Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14 year old freshman from Buffalo, N.Y. was bullied to death. A boy still, yes, at 14 years old he was considered a teenager, but a boy at heart. Jamey was bullied and bullied a lot. Not for a week, not for a month, but for years. None stop. By both his high school peers on campus and off, and in this world of social network it was never ending in the world of the internet. Multiple anonymous messages were sent to Jamey via formspring, a blog that obviously does not have any preventative measures for such trash that is posted with not a care in the world of the effect that it can have on a kid’s life. Yes a kid. At 14 years old not everyone is thinking about what is the latest movie out on theaters, or who is the biggest Pop Star on the radio, but a kid such as Jamey, at 14 years old his only concern and worry was to make of his living hell, a better world of understanding for him, and for other kids that are just like him. A place of love, a place of security, a place of acceptance, respect, and tolerance. As much work as Jamey did in his short life, he never was able to understand his ultimate question. No, it wasn’t his sexuality, but why are so many kids, his peers, kids his age were so mean to him?
How can anyone have the heart to express such hate towards someone for something he him self still did not understand, yet was coming to the acceptance that it was something he could not change, and it was just the way he was, and it was ok.The way he was born, his sexuality. This high school freshman, just another kid starting a new chapter in his life, like many of us did when we entered High School. New school, new kids, new classes, the excitement that comes with what so many buzz about “Your high school years” that would come with so many unanswered questions. Questions that we all as teens, and as we entered a time in our lives of discovery in all sense of the word, we too questioned. But unfortunately for Jamey it was too much, too soon, too often; too hurtful that drove him to the only way out of his daily misery. Suicide.
Jamey was seeing a therapist and a Social Worker to help him deal with the both bullying and his internal never ending pain. However; this just goes to show that no matter how many therapist, or other professionals are out there to help one understand the “why” such hate is expressed towards their person just for being different, it does not cure the hurt that it’s felt in their heart, and the damage, as in Jamey’s case, is way more powerful than any prescription drug can cure or any professional can explain.
Jamey tried his best on multiple accounts to raise awareness of not only the bullying but also a cry for help. A cry for help for the suicidal thoughts he was feeling over something he could not change about him self. Imagine being a 14 year old kid, and coming to the discovery of who you are as a person, a time that you know will mark the rest of your life. Yet leaving in such hell that he saw no way out because of the world you lived in. As much as Jamey cried out, and even made multiple video’s one for the “It Gets Better Project”, nothing stopped what it would be his last attempt in trying to stop his never ending pain. His suicide.
“No one in my school cares about preventing suicide, while you’re the ones calling me [gay slur] and tearing me down,” he wrote on Sept. 8. He said the next day: “I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. … What do I have to do so people will listen to me?”
Wow! I read this and it being chills down my spine. What a courageous young man. To have the courage to post a video for the world to see, for the world to listen, in an desperate attempt for someone, anyone to listen and stop the endless bullying. It just goes to show of what is not being done in our children’s schools to not only stop but also prevent bullying, and educate our children that it’s ok to be different, regardless of agreeing or not, liking it or not, or accepting another kid’s differences, it is ok to be different. It just goes to show that not enough is being done by not only the school teachers who see our children day in and day out, or by the executive school officials, but most of all by the parents of not only the kids who are different and being bullied, but most of all by the parents of the bullies who make a child’s life a living hell.
I wonder what all those cowards are thinking now. Is their lives much better now that they accomplished driving someone to suicide because of their unkind words, because of their cowardly actions? I wonder what would they say to Jamey’s mother if they had the courage to face her and tell her they were the kids who spread so much hate that drove to her ultimate pain, a pain that just as Jamey’s 
was, hers will now be never ending. I wonder if they have a good enough reason to tell her why they taunted and bullied her son to the point to drive him to commit such act? I highly doubted.
As I write this I wonder what will it take for parents and educators to really take this battle against bullying seriously, and to make the necessary changes and laws to put an end to such actions that have destroyed so many lives for something that it should not be.
Unfortunately Jamey did not get to see that it does get better. That life does goes beyond high school, that there is a life beyond the bullying, and that even if it didn’t stop during high school, that it would not dictate his future, and that most of all that there is a lot of amazing people out there that loved him just the way he was; a handsome and courageous young man with a heart of gold regardless of his sexuality.
Is with hope that I write this article that one day bullying will be prosecuted just like any other crime that has negative effects in someone’s life. But most of all that bullying will stop, and that our children, the future of this great nation will be taught that being different in any way, shape, or form, it’s ok, and that under no circumstances is ever ok to say hurtful things to another person gay, straight, black, white, thin, or not so thin, a person with a mental or physical disability. That is never ok to spread or express hate towards someone just for being different.
Lastly I hope Jamey can see us all that will do whatever it takes to make a difference in this world against what unfortunately he was too young and too fragile to understand and tackle. Jamey your life was not in vain, and this is only the beginning of a movement that will change the world. Thank You for your courage, your sweet and kind heart. Your smile and message are engraved on this earth. Forever and no… Life is not better without you here, but your message will move mountains and live forever.
About Matti Hirsch
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