golden Rule Pledge is releasing materials which can be used by churches to help prevent youth bullying.  Available for free download on the Golden Rule Pledge website, these lesson plans and class activities can help churches become part of the solution to youth bullying.

A national partner of the National Bullying Prevention Month, the Golden Rule Pledge was created in 2008 in order to advocate for the application of the Golden Rule in schools and especially to speak out against anti-gay bullying.

“People of faith need to minimize ideological worries and become part of the solution to bullying in schools,” said Warren Throckmorton, co-leader of the Golden Rule Pledge. “A middle school student who is bullied every day doesn’t care about religious differences. He needs help.” In September, three young teens ended their lives after prolonged anti-gay harassment. Churches can play a vital role in partnering with schools and other community groups to model the Golden Rule – treat others the way I want to be treated.

“I hope youth leaders can use these resources to raise awareness about the need to treat all people with respect – even if you have differences of opinion,” said Throckmorton.

Andrew Marin, Founder of the Marin Foundation and author of Love is an Orientation has endorsed this effort saying, “With such drastic consequences that have been proven time and again, it saddens my heart to see so many in the Christian world avoid a bold front-running stand to cut off all bullying in our schools, churches and communities. This curriculum is an easy and productive way to not only start the conversation, but show Jesus’ biblical mandate for His followers to stand up and live differently. The time is now. The time has to be now. Download this curriculum. Implement it. And continue to be serious about sprinting towards what so many sprint away from. Bullying is never an option.” 

Bob Finch, Director of Missions of the Pike (KY) Association of Southern Baptists agrees saying, “Recent headlines with regards to students taking or attempting to take their lives should be a wake-up call to all Christians to train our youth to not only stand against all forms of bullying, but to equip them to be used of God in putting an end to it in the schools where they attend.  I believe this program can be used to equip and empower them to do just that in a way that will also show their classmates the love of Christ as well.”

The Golden Rule Pledge (www.goldenrulepledge.com) is co-led by Warren Throckmorton, Associate Professor of Psychology at Grove City College and Michael Frey, Western PA Director of Campus Ministry for Campus Crusade for Christ. The resources can be accessed at no cost at www.goldenrulepledge.com/grpresources. For more information, contact Dr. Throckmorton at [email protected].

It gets better: A Christian speaks out against anti-gay bullying

On 10.20.10, the Golden Rule Pledge is partnering with the National Bullying Prevention Month to raise awareness among people of faith about bullying prevention.  Later today, I am going to post a link here and on the Golden Rule Pledge website to some resources which I hope will be of use to youth leaders in talking to youth groups about becoming part of the solution to school bullying. One resource I am going to include on that page is the following video from the You Tube page of The Poultry Press. Roll the tape:

This video is a direct challenge to far right observers who believe the distress felt by many young people is due to their sexual orientation. This young man identifies as straight and yet reports repeated harassment due to perceptions that he was gay.

Now, go check out the resources (small in number but growing) on the Golden Rule Pledge site.

Carl Walker-Hoover’s mom speaks her mind

I can’t add much to this statement from Sirdeaner Walker.

At some point, it might occur to the religious conservatives who are blaming the victims for their distress that they are talking largely to themselves.

Perkins says:

Some homosexuals may recognize intuitively that their same-sex attractions are abnormal–yet they have been told by the homosexual movement, and their allies in the media and the educational establishment, that they are “born gay” and can never change. This–and not society’s disapproval–may create a sense of despair that can lead to suicide.

Many problems, the first of which that occurs to me is that the common denominator is anti-gay bias, not gay identification. He has a theory that fits his biases about homosexuals but it doesn’t fit all the facts of the situation.

Perkins column is a case in point of something Albert Mohler wrote in a recent commentary about Tyler Clementi:

Yet, when gay activists accuse conservative Christians of homophobia, they are also right. Much of our response to homosexuality is rooted in ignorance and fear. We speak of homosexuals as a particular class of especially depraved sinners and we lie about how homosexuals experience their own struggle. Far too many evangelical pastors talk about sexual orientation with a crude dismissal or with glib assurances that gay persons simply choose to be gay. While most evangelicals know that the Bible condemns homosexuality, far too many find comfort in their own moralism, consigning homosexuals to a theological or moral category all their own.

Mohler barely scratches the surface of the biases involved, but he gets closer than most prominent evangelicals are willing to get.

Golden Rule Pledge joins National Bullying Prevention Month as national partner

October is National Bullying Prevention Month and various organizations support this initiative via awareness and shared vision for bullying prevention.

Recently, the Golden Rule Pledge was listed as a national partner on the organization’s website.

To do our part, I am asking church youth leaders to designate some time the week of October 20, 2010 (10.20.2010) to call on students to see bullying prevention as part of our witness. If anyone keeps the Golden Rule, it should be people of faith.

We have created a Facebook event page to mark 10.20.10 which has been designated by the PACER Center as a focus of awareness efforts. Click the link below to read more and sign up:

The End of Bullying Begins with Me

The homepage for the National Center for Bullying Prevention is here.