Some very sad news this morning out of upstate New York:
Jamey Rodemeyer needed help. At 14, he was grappling with adolescent demons that could torment grown men. And when he was online, he wrote about it. "I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens," he wrote Sept. 9. "What do I have to do so people will listen to me?" Just over one week later, Jamey was found dead outside his home of an apparent suicide.
In the months prior, he routinely blogged about school bullying and thoughts of suicide in between upbeat posts about his pop star idol Lady Gaga and the ordinary types of teen rants typical for kids his age. On Sept. 8, he wrote: "No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you're the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down."
It sounds like Jamey had help—he was seeing a therapist and a social worker and his family was supportive—but it wasn't enough to counteract the hatred and abuse that he had been exposed to on a daily basis since the fifth grade, according to reports, or Jamey's fears of having to face down a whole new set of bullies when he started high school next year. The Buffalo News quotes two comments that directed at Jamey by his peers:
"JAMIE IS STUPID, GAY, FAT ANND UGLY. HE MUST DIE!" read one post.Another read: "I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!"
More on this after the jump.