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Anderson Cooper Speaks Out About Suicide of Bullied Teen Jamey Rodemeyer
Jamey Rodemeyer
14-year-old Buffalo resident and bullying victim Jamey Rodemeyer died Sunday night, committing suicide after just a few weeks as a freshman at Williamsville North High School. His mother, Tracy Rodemeyer, told the Buffalo News that her son had been picked on by his classmates since he was in elementary school, exhibiting suicidal tendencies from as early as fifth grade.
About a year ago, Jamey began to question his sexuality, coming out at as bi, which led fellow students to ridicule him online using homophobic slurs. Jamey received anonymous comments to a social media account reading, “JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!” and ”I wouldn’t care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!”
It Gets Better project founder and sex columnist Dan Savage addressed Jamey’s death on his blog earlier this week, linking to the YouTube video Jamey made for the It Gets Better campaign. CNN’s Anderson Cooper focused the “Keeping Them Honest” segment of Tuesday night’s AC 360 on Jamey’s death and the problem of bullying in general in US schools. The segment includes bits of Jamey’s It Gets Better video and a stirring take-down of homophobic policy makers who are trying to keep anti-bullying programs out of schools. Take a look:
Photo and source: Buffalo News
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8 Comments
Scatteredmom commented on Sep 22 11 at 12:56 amAfter years of being bullied on and off in school starting in grade three and continuing to grade 10, my son made the decision to leave school and complete his courses online. It was the best decision we ever could have made. It’s not just the gay students who are bullied, any kid with a difference or disability are a target, and the kids are merciless. Also, in our experience, all the bullying programs are nothing but rhetoric. When you have the youth against violence hotline telling you that there is nothing that can be done, as a parent, it’s downright frightening.
carolyncastiglia commented on Sep 22 11 at 1:13 amWow. That’s wild. Thanks for sharing your son’s story, though my heart breaks to hear that he was forced out of school by bullies.
Emsmom commented on Sep 22 11 at 2:58 pmI hope that much like the students in Hadley, MA, these students and the administration of the schools, are held accountable and treated as the criminals they are.
Manjari commented on Sep 22 11 at 3:15 pmWhat is wrong with republicans and religious people? Anyone who maintains that people are going to hell because of their sexual orientation has these deaths on their heads. When you decide to enforce inequality because of some supernatural fairytale, you are the problem.
Polly commented on Sep 23 11 at 12:29 pmOnline option sounds great–more power to you…people send kids to school to be ‘socialized’—no way—home school and online school and the like are necessary to protect many types of kids.
Roxy commented on Sep 23 11 at 2:40 pmManjari, I’m republican and Christian. I would never tell anyone they are going to hell for any reason. There are ignorant religious and political people out regardless of political party or religion.
I know God loves all his children. We are all sinners and will be judged accordingly in the end.
I am so sorry this child chose suicide, and I pray that parents teach their kids that bullying is not acceptable. I also hope parents take responsibility and take discplinary action if they find that their kids are the bullies. I know I will.
Manjari commented on Sep 23 11 at 3:44 pmRoxy, the point is that adults are teaching their children that other people are sinners for being who they are. You can teach your child that someone else is “less than” but that they shouldn’t bully them… that doesn’t work very well. Have you seen this?
http://gapolitico.com/2011/09/22/republican-audience-boos-gay-soldier/
These people are booing a soldier!
You might say that you personally are not bullying anyone, but your beliefs lead to people being bullied. I’m sure you’re a nice person, but I am vehemently opposed to keeping other people down and denying them rights in the name of make believe. It’s incredibly harmful, and there is no good reason for it at all.
Michelle Smith commented on Jan 14 12 at 4:46 pmThe sometimes-tragic consequences of bullying have been in the news a lot lately. We asked members of the Express-News Teen Team whether they or someone they know had ever been bullied or had ever bullied someone else. How did they, their teachers or parents deal with the situation? And what do they think schools could or should be doing about bullying that they are not already doing? Having kids myself I find myself worrying about their safety from time to time. However, I stumbled upon this blog the other day which tells how a mother overcame a tragedy and found an amazing way to keep her kids safe. Check it out http://www.tsue-thatswhatshesaid.com/2011/08/your-childs-safety-your-piece-of-mind.html
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