This year, bullying and harassment was in the spotlight, remaining steadily in the media and news throughout 2010. In memory of the victims passed and those who have suffered, here are their stories as well as some cases of bullying that made headlines. Bullying January 14: Phoebe Prince (15), was bullied by the girls at her high school in South Hadley, Massachusetts, for dating an older football player. There was name-calling (slut-shaming), stalking, intimidation as well as physical attacks. Phoebe hung herself after enduring several days of this. March 17: In Florida, Josie Lou Ratley (15) was kicked by Wayne Treacy (also 15) so viciously that doctors had to induce a coma and remove part of her skull. Josie had sent Wayne a text message about his brother, who had committed suicide the previous year. After a series of texts that make for pretty upsetting reading, she wrote, “jus go visit ur dead brother.” He responded “Ur f—-ing dead! I swear to God I’m gonna kill you!” March 21: Alexis Pilkington (17) of Islip, NY took her own life after being mocked on Formspring, an online forum – and the online attacks persisted even after her death. However, her parents said cyberbullying wasn’t the main cause of her suicide. March 28: Jon Carmichael (13) committed suicide. A friend said he had been bullied at his Texas school “because he was short.” May 31: Christian Taylor (16) killed himself after months of bullying — a bully allegedly told him, “You need to just go commit suicide and get it over with.” His mother says his school did nothing to punish Taylor’s tormentor. July: After 11-year-old Jessi Slaughter used violent language in a YouTube video, 4chan users posted her home address and phone number and she began receiving death threats. July 9: In Minnesota, Justin Aaberg (15) hung himself. Friends say he was bullied for his sexual orientation and had recently been through a breakup. Some believe three previous suicides in Aaberg’s Anoka-Hennepin School District were linked to homophobic bullying as well. September 9: Billy Lucas (15) hung himself in his family’s barn in Greensburg, Indiana. A fellow student said bullies assumed he was gay, called him homophobic names, and told him to commit suicide: “They said stuff like ‘you’re like a piece of crap’ and ‘you don’t deserve to live.'” A graduate of Lucas’s high school, now 21, says homophobic bullying is a long-standing problem there: “I can’t help but take it personally because when all of this was happening to me I was the same age he was. I also attempted to commit suicide.” September 19: Seth Walsh (13) of Tehachapi, CA died of his injuries after trying to hang himself. Friends say he had endured years of bullying for being gay. September 22: Rutgers freshman Tyler Clementi (18) jumped off the George Washington Bridge after two dorm-mates allegedly filmed him having sex and streamed the footage over the internet. Their lawyers now say they were the only ones who saw it, but the fact remains that Clementi was the victim of a serious invasion of privacy. In the wake of his suicide, New Jersey lawmakers have introduced an “anti-bullying bill of rights” that would be the toughest in the nation. September 23: In Texas, Asher Brown (13) shot himself after a long history of bullying that had forced him to change schools. Brown had recently come out, and his father said, “They called him different names for being homosexual. He just had enough.” October: A sixteen-year-old from Staten Island was repeatedly bullied by classmates for his Muslim heritage. Bullies beat him and called him a “terrorist.” October 5: Zach Harrington (19) of Norman, Oklahoma killed himself after attending a City Council meeting where other attendees made homophobic statements. His father says he was also bullied in high school, and “feared for his safety on many occasions.” October 10: A fourteen-year-old boy in Newark, Delaware trapped another boy, who was only seven, in a portable toilet and then pushed it over, leaving the younger boy covered in human waste. Said one police officer, “This is the most disturbing case of bullying I’ve ever seen.” October 12-13: A Long Island fourteen-year-old was beaten on his school bus two days in a row by boys who also yelled homophobic slurs. Neither the bus driver nor an adult monitor on the bus reported the assault the first time it happened, leaving the victim vulnerable to getting hurt again. Info provided by Jezebel

newsletter

Newsletter

  • Ready to learn body confidence? Sign up for our newsletter!