British Teen Hangs Herself After School Bullying

[DSM4Life]

British 14-year-old Belinda Allen committed suicide because of gay taunting at her school, according to London's Daily Mail. Allen's body was found in Southwater. which is West Sussex county. Investigators said she had tied a scarf around her neck and hanged herself from a tree.

While it is unknown whether Allen was gay, she had been continually bullied over her choice in clothes and called names like "lesbian" and "dyke" by her peers at Tanbridge House School in Horsham, West Sussex.

Allen's suicide is not the only such incident. Last year an 11-year-old boy, Ben Vodden, at the same school, hanged himself from his bunk bed using his shoelaces.

In December, British government officials urged schools to create anti-bullying programs to protect LGBT students, saying that homophobia would not be tolerated. (The Advocate)

[Amorphic]

such a shame

[Logan13]

British 14-year-old Belinda Allen committed suicide because of gay taunting at her school, according to London's Daily Mail. Allen's body was found in Southwater. which is West Sussex county. Investigators said she had tied a scarf around her neck and hanged herself from a tree.

While it is unknown whether Allen was gay, she had been continually bullied over her choice in clothes and called names like "lesbian" and "dyke" by her peers at Tanbridge House School in Horsham, West Sussex.

Allen's suicide is not the only such incident. Last year an 11-year-old boy, Ben Vodden, at the same school, hanged himself from his bunk bed using his shoelaces.

In December, British government officials urged schools to create anti-bullying programs to protect LGBT students, saying that homophobia would not be tolerated. (The Advocate)

Sad, but more bullying occurs against non-LGBT students...... Where is the outcry for them?

[Amorphic]

Sad, but more bullying occurs against non-LGBT students...... Where is the outcry for them?

look at any anti bullying campaign in schools or communities and you'll see there are many programs in place to help non lgbt students.

the main difference between the two to me is the fact that most bullying against gays/lesbians/colored people etc is the fact that they are bullied solely due to their orientation or race.

not to say one group is more susceptible than others, but the 'hate motive' is prevailant in minorities.

[Flagg]

Sad, but more bullying occurs against non-LGBT students...... Where is the outcry for them?

Christ, this shouldn't be about whether a suicide victim was gay or not or which group should get preferential treatment, it's about protecting kids at school from abuse by their peers. Kids at school will often form packs and find someone, usually a solitary person, with something they can exploit (size, race, financial background) and tear that person to pieces. Teachers need to be more aware of this sort of thing.

[Logan13]

look at any anti bullying campaign in schools or communities and you'll see there are many programs in place to help non lgbt students.

the main difference between the two to me is the fact that most bullying against gays/lesbians/colored people etc is the fact that they are bullied solely due to their orientation or race.

not to say one group is more susceptible than others, but the 'hate motive' is prevailant in minorities.

My point is that bullying is wrong, regardless of the victim. Minority is a broad term, are the "nerdy kids" considered minorities as well?

[Flagg]

look at any anti bullying campaign in schools or communities and you'll see there are many programs in place to help non lgbt students.

the main difference between the two to me is the fact that most bullying against gays/lesbians/colored people etc is the fact that they are bullied solely due to their orientation or race.

not to say one group is more susceptible than others, but the 'hate motive' is prevailant in minorities.

I don't believe that gay students would get any more abuse then say a kid who was fat or from a poor family. Kids in groups will find ANYTHING they can to break someone down.

[thegodfather]

I don't believe that gay students would get any more abuse then say a kid who was fat or from a poor family. Kids in groups will find ANYTHING they can to break someone down.

I agree...Another attempt at a collectivist attitude...The people that belong to these "groups" actually foster the group and collectivist attitude when they exclude themselves as groups. Rather than speaking about everyone as an individual, its ironic that they actually worsen their cause with their mentality.

[Amorphic]

I don't believe that gay students would get any more abuse then say a kid who was fat or from a poor family. Kids in groups will find ANYTHING they can to break someone down.

i didnt say any group was more susceptible than another, i just said that the motives can vary from group to group.

im not putting anyone into any kind of collective group here.

[Renesis]

The real problem is teachers don't care. I can't tell you how many times I got shit for being mexican at my school and teachers would hear it and laugh along. Most of the time they would simply ignore it and act like it never happened. On the bright side though I loved fighting so I would get into fights quite a bit over things like that, that and I am not so pathetic as to hang myself because I got called names...

[Flagg]

The real problem is teachers don't care. I can't tell you how many times I got shit for being mexican at my school and teachers would hear it and laugh along. Most of the time they would simply ignore it and act like it never happened. On the bright side though I loved fighting so I would get into fights quite a bit over things like that, that and I am not so pathetic as to hang myself because I got called names...

Not all teachers are like this but alas, there are some that simply, dont give a shit. I consider teachers to be kings amongst us in society, without them you wouldn't be the person you are, but the ones that turn a blind eye should be ****ing ashamed of themselves.

[LawMan018]

Boohoo... I was bullied most of my younger years (especially middle school) but you know what? I did something about it and that's what really got me into bodybuilding. Now I see people from time to time who had bullied me in the past and I laugh because how much better I am then they are. People that give up will not deserve my sympathy.

[DSM4Life]

I don't believe that gay students would get any more abuse then say a kid who was fat or from a poor family. Kids in groups will find ANYTHING they can to break someone down.

Your not gay so you don't know.

[DSM4Life]

Boohoo... I was bullied most of my younger years (especially middle school) but you know what? I did something about it and that's what really got me into bodybuilding. Now I see people from time to time who had bullied me in the past and I laugh because how much better I am then they are. People that give up will not deserve my sympathy.

See, yet another gay man bullied !



p.s
I love you lawman

[Logan13]

Your not gay so you don't know.

Bullying is bullying. Gays at least have a movement behind them. There are no fat kid or "nerdy" kid movements out there. Your assumption that gays get picked on worse than fat kids, etc is silly. You and Tock need to find a more thorough definition of yourselves than only "I'm gay".........

[DSM4Life]

Bullying is bullying. Gays at least have a movement behind them. There are no fat kid or "nerdy" kid movements out there. Your assumption that gays get picked on worse than fat kids, etc is silly. You and Tock need to find a more thorough definition of yourselves than only "I'm gay".........

One key element you are missing. Fat people can change(most of them) but gay people can't. So try being back into a corner with no outs then you might start to understand where i am coming from.

[Logan13]

One key element you are missing. Fat people can change(most of them) but gay people can't. So try being back into a corner with no outs then you might start to understand where i am coming from.

So it is your assertion that only gay people have genetics to blame for their situation?

[DSM4Life]

So it is your assertion that only gay people have genetics to blame for their situation?

No, i think you are missing the point.

[LawMan018]

See, yet another gay man bullied !



p.s
I love you lawman

I hate you

[Logan13]

No, i think you are missing the point.

I get what your saying and agree, but I believe that you should be extending the same recognition to other outcasted individuals. Socially inept (nerds if you will) kids can blame their genetics for their situation, as can fat kids with a "glandular problem". Sexual orientation is not the only characteristic that is inherited through DNA....

[DSM4Life]

I hate you

Your as cute as a button !

[DSM4Life]

I get what your saying and agree, but I believe that you should be extending the same recognition to other outcasted individuals. Socially inept (nerds if you will) kids can blame their genetics for their situation, as can fat kids with a "glandular problem". Sexual orientation is not the only characteristic that is inherited through DNA....

This is the most mature reply i have ever read from you logan ! I am proud.


I agree as well.

[Tock]

I don't believe that gay students would get any more abuse then say a kid who was fat or from a poor family. Kids in groups will find ANYTHING they can to break someone down.

The case more often than not for gay kids is they figure out they're gay, and they constantly hear from parents and friends and teachers and busdrivers and TV and movies and preachers and strangers on the street and faggot jokes that gay people are less than terrible. Fearing disapproval of others motivates kids to hide their secret, and years of psychological pain ensue.

Fat kids usually have fat parents, so they at least have someone they can turn to. Same for ethnic kids. But gay kids don't have anyone. Gay adults are assumed to be pederasts, and any gay adult who takes pity on the trials and tribulations of gay children is immediately suspect of criminal behaviour, which of course, discourages gay adults from looking after them. People are not similarly discouraged from looking after fat or ethnic kids.

Preachers don't preach hellfire & brimstone sermons against fat or ethnic kids. They don't raise millions of $$$ and organize voters to amend the US Constitution to make life miserable for them. They form organizations like www.godhatesfags.com and http://www.afa.net/homosexual_agenda/ .

Gays can lose their job or get kicked out of the military. They don't do that to fat people or ethnics (at least, not with the zeal and legal protection they do with gays).

For whatever reason, gay kids are better targets for abuse because Christian Fundamentalists, Conservative Republicans, Idiot Military policy makers, and other mindless twerps, give young bullies the impression that gays somehow deserve to be beaten up more than fat or ethnic kids.

Ya, but you wouldn't truly understand unless you were gay.
You might consider an experiment sometime -- find another thoroughly heterosexual male friend who will agree to participate in this experiment . . .
Go to a few places while holding hands with your heterosexual friend. Church, a supermarket, a shopping mall, a few bars. Record your anxiety and any other emotions you may have. Record any abuse, verbal or otherwise, you may receive.
Then come back and tell all of us what happened.

[Tock]

Boohoo... I was bullied most of my younger years (especially middle school) but you know what? I did something about it and that's what really got me into bodybuilding. Now I see people from time to time who had bullied me in the past and I laugh because how much better I am then they are. People that give up will not deserve my sympathy.

Sounds like you had a pretty tough past. Welcome to the club. Hope you find some help so you can excise the pain that all of that has caused (and still lingers). When you're ready, you'll find the right counselor, and you'll get everything worked out.

When you do, you'll discover that you won't laugh at how much better you are than other folks. Instead (hopefully, anyway), you'll have some insight into how nearly universal our human pain and disappointment is, and you'll see that most of us spent our early years entrusted to adults who also had defective childhoods, defective parenting, and who weren't taught how to look after kids.

When that day comes, you'll have shed many a tear for yourself (mostly for the loss of what could have been), and you'll have more sympathy for other folks, fools though they may be.

[DSM4Life]

Boohoo... I was bullied most of my younger years (especially middle school) but you know what? I did something about it and that's what really got me into bodybuilding. Now I see people from time to time who had bullied me in the past and I laugh because how much better I am then they are. People that give up will not deserve my sympathy.

You said you "did something about it." I ask you, what can a gay kid that is being beat up everyday in school for something that he himself doesn't even understand "do about it?"

[Tock]

You and Tock need to find a more thorough definition of yourselves than only "I'm gay".........

Progressive; Libertarian; compassionate; enthusiastic performer of the melodica, ocarina (better known as the "musical sweet potato"), church organ, piano, ukulele, accordion, and several other instruments; piano tuner; collector of antiques and junk; bibliophile; observer of people (mostly men, though); skeptic of theological BS; devotee of Iron culture and the ever-expanding muscle universe; counselor of theives, murderers, and addicts; eBay bargain-hunter; subscriber to a multitude of magazines, newspapers, and journals (in my next life I need to return as a spider, so I'll have enough eyes to keep up with everything); a VW mechanic (air cooled engines); a writer of music; a fan of Virgil Fox, George Formby, Vaughn Monroe, and the Asylum Street Spankers; a card-carrying member of the ACLU and Kroger Supermarket; a veteran of the USAF; skilled with the straight razor (the only way that REAL men shave); and patron of the All-You-Can-Hold-Down-Lunchtime-Special at the local cafeteria --- that's just part of how I define myself. Usually topics like the ocarina or Vaughn Monroe don't come up, so you wouldn't know of my affinity for such things.
But maybe someday you'll inquire.
We gay people can be quite interesting.

But don't ask me anything about football or basketball, because they bore me.

[Flagg]

Bullying is bullying. Gays at least have a movement behind them. There are no fat kid or "nerdy" kid movements out there. Your assumption that gays get picked on worse than fat kids, etc is silly. You and Tock need to find a more thorough definition of yourselves than only "I'm gay".........

Thankyou.

No DSM, im not gay but like Logan said, bullying is bullying. Stop looking at this thread as yet another rant about how gays are persecuted. This is about bullying, not gays.

[Tock]

No DSM, im not gay

We can fix that. We'll make you an honorary "queen for a day."

This is about bullying, not gays.

Looks to me, from reading the initial post, that this thread is about
bullying gays, and why it happens.

IMHO, more straight guys would masquarade as gays and let themselves be abused, if only they thought it would fun.

[Amorphic]

Thankyou.

No DSM, im not gay but like Logan said, bullying is bullying. Stop looking at this thread as yet another rant about how gays are persecuted. This is about bullying, not gays.

considering DSM started the thread and the title was about a lesbian girl hanging herself, im pretty sure the gay part fits the bill

[RANA]

I don't believe that gay students would get any more abuse then say a kid who was fat or from a poor family. Kids in groups will find ANYTHING they can to break someone down.

What about a poor fat gay kid?
I think he is fvcked!!!

[Amorphic]

What about a poor fat gay kid?
I think he is fvcked!!!

lets not forget nerdy

[RANA]

lets not forget nerdy

Damn I forgot that one, what about a minority that is missing a leg and has an eye patch.

[Renesis]

Not all teachers are like this but alas, there are some that simply, dont give a shit. I consider teachers to be kings amongst us in society, without them you wouldn't be the person you are, but the ones that turn a blind eye should be ****ing ashamed of themselves.

My neighborhood no joke is about 97% white. And 99% of my teachers or the ones that were around to witness the crap I went through were white. Socially I am screwed as I can almost never acquire emotional feelings for others, although I don't quite care I think it is nice because women can never hurt me.

[LawMan018]

You said you "did something about it." I ask you, what can a gay kid that is being beat up everyday in school for something that he himself doesn't even understand "do about it?"

Well I'm sure if he was built people would back off a little. Bullies usually don't screw with people who fight back, no matter their size. They go for the ones that take it, and take it. And to the other guy who said one day I'll look back and realize what I missed? I do look back and realize what I missed, I'm a very caring person because of what happened and I'm not an asshole. This world isn't lovey dovey, it's survival of the fittest.

[Amorphic]

Well I'm sure if he was built people would back off a little. Bullies usually don't screw with people who fight back, no matter their size. They go for the ones that take it, and take it. And to the other guy who said one day I'll look back and realize what I missed? I do look back and realize what I missed, I'm a very caring person because of what happened and I'm not an asshole. This world isn't lovey dovey, it's survival of the fittest.

I'm sure you meant to say "survival of the richest."

[Logan13]

Progressive; Libertarian; compassionate; enthusiastic performer of the melodica, ocarina (better known as the "musical sweet potato"), church organ, piano, ukulele, accordion, and several other instruments; piano tuner; collector of antiques and junk; bibliophile; observer of people (mostly men, though); skeptic of theological BS; devotee of Iron culture and the ever-expanding muscle universe; counselor of theives, murderers, and addicts; eBay bargain-hunter; subscriber to a multitude of magazines, newspapers, and journals (in my next life I need to return as a spider, so I'll have enough eyes to keep up with everything); a VW mechanic (air cooled engines); a writer of music; a fan of Virgil Fox, George Formby, Vaughn Monroe, and the Asylum Street Spankers; a card-carrying member of the ACLU and Kroger Supermarket; a veteran of the USAF; skilled with the straight razor (the only way that REAL men shave); and patron of the All-You-Can-Hold-Down-Lunchtime-Special at the local cafeteria --- that's just part of how I define myself. Usually topics like the ocarina or Vaughn Monroe don't come up, so you wouldn't know of my affinity for such things.
But maybe someday you'll inquire.
We gay people can be quite interesting.


But don't ask me anything about football or basketball, because they bore me.

I would agree.

[Tock]

My neighborhood no joke is about 97% white. And 99% of my teachers or the ones that were around to witness the crap I went through were white. Socially I am screwed as I can almost never acquire emotional feelings for others, although I don't quite care I think it is nice because women can never hurt me.

Not that I mean to practice psychiatry without a license, but in general terms, this sounds like a fellow who's had sufficient pain inflicted, that the only way you could reduce the pain, has been to deny that it's there.

This is a favorite (and effective) way to deal with unpleasant emotions. Denial. The downside of this is, that after a while, they have to come out; and if you continue to keep the pain inside, it won't be long before you start to act weird in other ways. Some folks ultimately resort to drugs, some become violent, some become anti-social, or psychotic, or worse.

It's not unlike constipation. If you've got a turd inside, it's gotta be dealt with in a healthy way, or else (1) it'll eventually find its own way out, and you'll have a mess, or (2) everything will get impacted, and without medical help, you'll die.

"Emotional constipation." It's almost as common as pain. Lots of people never learn what to do about it, and they suffer all their lives. A good counselor can show afflicted folks what to do about this sort of thing. And they're not that hard to find.


. . . just a thought . . .

[DSM4Life]

Well I'm sure if he was built people would back off a little. Bullies usually don't screw with people who fight back, no matter their size. They go for the ones that take it, and take it. And to the other guy who said one day I'll look back and realize what I missed? I do look back and realize what I missed, I'm a very caring person because of what happened and I'm not an asshole. This world isn't lovey dovey, it's survival of the fittest.