This AP article recounts the fourth suicide by a bullied high school student in a suburb of Cleveland:
It [this latest suicide] was the fourth time in little more than two years that a bullied
high school student in this small Cleveland suburb on Lake Erie died by
his or her own hand ? three suicides, one overdose of antidepressants.
One was bullied for being gay, another for having a learning
disability, another for being a boy who happened to like wearing pink.
Now
two families ? including the Vidovics ? are suing the school district,
claiming their children were bullied to death and the school did
nothing to stop it.
The recent suicide was that of a 16-year old girl who was taunted because of her heavy accent. She was called names and was physically pushed around (i.e. a boy pushed her down stairs).
The girl hung herself.
Schools have done a terrible job of protecting children and regularly ignore bullying. I don’t want to oversimplify the issue because many kids that are bullied are afraid to let anyone know about what’s happening. Schools need to identify ways for kids to feel comfortable coming to teachers and administrators about being bullied, and school officials need to take the bullying very seriously.
If in these suicides in Ohio, the school district knew or should have known about the bullying, there should be some legal recourse, but I still don’t think it is foreseeable that a student will commit suicide–I generally don’t believe a third party should be liable for actions done to oneself.
This is a disturbing situation in Ohio, but it certainly is not unique to that state.
