In Response To Recent Events

In the past few weeks, there have been several youth suicides with lots of media coverage, and they all had a common thread: teens who had been bullied because they were gay. Not too long ago, the suicide of Phoebe Prince was made very public; she had been bullied and called horrible names, though not for her sexuality.

What kills me about this is that suicides happen all the time. However, most suicides don't get this much media coverage.

I think the problem here is hate. These kids weren't bullied because they were gay. Kids aren't bullied just because they're gay, straight, black, white, rich, poor, smart, dumb, Jewish, or Muslim. Bullying happens because people are uneducated about differences, and because they hate people that are different. If people were able to understand and accept one another's differences, then maybe they would love each other instead of hate. Maybe if there was more love in this world and less hate, then kids wouldn't bully each other.

It's important to know that bullying is not the only thing that made these kids kill themselves. In Phoebe Prince's case, she was depressed and hurt herself before she committed suicide.That means neither that these kids are at fault for bullying her nor that they aren't.  What's also important to know is that suicides happen all the time. Every day, people kill themselves- the figure I remember hearing is that someone kills themselves every 17 minutes in the United States. While I think some people got the impression that suicide is a rare thing (sadly, it's not), because it's not often covered by the media, I hope that hearing about the stories of these kids makes people realize how important it is to love, not hate, one another.

If you think someone you know may be thinking of suicide, don't be quiet; ask them. If your friend, classmate, teammate, sibling, or loved one looks like they're not okay, talk to them. If you are thinking about suicide please get help and talk to someone you trust or call 1-800-SUICIDE.