This article from MSN just appeared on Google a while ago which is not just worth a mention but also something to talk about. As a blogger, I feel sad and angry at the same time that a 10-year-old girl was driven to suicide. It was not homework pressure or the pressure to excel in academics and non-academics that drove this girl to kill herself. It was bullying. Therefore, my heart goes out to her family for their tragic loss.
I too was a victim of bullying growing up in the 1990s and 2000. As a former victim, I can tell you that bullying not just robs a person his or her happiness or self-esteem but also it robs him or her the right to feel safe and secure in a classroom environment. Secondly, to be bullied all the time made one feel that life was not worth living as well. Now as a young adult in 2011, I am no longer in primary and high school but I cannot say the same for this day and age as bullying is still rife. That is not all, suicide driven by bullying is on the rise and don’t be so surprised if the statistics get younger.
Ashlynn deserved better than to be verbally abused and face cruel taunts daily to the point that she could no longer feel that life is worth living. Ashlynn had dreams like every other kid. She had dreams to become a veterinarian because of her love for stray cats. Sadly, she can never have her dream nor will her parents be able to watch her grow up, graduate from high school, attend university and have her own future. Why? It is all because of bullying and the three teachers who did nothing to put a stop to those bullies’ antics and accused her for being a tattler.
Having just read the Chicago Tribune that powder-blue balloons (each carrying a note) were released during Ashlynn’s wake showed that she had people who loved and cared so much about her. As for the nasty kids who taunted and bullied her, well, they should be feeling sorry for themselves because they caused the death of someone’s child and sister. If they don’t feel sorry for themselves and their actions, sad to say they have no conscience. As for those three teachers, they are incompetent and they are better off out of the class for good after putting a stop on Ashlyyn’s attempt to end the bullying. At the same time, her tragic death shows there is a need to address the issue of bullying. Bullying can affect anyone and its impact touches on both the victims and their loved ones.
What says you about Ashlynn Conner’s tragic suicide? Do you believe her death is a need to address the issue of bullying in schools? Do you think teachers should also not only recognise the signs of bullying but also take action in helping bully victims? Opinions are welcome.
whatsaysyou 
Like yourself, I also had been through much during school days. But somehow I realised those people who said or did nasty things don’t even remember what they did. Similarly, at work, I went through workplace bullying too. But, the doer(s) don’t even realise (or are acting righteously or defending their actions). I have seen ex-colleagues being taunted similarly if not more excessively. He never complained and worked all the same until he found a new job. I also have my cousins who had been through the same (pee in their water bottle and worse by primary school kids!!). They put up with those mad behaviour until they went home to tell their moms.
At least for myself and those around me, I feel that sometimes people put up with all sorts of verbal (and maybe physical) abuse, trying hard to please everyone just not wanting to fuel the conflict and choosing to keep all the unhappiness within. Unless the victim actually finds a way out (ie. changing jobs) or seeking help (informing parents for those young kids or teachers), bullying will go on and might worsen with time.
Al, thanks for your comment and yes, bullying is not only terrible and it happens in any country.
Bullying issues just seem to keep getting worse and causing so much more anguish these days. I read about this young girl in another article, I can’t even imagine what it feels like to feel that dispirited not that heartbroken. It breaks my heart to think anyone ever feels that alone. I am sorry you were bullied in school too and had to go through such a thing. I can only say to keep posting about it and if just one person reads it and it changes their ways, then it is a good thing. 🙂
Fourbluehills, thanks for your comment and it is true that bullying is terrible thing and yes, it is getting worse than we think. You are right that if a person has a tiny bit of decency and conscience over his or her actions and is willing to change for the better and stop being a bully, good on him or her.
You are welcome. It is weird, I have in my life, like anyone else, felt at times I was being “picked on”. However, when I think back I think I was very lucky. I was of course, on occasion, bullied, not often.
I am not sure why. I think, and this will probably be more information than anyone needs, but my dad, when he drank, was something of a bully to my whole family. Physically. I am the eldest of four children. He only drank on weekends and if he didn’t come home from work on a Friday night we all knew what to expect. He was a mean drunk. I learned to stand up to him,
I can remember the first time, when I was 13. He came home about 10:30 at night, mad because dinner was cold, even tho my mom kept it warm in the oven all night. He was yelling and screaming at her, and being a teenager who had a tendency with a smart mouth at times, I told him, “Well, maybe it wouldn’t be if you came home on time”. It just burst out. 🙂 LOL I was in shock. But, once said, I could not back down. I am a female, from about the age of 13 until I was 15, I was 4’9″ tall. (Even now, I am only 5’3″, one of the shortest girls in my family, if not the shortest) My dad was 6’3″. He glared at me, stood up, threw the kitchen table in the air, came towards me, pointing his finger and yelling in my face about how “You are scared of me now, aren’t you?” I said “No”. Inside I was, if you will please excuse my words, shitting my pants. I think I almost fainted in relief when he walked away.
When I was growing up I always remembered my dad telling me if anyone ever, ever gave me a hard time, and if they had a weapon to pick up the nearest thing to level the playing field. I never had to do that, except to him, I finally did when I was 26 and he tried to hit me again, I picked up a rifle, and told him if he ever tried to knock me around again I would shoot him. He only tried once more after that, and that was just a gesture, like he was thinking about it, and you could tell he WAS THINKING about it first. 🙂
With a dad like that, and I do love him and he did quit drinking, I learned to stick up for myself. Because of me, and later my brother who is 16 months younger than myself, my other brother and sister never went through that with him. I am grateful they did not.
And, of course, I have always stuck up for the underdog. Always will.
Not condoning violence, people need to find their own way of leveling the playing field. Sometimes turning the other cheek is best, sometimes words, whatever works.
Thank you for posting and sharing. I am sorry to hear you were bullied. Bullying is terrible and I think in this tragic story I find it so hard to stomach that a 10-year-old knew of suicide but did not know what the word (slut) she was being abused with meant. If anyone were to know what she was really feeling and thinking…I wondered what they would have discovered that maybe she was searching for a solution and no avenues led to one. She probably didn’t even care what the words meant but that they made her feel awful and she kept searching for a solution to stop her pain. RIP Ashlynn.