School Suicide

Hi C.,

I agree with Lisa, as a resident of Canyon Country and with two daughters at GVHS, this is just too close to home. I also agree that we need to do something about it.

I am part of the School Site Council at GVHS and will definitely bring this issue up at our 10/28 meeting. Perhaps, if we could get at least one parent from each of the high shcools involved and form a District Task Force we could actually do something about this issue.

Please count me in, if you think this is something we can do, then we can meet and get organized.

In the meantime, focus on your daughter and letting her know that you are totally on her side on this and that she will not ever be alone as long as she has you! God Bless!

Hi C.: I am here in Palmdale and this situation is very common within the district, it just does not get discussed enough.
If this student was under special needs, and with an IEP behind him..it should have been stated that he can go to the counselor whenever he wants. My grandson had alot of bullying in elementry school..would be pushing him about in the bathroom. He wanted to take out the kids, I warned the faculty of his torment. Do not know if they took it seriously. The school counselor did approach him more and the conversations were more frequent.
Jr. High in Special Ed had its trials with the name calling and food fights also. We were there for our grandson to discuss it. The teachers were made aware of the unacceptability of this kind of behavior within the classroom and out.
Highschool years had there set of bullying students, but my grandson was able to get with the school physcologist and the bullying student on one occassion and draw up a contract. There has to be communication from student to parents and have insiteful teachers and staff. Some of the negative students were dismissed from the school and as the years passed, my grandson focused more on academics and learned to walk away from the negative individuals. We are so proud of him and what he accomplished he graduated from the school with loads of friends and a lot of respect from the faculty. WE JUST HAVE TO BE THERE FOR THEM AT ALL TIMES!!

I think that your first responsibility is to your daughter, not to fixing the situation. Leaving an unhealthy situation is not always running away. Later in life your duaghter will have to make decisions about relationships and jobs. If she understands that there are choices now, she may be more inclined to exercise those choices later. I would let the administration know that this is why you are taking your daughter out, and that there is a problem. I don't think that going through years of unacceptance and harrasment is a good way to enter a confident and productive adulthood. My thoughts and prayers are with your family.

First off, my deepest sympathies. This is tragic at any age, let alone new teenagers. I would certainly hope that after all the media attention and the absolute shock of this happening that the principal will take this kind of behavior more seriously. How are the counselors at the school, the psychologist, the Asst. Princ. over discipline, the health clerk? These are all people that students can go to for assistance. The best thing that you can do for your daughter is to not discount how she is feeling. To a teen, there is no reality, only the perception of reality. They see and feel things according to their perception of them. Try to get her involved in things that empower her. I certainly hope that this will enable alot of families to have discussions with their kids regarding bullying. My question is, where was the supervision in the cafeteria that allowed food throwing on a daily basis? That is the first line of defense that seems to have broken down. Maybe parents can volunteer to do lunch supervision to free up the Administrators to focus on where the pockets of inappropriate behavior are occuring. Good luck, my heart goes out to all the families affected by this tragic loss.

I will pray for your situation. Talk to your daughter, rather listen to her. She is probably very confused right now. I will pray that God will give you wisdom to speak the right words. Bests wishes

Hi C., I live in Canyon Country and this is just too close to home. I feel awful about this and I agree with you that something needs to be done. I like what one of the Mom's said, listen to your daughter and listen to her friends. That is the most important thing. I saw an episode of Oprah a year or two ago and they had something about diversity in the schools. They had people go to the schools and talk to the kids and they did exercises that showed that everyone has been harrassed or made fun of at one time or another. Once the kids realized that they were not the only ones or how it made them feel, It made a big difference. I so want to the Hart district to do this but I don't know how to start it. Maybe we, you and me, can do something together. This is not acceptable in our schools. I have a daughter at Valencia High and I worry about her and her friends. If you are interested, let me know, we can fight better in numbers.