For those that follow Discreet City, you may know my feelings and possible resolution when it comes to being bullied and preventing suicide. Sadly to report Brandon Elizares (a 16-year-old from El Paso, Texas pictured above) took his own life early this month after being bullied and threatened at school because of his sexuality.
It seems at least once a month we hear a story of a kid being bullied for whatever reasons and then commits suicide. We hear lame excuses from parents and school officials about how “we did everything we could” to prevent the suicide but yet they continue to happen. There are even cases of kids who participate in the “It Get’s Better”campaign and still end up committing suicide.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed that the number of attempted suicides among teenagers had increased from 6.3 percent in 2009 to 7.8 percent in 2011.
For youth between the ages of 10 and 24, suicide is the third leading cause of death. It results in approximately 4400 lives lost each year. Boys are more likely than girls to die from suicide. Of the reported suicides in the 10 to 24 age group, 84% of the deaths were males and 16% were females.
My Questions…
Do you think these kids that commit suicide are being paraded as martyrs or heroes, causing copy cat suicides?
Is the “It Get’s Better”campaign doing enough to prevent suicides? What do you think is driving the rise in suicides?
Feel free to leave your thoughts and feedback.
Not at all. entirely too many time the kids do not see the light at the end of the tunnel and even if they do see it they are beaten blind by the forces in the darkness. They just see suicide as a way out.
I’m surprised that so many boys are committing suicide. I thought more girls would have been doing it but WOW. I have heard that women are stronger mentally that men are. All these single mothers out here doing it… anyway…
I do think it gets better. While suicide has increased, for those who still do remain alive I believe that time heals all wounds and things get better as long as people hang on.
I think we need more straight people to get involved in anti-gay bullying campaigns.The straight boys will be more likely to take their advice and guidance on being tolerant whereas if they see a gay man saying NOH8 they just think of it as just a gay issue and not a social issue
I agree with you. It’s one thing for a gay man to stand up on a gay issue. But, when straight people stand up for us, it shows we have allies outside our own group. I think more straight people would get behind us, if they saw positive role models in their own families. The more gay men and lesbians who come out, show those who are closeted that it’s possible to live openly and happy lives.
There’s so many ways for kids to bully now that it extends beyond the playground. One school county has seen five gay teen suicides in 5 months. I think it’s in Iowa. I will say that a lot of gay black men are so busy being discreet that they don’t bother reaching out to the kids like them that need them.