a moment of everyones time

[JEFF WHITE]

as some of you well know,there is a problem in our schools in epidemic proportions,it is called bullying.thats right. it has got to the point that there has been 3 deaths of kids,thats right kids, 2 14 yr old,and a 15 yr old,not to mention 2 other cases of attempted suicides in my area here in Pennsylvania.



now the schools that this happened in have anti bullying policy's in effect,but guess what, no enforcement.this latest one was this past weekend,where a 14 yr old took his own life by stepping in front of a truck.a link to the story.http://www.wnep.com/news/countybycounty/wnep-sny-brandon-bitner-bullying-suicide,0,961701.story



now many of you have kids in school,i have 2 kids,one out of school, but my 2 yr old has a few yrs yet before she is in school,but this situation does occur in elementary schools as well as high school.girls as well as boys bully.look into your kids student handbooks,to read the policy's,and see what is there definition of bullying,you would be surprised. it is not limited to words,or hitting,but cyber bullying as well as text messages on cell phones.



as the past few weeks we have had meetings to talk about it,and i was totally surprised at what is happening in our schools.we have had over 200 people at the meetings,including kids who have told there emotional stories to the crowd,of how they have been bullied,and believe it or not it was mostly girls! sit down and talk to your kids about this. they may know of someone who is being bullied.everyone needs to step up to stop this from happening again,all over the US!



we started a facebook page for just our school,and this is the way we got it started.i don't know how the mom of the last one could talk so calmly and read his note on tv.i know i couldn't do it.http://www.facebook.com/?ref=logo#!/home.php?sk=group_163154910380696
http://www.wnep.com/news/countybycounty/wnep-sny-brandon-bitner-bullying-suicide,0,961701.story

 

[JEFF WHITE]

THE LETTER:



Another bullied teenager committed suicide early Friday morning. Brandon Bitner, a 14 year old boy from Mount Pleasant Mills, PA, walked several miles from his home around 2am on Friday to a busy intersection and walked in front of a tractor trailer.



Brandon left a suicide note at his home and several audio recordings for his closest friends. His note was not full of resentment and hate, but of love and hope. Brandon explained in the note that he was constantly bullied at Midd West High School in Middleburg, PA, where he was a freshman. Bullies called Brandon gay, girly, ***, and geek. He stated in the note that a humiliating event in school this past week was the “straw that broke the camel's back.”



In the first part of the note, Brandon made it clear that he does not want this outcome for anyone else in the world. He said he wants his family and friends to fight to bring awareness to the bullying issues in today's society. He told his friends in the audio recording and in the note that he wants them to have fulfilled lives and the strength to follow their dreams. It is now up to us, the members of this society, to explore bullying further and start a strong, solid movement to prevent bullying and suicide.



Please use your strong voice to spread Brandon's story to the people of the world. We can use Brandon's story, and the story of the several other recent tragic bullying fueled suicides, to create bully and suicide awareness for people of all ages. Using hate tactics to destroy our peers is not acceptable and it will not be tolerated.



Brandon succumbed to his pain but left a clear message: everyone needs to learn from this, live their lives and follow their dreams.





Thank You,



Contact Information/More Information on Brandon's story:



[email protected]



www.brandonbitner.com

Story about Brandon's suicide: http://dailyitem.com/0100_news/x603547374/Bullied-student-kills-self



Obituary: http://dailyitem.com/obituaries/x1507935340/Brandon-E-Bitner-14-Mount-Pleasant-Mills










http://www.brandonbitner.com

 

[Bill McElroy]

Wow,..sad,.......sounds like a pretty mature letter too. Too bad he let the crap get to him like that...his family has to be devestated!!

 

[JEFF WHITE]

problem is that they did report it to the school, which has a anti bullying policy,but nothing was done, or what was done was not enough!our school gives you a in school detention for the first time, comeon, be realistic.in school for an hr after or before school. policy should be out of school or expulsion,PERIOD! but now the ACLU would get involved over it and become a big lawsuit,and such..



2 kids in our high school left school,both GIRLS, due to the crap,1 went to another school which has a tougher policy and 1 is being home schooled.wheres the justice in that,where her bullies are still in school,doing it to someone else.they should be the ones out of school,and being home schooled, not her.



where is the justice in this?

 

[Bill McElroy]

The sad part is the public school's administrators are not allowed to do much...and teacher's aren't allowed to do squat!! I remember back in the 70's when i was in jr. high and HS,....if you messed up bad enough, you could get paddled!!! and I mean WHACKED!!(Not to mention the additional punishment that was doled out when you got HOME!!) Hell,..nowadays they can't even touch you. Gotta thank the ACLU for that!! some parent's expect the schools to do EVERYTHING for them....including discipline 'cuz they won't do it at home.....but the first time the kid comes home and say's he got whacked in school,..the parent's SUE!! It's ridiculous.....but I find far more fault with lowsey parenting than I do with school's not being able to control bullying...if parent's would do THEIR job's first,...we would have a lot fewer problems in school's..IMHO.

 

[TOMMY RICH]

A good paddling never hurt anyone...I'M PROOF!:lol:

 

[pete hanford2]

That is very sad and where that happened isnt far from where i live. i agree with Tee. a good paddlin. i had lots of them in middle school..lol. its sad to think that these kids think suicide is the way out

 

[Rich Stern]

The people who need paddling are the bullies' parents. For doing a lousy job teaching their kids to respect others.

 

[Bill McElroy]

Magna,.....you will not believe (well....YES you will) what just happened here in SE MI. A week ago, a 14yr old girl was "talked into" having sex with a 18yr old dude who lived 2-3 doors down from her. Shortly after their "romance began" she had second thoughts and said "NO,..I don't want to do this!!"...alledgedly,..he wouldn't take NO for an answer and he raped her!! She was totally distraught over it, and ended up committing suicide. Well....the prosecutor CANNOT bring charges up, because she is dead,....she cannot testify,..they do not have any DNA evidence,...and there were no witnesses. He's off scott free and the girl is dead.:angry:



Talk about NO JUSTICE!!!:angry::angry: Ironically,...the girl's last name was "Justice"

 

[Dan J.]

The people who need paddling are the bullies' parents. For doing a lousy job teaching their kids to respect others.

BINGO!!!



I really believe these tragedies of bullying can be curtailed by responsible parenting. The parents or custodial adult need also to be held accountable for their kids actions. IMHO