School Bullying Council

By
Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 11:27 AM on 27th July 2011

Uncomfortable reading: Republican rep Michele Bachmann is very vocal on anti-gay issues including gay marriage and that public schools shouldn’t be forced to start teaching it

Over the past two years nine young people have committed suicide in Michele Bachmann’s backyard – or at least the Minnesota school districts she represents.

Many more have attempted to take their own lives leading state public health officials to slap a ‘suicide contagion area’ label on the region because of the high levels.

At least four of those who committed suicide were openly gay or, at least, perceived to be gay by classmates, and many were reportedly bullied. 

While it is impossible to prove why these youngsters took their own lives, some critics are suggesting a link between the suicides and the anti-gay rhetoric sweeping through school districts in the state.

The news may be uncomfortable for Bachmann who has a number of anti-gay policies.

Michele Johnson, whose 13-year-old daughter Samantha was one of the first students in the Anoka-Hennepin district to commit suicide in 2009, says she now wishes she’d never moved to the area.

‘I feel if I hadn’t moved to this district my daughter wouldn’t have died,’ Ms Johnson told Mother Jones.

She believes her daughter had been heavily bullied at then Fred Moore Middle School, in Ramsey, Minnesota, for her short hair, her clothes and her weight.

The bullies thought Samantha had been
a lesbian, Ms Johnson said. But despite being heavily
involved in setting up a gay rights group at the school, she doesn’t
believe that to be true.

Her daughter did seek refuge with other students who were gay though, most likely because they were getting bullied as well.

Not that Ms Johnson knew about the bullying until after her daughter’s death when the girl’s friends told her.

They claimed Samantha had been
relentlessly targeted by certain girls on her volleyball team. She had
dropped out but the coach had never contacted Ms Johnson.

The friends also claimed at least one school staff member witnessed the bullying but did nothing.

Loss: Samantha Johnson, left, was one of the first students in the Anoka-Hennepin district to commit suicide in 2009, while 15-year-old Justin Aaberg, right, hanged himself in his bedroom last year

Pact: Minnesota school girls from a different district, Haylee Fentress, left, and Paige Moravetz, right, carried out a suicide pact in April because they said they were being bullied

‘If I had known, I would have pulled her out of that school so quick,’ her mother said.

Last July, weeks after finishing his freshman year at Anoka High School, Justin Aaberg hanged himself in his bedroom.

He had been bullied because of his sexual orientation, according to his family.

Since his death at just 15, Justin’s
mother Tammy has been spoken publicly about the worry she had for her son’s
safety as an openly gay teen and battled to get the school district to
change its thinking on anti-gay bullying.

She said last year the situation had got a bit better but there was still a way to go.

Tragic: The latest case in the district was of 14-year-old Jordan Yenor who killed himself in May prompting school officials to look at additional resources to help students

‘Most of the teachers and principals, and maybe even now the
superintendent, they mean well – they want to intervene. But
the teachers still don’t know what they can and can’t do.’

The latest suicide in the Anoka-Hennepin district was in May. Fourteen-year-old Jordan Yenor’s death has prompted school officials to look at additional resources to help students.

Anoka-Hennepin is certainly not alone; there have been teen suicides in other school districts, which are not represented by Bachmann.

Fourteen-year-old Marshal County schoolgirls Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz made a suicide pact because they said they were being bullied.

The girls, best friends who even had hyphenated both their last names, hanged themselves in April.

Back in March 18-year-old Lance Lundsten, a Jefferson High School student who was openly gay on his Facebook page, took an overdose and later died in hospital.

On a Facebook memorial page Lance’s friends had written that he had been bullied at school for his sexual orientation.

Anoka-Hennepin is currently under federal investigation for infringing civil rights because it refused to add lessons promoting homosexuality to the curriculum.

Several
LGBT students are also suing the district claiming to have been ignored by
staff after complaining of being harassed physically and verbally for
long periods of time.

One
of the plaintiffs dropped out of school, later attempting suicide while
another claims to have been called a ‘faggot’ in the hallway while a
teacher who witnessed the attack did nothing, according to the suit.

One of the lawyers working on the suit Sam Wolfe, told Mother Jones: ‘The
district has serious problems. They’ve been reluctant to really address
the nature of the problem.’

Before the federal government stepped in, the district adopted a policy that all but wiped homosexuality from the curriculum, according to the website.

Waste: Lance Lundsten, a Jefferson High School student, left,  who was openly gay on his Facebook page, took an overdose and later died in hospital in March, while Thomas John ‘TJ’ Hayes, right, committed suicide in 2009

School employees could not teach that homosexuality was a ‘normal, valid lifestyle.’ The policy was later changed to require staff to remain neutral on the subject, but only if it should come up in class.

Both policies were influenced by two religious groups – and big Bachmann supporters -  the Minnesota Family Council (MFC) and The Parents Action League, which also lobbied to put discredited ‘reparative therapy’ materials into schools, according to the website.

Daniel J Reidenberg, executive director of Minnesota-based Suicide Awareness Voices of Education (SAVE), told MailOnline that while connecting Bachmann with the deaths was probably largely a result of media impact ‘her views and statements are not helpful, that is for sure.’

‘..for youth who are dealing with orientation issues and identity/development issues, when they hear or read things from others that are contrary to what they are thinking, feeling, living, it does cause them added stress,’ he added.

Memorial: Aaron Jurek, a student at Blaine High School, lost his battle with undiagnosed depression in November 2009

‘Having a celebrity or a public figure say/do things as publicly (or privately) as say for example she’s done, if that were to be heard by a LGBTQ youth who is particularly vulnerable or at risk, could add to their distress.’

While the bullying runs on in schools, outside relations between anti-gay and pro-gay groups are decidedly frosty.

The MFC, of which Bachmann has very close ties, has waged war on gay marriage, wanting a constitutional amendment on the state ballot in 2012.

Bachmann has been very vocal about the issue and has linked it to schools. In 2004 she addressed a rally: ‘In our
public schools, whether they want to or not, they’ll be forced to start
teaching that same-sex marriage is equal, that it is normal and that
children should try it.’

The Republican has also spoken out against an anti-bullying bill, telling Minnesota state legislature in 2006 that it would a waste of time.

‘I think for all of us, our experience in public schools is there have always been bullies,’ she said at the time. ‘Always have been, always will be.

‘I just don’t know how we’re ever going to get to the point of zero tolerance. What does it mean. Will we be expecting boys to be girls?’

Justin Aaberg’s mother Tammy continues to lobby public officials urging them to pass legislation that would make schools safer.

While Senators Al Franken and Keith Ellison, both Minnesota Democrats, have been supportive, Ms Aaberg claims Bachmann has not responded to a request for a meeting with her.

She would certainly welcome legislation even though it would be too late for her own son and the other victims of the district and surrounding districts.

• For confidential support call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details.
• In the U.S. call the National Suicide Prevention Line on 1-800-273-8255
• Any young people who have experienced bullying, or need someone to talk to, can talk to young CyberMentors and counsellors on Beatbullying’s safe and secure peer-to-peer mentoring site www.CyberMentors.org.uk

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• Video
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Advice for parents to help their children avoid the scourge of cyber-bullying (Video courtesy of Les Twentyman www.20thman.com.au)

‘Best Enemies’ a film about cyber bullies to be used in anti-bullying programs here and overseas.

NO SUPPORT: Dannii Sanders committed suicide after being subjected to bullying over the internet.
Source: Supplied

SHATTERED: Dannii Sanders’ parents Ray and Christine begged the authorities to take her into hospital.
Source: Supplied

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THE parents of Dannii Sanders say it was the system – not Facebook – that let down their troubled 14-year-old daughter.

The stunning teen, who was bullied on the internet, took her own life on Tuesday in Caloundra, on the Sunshine Coast.

Her mother Christine and younger sister Monique, 12, discovered her in the bathroom following days of violent and aggressive behaviour.

Dannii’s death sparked an outpouring of grief among hundreds of friends in Sydney, which she had left days earlier to join her parents in Queensland.

Despite the cruel and vicious online taunts, Ray and Christine Sanders said Dannii was unfazed by the internet attacks and “gave it as good as she got it”.

Dannii’s real problem, they said, had gone undiagnosed and no authorities would help assess her.

The worried parents had begged medicos in two states to admit Dannii to hospital but were told she would have to go of her own free will.

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Mrs Sanders twice submitted reports to the Department of Child Safety in NSW but received the same response.

Police in NSW and Queensland said their hands were tied.

“If we had the right to say we want her taken in, she’d probably be here today,” Mrs Sanders said. It’s not the police or the ambos, it’s the framework they have to work in. It’s the law. Dannii was a victim of the system.”

Tragically, Mrs Sanders said she was almost relieved when she found her daughter on Tuesday because she thought it might finally bring her help.

But it was too late.

“I don’t believe she wanted to die. She needed help and no one would help, and now I have all the help in the world – inundated,” Mrs Sanders said.

The grieving parents say it was only three months ago that their beautiful blonde-haired, blue-eyed daughter changed into a wild, violent and troubled teen.

Her personality swung from highs to lows.

She dyed her hair black, ran away from home, wagged school and hung around with the wrong crowd.

Mrs Sanders said the Dannii with black hair and hard eyes was not the Dannii they knew.

“She was blonde, with blue eyes, almost like purple and they sparkled when she was happy,” she said.

“She would eat and sleep and dance to music videos and bounce on her trampoline.”

Mr Sanders added: “She was like a frog, most innocent, very naive.”

Only last year Dannii travelled to Japan to represent Australia in trampolining, the sport that was her world for many years.

But towards the end of her life, she was banging her head against walls, stealing and hitting her mother.

Mrs Sanders, a hairdresser, said she wanted to bleach her daughter’s hair back to its natural colour for the funeral in Sydney on Wednesday which is also her father’s birthday.

The family will await a report from the coroner.

For support and information about suicide prevention, contact Lifeline 13 11 14 or www.lifeline.org.au or the SANE Helpline on 1800 18 SANE (7263) or www.sane.org

(CNN) — The family and friends of Jon Carmichael will speak out Thursday about his suicide and the effects of bullying.

His parents say it was bullying that led the 13-year-old to commit suicide, hanging himself in a barn near his home in Cleburne, Texas.

The family is scheduled to speak at a news conference, that comes four days after the first anniversary of Carmichael’s death.

On that anniversary, his parents, Jon Timothy and Tami Carmichael, filed a $20 million federal lawsuit against several officials at the school Jon attended, alleging they deliberately turned a blind eye to the bullying of their son, prompting his death.

In the lawsuit, documents state that staff and students at The Joshua Independent School District observed several explicit acts of bullying, including Jon being thrown into a trash can “easily a few times a week,” but did nothing to stop it.

“He was placed upside down in a toilet bowl, and had his head flushed several times, at each occasion. These acts were observed by other students who failed to report the incident,” the documents said. “Just prior to his death he was stripped nude, tied up and again placed into a trashcan.”

The lawsuit states that event was taped and put on YouTube, but was taken down “at the direction of an unknown staff member, who also failed to report the incident.”

Carmichael family attorney Martin J. Cirkiel said the family’s goal in issuing the lawsuit is to educate.

“On the human level, the family wants what every family wants when they come to me in these kind of cases. They want to make sure it doesn’t happen to someone else,” the attorney said.

Cirkiel said the family would like to see a program developed in their son’s name and to be able to open a trust fund for kids who need it who are being bullied.

“They want to increase planning and education,” he said.

http://edition.cnn.com/2011/US/03/31/texas.bullying/