Another Child Bullied To Suicide
It tears me up inside that people are bullied for who they choose to love. It makes me feel even worse that it's hit close to home.
The boy in the picture is Jamey Rodemeyer. He was only 14 years old. In May 2011, he posted a video for the "It Gets Better" campaign. Unfortunately, Jamey's situation got worse once freshman year started for him at Williamsville North High School in Williamsville, NY (a suburb of Buffalo). Jamey took his own life on September 19, 2011 (this past Sunday).
It broke my heart when I read this in the Buffalo News:
Jamey Rodemeyer needed help. At 14, he was grappling with adolescent demons that could torment grown men.
And when he was online, he wrote about it.
"I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens," he wrote Sept. 9. "What do I have to do so people will listen to me?"
Just over one week later, Jamey was found dead outside his home of an apparent suicide.
In the months prior, he routinely blogged about school bullying and thoughts of suicide in between upbeat posts about his pop star idol Lady Gaga and the ordinary types of teen rants typical for kids his age.
On Sept. 8, he wrote: "No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down."
He put up a separate post that day letting everyone know it was National Suicide Prevention Week.
Then he posted the lyrics to a song by Hollywood Undead:
I just wanna say good bye, disappear with no one knowing
I don't wanna live this lie, smiling to the world unknowing
I dont want you to try, you've done enough to keep me going
I'll be fine, I'll be fine, I'll be fine for the very last time
On Saturday night, he posted a lyric from Lady Gaga's song "The Queen" on his Facebook page: "Don't forget me when I come crying to heaven's door."
Then around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Jamey posted two final messages to his main public Tumblr blog. One said he really wanted to see his great-grandmother, who had recently died, and one offered thanks to Lady Gaga.
That was his last entry.
And then I was downright angry when I saw this:
Jamey did have bad days. Issues of bullying and even suicide talk were not new to many of Jamey's family or friends. They were common topics for him and seemed to ramp up to an extreme level when other students started making taunts with gay references to Jamey about 12 months ago on his Formspring account, which permits anonymous posts.
"JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!" read one post.
Another read: "I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!"
The people who left those messages will have to live with what they did for the rest of their lives. I hope their parents are proud of the scum they raised!
Most of all, I hope that Jamey's parents are surrounded by loving, supporting people who'll help them to understand what their son was going through. I hope that Jamey finally has some peace, though death shouldn't be the way to find it.
UPDATE: Here are Jamey's Tumblr and Twitter accounts. Read what he wrote. So sad that this life is gone.
The boy in the picture is Jamey Rodemeyer. He was only 14 years old. In May 2011, he posted a video for the "It Gets Better" campaign. Unfortunately, Jamey's situation got worse once freshman year started for him at Williamsville North High School in Williamsville, NY (a suburb of Buffalo). Jamey took his own life on September 19, 2011 (this past Sunday).
It broke my heart when I read this in the Buffalo News:
Jamey Rodemeyer needed help. At 14, he was grappling with adolescent demons that could torment grown men.
And when he was online, he wrote about it.
"I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens," he wrote Sept. 9. "What do I have to do so people will listen to me?"
Just over one week later, Jamey was found dead outside his home of an apparent suicide.
In the months prior, he routinely blogged about school bullying and thoughts of suicide in between upbeat posts about his pop star idol Lady Gaga and the ordinary types of teen rants typical for kids his age.
On Sept. 8, he wrote: "No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down."
He put up a separate post that day letting everyone know it was National Suicide Prevention Week.
Then he posted the lyrics to a song by Hollywood Undead:
I just wanna say good bye, disappear with no one knowing
I don't wanna live this lie, smiling to the world unknowing
I dont want you to try, you've done enough to keep me going
I'll be fine, I'll be fine, I'll be fine for the very last time
On Saturday night, he posted a lyric from Lady Gaga's song "The Queen" on his Facebook page: "Don't forget me when I come crying to heaven's door."
Then around 1:30 a.m. Sunday, Jamey posted two final messages to his main public Tumblr blog. One said he really wanted to see his great-grandmother, who had recently died, and one offered thanks to Lady Gaga.
That was his last entry.
And then I was downright angry when I saw this:
Jamey did have bad days. Issues of bullying and even suicide talk were not new to many of Jamey's family or friends. They were common topics for him and seemed to ramp up to an extreme level when other students started making taunts with gay references to Jamey about 12 months ago on his Formspring account, which permits anonymous posts.
"JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!" read one post.
Another read: "I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!"
The people who left those messages will have to live with what they did for the rest of their lives. I hope their parents are proud of the scum they raised!
Most of all, I hope that Jamey's parents are surrounded by loving, supporting people who'll help them to understand what their son was going through. I hope that Jamey finally has some peace, though death shouldn't be the way to find it.
UPDATE: Here are Jamey's Tumblr and Twitter accounts. Read what he wrote. So sad that this life is gone.