Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Brody's Notes... Executive Director Of The Trevor Project On Recent Teen Suicides

Charles Robbins  Photo By The Trevor Project
By Mark Singer (Washington DC) SEPT 29 | In a statement released from its New York Headquarters late today, Charles Robbins, the Executive Director of The Trevor Project, reacted to the sudden onslaught of Gay Teen suicides in the United States provoked by seemingly callous disregard and wanton bullying.
From The Trevor Project:
"It is true that the beginning of the school year can be especially challenging for youth. As young people struggle to establish their position among their peers and to gain popularity, they often volley for position at the expense of other students who are perceived to be different. They pick on each other, and in some cases target certain individuals for ongoing bullying and harassment. In the cases of Tyler Clementi in New Jersey, Seth Walsh in California, Billy Lucas in Indiana and Asher Brown in Texas, we know this to be true. For the seven youth in Minnesota who have taken their lives in the past year, the ongoing and unchecked harassment by their peers led to isolation and increased depression, further increasing their risk eventually leading to suicide.
These horrific stories of youth taking their own lives reflect on school bullying culture in this country. To be clear, they do not point to a contagion of teen or youth suicide, but that the media, parents, teachers and friends are more in-tune to speaking up about the causes."

1 comments:

Trab said...

Maybe it is true that everyone is more 'in-tune' but that's not nearly good enough. ANYONE in authority who doesn't act the instant they are alerted, or turns a blind eye when they see some bullying, should be held severely accountable, from suspensions through to criminal convictions, particularly if death results.