13-year-old Asher Brown’s parents, David and Amy Truong, said they’d complained numerous times to Hamilton Middle School officials about their son being bullied. The eighth-grade straight-A student was picked on for being small, not wearing designer clothing, and for being gay. Bullies performed “mock gay acts” on Brown during phys ed.
Amy said her phone calls were never returned and their visits to the school to complain about harassment were ignored.
The torment took its toll. On September 23rd, 2010, Asher retrieved his stepfather’s 9 mm Beretta from the closet and shot himself.
When David Truong got home from work at 4:30 PM he found Asher’s body on the floor.
School district spokeswoman Kelli Durham says no such complaints were made — not by the Truongs, not by other students and not by school employees.
That statement infuriated the Truongs, who accused the school district of protecting the bullies and their parents.
“That’s absolutely inaccurate — it’s completely false,” Amy Truong said. “I did not hallucinate phone calls to counselors and assistant principals. We have no reason to make this up. … It’s like they’re calling us liars.”
David Truong said, “We want justice. The people here need to be held responsible and to be stopped. It did happen. There are witnesses everywhere.”
The commenters on KRIV-TV’s Channel 26 website tell a different story. Internet commenters aren’t necessarily the world’s most reliable source, but sometimes in cases like these, they’re the only source we’ve got, and enough similar stories make a strong case:
+ My son knows who it is, he said that nothing was ever done about it. It has been going on since 6th grade.
+ [My daughter] spent 1.5 miserable years at that school thanks to bullying and we made sure they knew about it. She was kicked, tripped, pushed (including on the stairs), called a freak, a weirdo, and numerous other names to painful to mention in this post. When she was being physically abused, teachers either looked the other way or told her they didn’t see anything even though our daughter saw the teacher see what happened.
+ I ACTUALLY PULLED MY SON FROM THIS SCHOOL BECAUSE OF THEIR ADMIN & STAFF. They will TOTALLY cover up everything. EVERY parent that is TRUELY concerned for their children here need to get together and fight this. They do not protect these children and are only concerned with their image. I have ALL of my documentation from when my son was bullied within CFISD.
+ My son is a good friend of Asher’s, too. We spoke with the principal today and their official statement is they have no record of any bullying of anyone. Both of my autistic sons hav been bullied at this school for 4 years. They were teased with gay-baiting language for fun.
+ i go there and in the eighth grade. and the kids accused of bullying will deny and the issue will be dropped. the administration cares more about how many tardies you have rather than a death.
+ I go to hamilton and am in the eighth grade and he was teased a lot and no one even cared about it. i personally never teased him and often felt sorry for him , but speaking up would do no good. Apparently the day before his death he was tripped down the stairs and laughed at.
Someone identifying as a “former CSID teacher” attests:
CFISD is very intolerant of Gay students. As an openly gay teacher in CFISD I too was discriminated against and made to feel inferior. Ultimately, my teaching assignment was changed with no reason given despite all my efforts to find one. Additionally:
– The day of last year’s “day of silence” for victims of gay-related bullying and suicides, while many schools supported the practice, my school’s assoc principal came over the loud speaker to remind students and teachers that, while they can choose to participate, the school does not condone the event in any way and if any students’ silence interferes with the class, they are to be sent to the principal’s office.
– The day I agreed to sponsor a “Gay-Straight-Alliance” at the school, my department chair asked me what club I am sponsoring, I said, “the GSA,” he asked, “what’s that?” “the Gay-Straight-Alliance” I said very uncomfortably, he scoffed and rolled his eyes in disgust while another teacher pursed her lips and looked away.
– The first 2 posters the GSA posted to advertise the club were ordered down immediately as they contained the word “homosexual”. The club chose not to fight the order, feeling lucky to be allowed to organize the club at all.
– The first set of posters (following every rule and with no “inappropriate words”) advertising the GSA’s first meeting where ripped down by a student that night.
Luckily for me, I was able to simply leave. I did not sign a new contract. But what about the students? They cannot simply leave, school is their world and gay students in CFISD live in a world that reminds them everyday that they are different, unwanted, and inferior.
The facebook group “RIP Asher Brown” contains heartfelt messages of support and calls to action to stop this from happening.
The school spokesperson did attest that Amy had emailed them earlier in the month to keep an eye on her son, but that the complaint was related to problems at home, not bullying.
This is tragically unsurprising as new statistics from the 2009 National School Climate Survey found 84.6% of LGBT students reported being verbally harassed, 40.1% reported being physically harassed and 18.8% reported being physically assaulted at school in the past year because of their sexual orientation.
The day before his suicide, another student had tripped Brown — who mainly hung out with a tight-knit group of similarly-harassed children — as he walked down a flight of stairs at school. When Brown tried to retrieve his book bag after hitting the stairwell, another student kicked his books everywhere and kicked Brown down another flight of stairs.
Durham said that without video footage or anyone to corroborate their claims, the investigation of the stair-pushing incident came up short:
The Truongs say they just want the harassment to stop so other students do not suffer like their son did and so another family does not have to endure such a tragedy.
“Our son is just the extreme case of what happens when (someone is) just relentless,” Amy Truong said.
To the bullies, she added, “I hope you’re happy with what you’ve done. I hope you got what you wanted and you’re just real satisfied with yourself.”
i don’t understand how adults can be so irresponsible or how anyone could be so cold. teachers should have a hippocratic oath.
“Teachers should have a hippocratic oath.” is probably the best idea I’ve ever heard.
for real.
Just wanted to say that not all teachers are assholes. Pretty much every relative of mine is a teacher and they wouldn’t have let this shit through. There are always going to be assholes, but being a teacher doesn’t make you an ass right off the back. My teachers were my saviors in middle and high school.
Also, Laura, you are the reason I have this screen name because my first name was already taken!
I don’t think they were trying to say that all teachers suck. I think everyone has had that AMAZING teacher that totally inspires you. I’m still in high school and heavily involved in the fine arts, and I know that none of my fine arts teachers would stand for that bullshit. I know some amazing teachers in other departments too that wouldn’t allow this. Good teachers definatly deserve celebration.
Sorry for the slap of cold reality, but: many teachers look past these things because it’s easier to do so. I AM NOT condoning that by any means, but it’s an unfortunate reality. SO MANY THINGS go on behind the scenes in schools, it’s unbelievable. Also, when you have a ratio of something like 100 staff to 3000+ students… I’m not skilled at math, but even I know that that’s a very difficult ratio to effectively manage.
There are some amazing teachers out there, true. Teachers who will do everything in their power to create and foster a safe environment for all students. There are, thankfully, teachers who will not stand by and watch students harass each other, banal as it may seem. And when parents are involved, such as Asher’s parents claim to have been, there’s no fucking excuse for not acting on the allegations. That’s simple & disgusting negligence on the school’s behalf, and I sincerely hope there are repercussions for this.
With that said: often, behind any amazing teacher is a much-less-than-amazing administrator. Sometimes you get lucky and have an amazing teacher with an amazing admin, but frankly, that’s rare.
Teaching is often a thankless job, and many of us aim to reach as many students as we possibly can. But to be honest: one teacher has one pair of eyes that is meant to survey anywhere from 60-90+ students in a single day. Add to that the litany of students we see in the hallway, having no idea who any of those 1000+ kids are… I’m not whining, but this is not an easy profession.
This, though, this story… there’s no excuse, as I said earlier in my rambling, for not handling parent complaints. That’s just sick.
This.
Apart from how devastating and wrong it is that this poor child was bullied and nothing was done . . . WHY did his father have a gun in the closet where his child could easily access it?!
Thing is, without his daddy’s gun, Asher would still have found another way to end his short life. Many of the other gay kids just hang themselves. It’s not his dad’s fault, unless the dad was a homophobic bully too as many are, or didn’t care about his young son being attacked as many don’t, but that seems not to have been the case here.
What can be even worse is if the suicide fails, and the child ends up permanently disabled because of a bullet through his brain, or inoxia of the brain caused by strangulation of a failed hanging. Then society is faced with caring for a salivating zombie who is relic of his early promise.
What are you, a NRA spokesman?
Also, you clearly did not read the part about Autistic students also being bullied, or you would not have dared to suggest that disabled people are burdens to society and would be better off dead.
This poor kid (and all the others that came before him, and all the ones enduring it as he was). There are no real words.
I hate everyone.
^This.
RT
I understand the hyperbolic sentiment here, but let us not forget that Hate is reason we are reading all these devastating stories in the first place.
I didn’t forget. My hyperbolic hate isn’t going to get anyone killed.
How can so many people be so blatantly uncaring and cold when something like this happens? I feel so horrible for this boy’s parents. To lose their son because of the way people treated him, and then to have the school system that allowed that bullying to deny the truth is just so disturbing and sickening. Shame on the bullies, shame on the school, shame on society.
this is horrifying. that poor little boy.
–
ALSO THIS IS WHY PEOPLE SHOULD NOT HAVE FUCKING GUNS IN THEIR FUCKING HOUSES.
This.
At the very least, LOCK THAT SHIT UP.
There are many people in the world who simply do not care about others. and I’m not talking about just other kids at a school, I mean full grown adults. There are people who take pleasure in seeing other people suffer. These type of people should never be in any position of power, especially if it’s a position that is supposed to be caring for our children. The administrators at this school should be fired, but I doubt anything like that will happen. Life is precious and sacred. just the life of one single boy being lost is one way too many.
My mother once said that gay people kill themselves because they’re stupid. My MOTHER. Humans are a complete mystery to me and also the fact that I’m still alive.
WOW. That is unbelievable. I can;t say more because she is your mom. But God Bless You.
My mom isn’t that bad. I just sent this to her. She frequently asks me, ‘Why are you so into gay rights?’ ‘Why are you so upset about this happening to gays?’ I said, This is why it is SO important to teach tolerance.
This is why I advocate for gay rights. This why we, as straight people, must stand up and say that the things that are happening, however small or large, even though they don’t affect me are wrong.
That’s the problem with my mother, she never asks WHY. She just gives her own prejudice-based answers. I’d love to send this to her, if she were interested.
I am embarrassed to admit this, but when I told my mom about what had me so upset today I didn’t include the fact that this poor kid was gay/bullied for being gay. I just said that he was bullied so badly that he killed himself, because I knew that if she knew that it was a “gay issue” she’d tell me that I was too obsessed with gay things and roll her eyes. Every time she does that it digs at me, but right now I feel bad that I’m contributing to this whole issue of keeping this problem silent.
Send the link to her even if she is not interested, maybe she’ll read it and may learn something.
I tried everything. I bought her a laptop so I could send her whatever I found on the Internet because in our country (Italy) the media are owned by the Prime Minister (basically it’s a dictatorship) and he’s an ally of the Vatican so the media are against the gays. Another problem is that she doesn’t speak nor understand English.
If Autostraddle were a United Nations organization everything posted here would be translated into multiple languages. This would make the world a much better place.
Allies are our biggest weapon. Thank you, MsNJS, and thank you to all the other straight people out there who see this not as a gay issue, but a human issue. Please keep telling others, gay and straight, to teach tolerance.
Absolutely! Like I told my mom and my sis and I were talking about how important it is to have someone outside of and unaffected by the situation to advocate for or against a situation.
Like with race relations.. Black people would not have had the progress that we had, if certain white people did not take a stand and say this is wrong, things need to change.
This made me teary. This is beyond sad and disgusting on the part of the school
just horrible.
the world is full of hate so why ad more?
does it matter who is straight,gay,black,white,asian,mexican or what ever we all have the same heart in our chest the same blood in our vains the same brains in our heads why must we destroy lives to make our selves feel better
It really, really, really does get better.
ahhhhh damnit this was supposed to be a reply to the high school student below, my computer spazzed out.
This is so disgusting! It’s horrible! How can you allow people to treat others like this!?
I want to scream and yell and kick and shout and cry and cry.
I hate the world!
My school has similar issues… I’ve been shoved into lockers and heard the word ‘dyke’ too many times to count. I just live through it because I know things will be different in college.
Won’t they?
Yes. They will.
IT GETS BETTER
http://www.youtube.com/user/itgetsbetterproject
Look for Molly…. :)
In my experience, “it” doesn’t really get better. I get better (in my ability to deal with the “it,” and in my giving less and less of a shit about what others think of my life).
Yes. It gets better.
http://www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject
Yes, what everyone else said: It gets better. I went to a fairly homophobic high school where it was pretty much unacceptable for me to even come out to myself, but college was a whole different world.
The ONLY harassment directed at me happened to be IN college. Last year in my human relations course (requirement for all education majors, meaning they’re ALL going to be school TEACHERS in a year or two…) the attendance sign-in sheet got to me and someone had already scrawled “GAY” next to my name.
It pissed me off more than it probably should have, just because the class was all about tolerance and accepting students and everyone else who may be different than you.
I don’t even know what to say. This is terrible on so many different levels. Free hugs.
My heart goes out to his family. I can only imagine the pain they are enduring. This brought a tear to my eye. It bring back how horrid life was in school for me being gay, if only they could have something at his school maybe things could have been different for him…
@The school staff and admin
WTF?!
i’m sorry this happened. i’m sorry this is STILL happening.
i went to texas public schools, and unfortunately, the staff could be really useless sometimes. i had an out gay class mate in my english class, and he would put on make up during down time. i never once saw my teacher stick up for him. she told me once after school that she felt bad that people would make fun of him, but “what did he expect? he’s wearing make up”. she lost so much of my respect that day.
I can’t believe this is still happening… We’re supposed to be a nation of free people. Apparently we’re only “free” under certain people’s choices of prejudices. I’m a recent high school graduate and, every time I stood up for a gay, trans or bi student, I was simply told to shut-up, sit down and ignore it.
I respect very few of the teachers at that school and I find that I cannot respect a single one at Asher’s school. It’s horrible that nothing will probably be done about any events like this unless it happens to an “important” child or person.
I will NEVER get it! How a parent could raise some kind of monster(cuz they’re not kids) to do this thing to other child.
Someone has to stop them, NO ONE IS BETTER THAN ANYONE, in any ocasion.
Bullyng is a crime, and they should be punished.
Those bullies and the school are so lucky that boy didn’t take that Baretta to school to pull a Columbine before he checked out. That would have been a better ending to this story. Not the best mind you. Just better. Yeah, I hate bullies.
This is exactly why parents shouldn’t keep guns in their houses.
If parents don’t keep guns in their houses, who will protect the family when someone breaks in? There are multiple stories available on the internet about mothers and daughters being raped in front of the father because the family had no means of protection. You shouldn’t blame the gun for the choice of the son.
What a strange answer.
Saying that because one person didn’t secure his gun responsibly, nobody should have access to a tool they might need to defend themselves is quite strange.
The minute I read the kid killed himself with his father’s gun, I knew people who are ignorant of human rights (self defense is the most basic human right) and guns would be screaming, “Nobody should be allowed to have guns!!!”
If the gun wasn’t there, it’s possible that the boy would have found another way to kill himself. He killed himself because of the hostility that was directed at him, not because people can own guns. The other kids this month killed themselves with rope, bridges, etc. Guns or the fact that people are allowed to own them aren’t the problem.
The kids who harassed this boy are responsible for his death. Should teens be held responsible for such things? Yes, and to take any other approach would be morally reprehensible. The adults who allowed this harassment to persist are culpable as well. But a gun isn’t responsible. It is the responsibility of the gun owner to secure the gun safely, so that it can’t be accessed by people who are mentally unstable, ignorant of firearms, incapable of handling them responsibly.
I would not want to live in a place where only the police and military were allowed to have guns, and I cannot understand why any lgbtq person would hand over total responsibility for their personal to the police. I can’t understand why anybody would do this. Do you completely trust the police to determine when, how, and if you will be defended?
Guns are tools. Their purpose is self-defense and food acquisition. I and millions of other gun owners in this country have used them for these purposes safely and responsibly for years. The fact that there are idiots in this world should not mean that nobody should be allowed to have guns.
This all brings me to another point about queer people and victimhood. I own guns for self-defense. As a homo with a non-standard gender configuration, self-defense takes on a unique meaning for me. No, a weapon is not the only way to defend yourself. Learning to defend yourself emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and physically is obviously much more complicated than that. A gun can be used for defensive purposes only if the life of you or a loved one is in immediate danger, you are completely out of options, and you have no other way to stop a devastating tragedy from occuring. All of these stories about gay people killing themselves are repeated endlessly, and they dovetail nicely into our society’s prefabbed gay-people-are-tragic-victims narrative. What if, when Matthew Shepard was being tortured, beaten, and murdered, he took out a .357 and shot his attackers and killed them in self-defense, instead of being killed himself? What if he did that instead of dying slowly, painfully, and alone? What would people have done with that story? Obviously it would be better if nobody died, but that’s not reality . . .
Oops, “I cannot understand why any lgbtq person would hand over total responsibility for their personal to the police” is supposed to say “I cannot understand why any lgbtq person would hand over total responsibility for their personal safety to the police.”
That’s an…interesting theory. You know that having a gun in the home increases the risk of suicide fivefold, yes? Also, exactly what use is having a gun in the house when someone breaks in unless you have it loaded in a bedside drawer? You know, the exact place your 3-year-old is most likely to find it.
My dad kept a loaded gun in the house growing up. He was very serious about it though and made sure my three sisters and I knew that it was NOT OKAY to touch it. We had a family conversation about it at least once a year. He and my mother both have unbelievable aim, and they actually slept with the gun in the bedside drawer. HOWEVER, every morning when my dad woke up to go to work he put it in his gun locker.
Also, my parents raised me so that I could always feel comfortable coming to them or one of my sisters if something was wrong. I even remember my dad teaching me that “dyke” was a completely inappropriate word to call another person when he heard me say it at 9.
All this to say, that guns aren’t the problem.
In this case the problem is the environment at that Asher Brown’s school.
Have you ever seen a gun safe? Many are designed for home defense, which means that the gun owner can access the gun quickly, but tiny fingers can’t.
For the record, keeping a loaded gun loose in a drawer (or on a shelf, as seems to be the case in this boy’s house) is a wildly irresponsible and unsafe thing to do.
Guns are a topic that there’s an incredible amount of ignorance about. I think it would be helpful if we could discuss this topic and provide people with more info.
its pretty pathetic how this still goes on in schools across the states. so I’m curious as to how many more children have to die before adults begin acting like adults! administrators failed this child miserably, and what are these parents teaching their children – instill values that will get them places, not HATE. I hope that these administrators, kids and parents of these kids suffer greatly, because your the reason this amazing 13 year old boy thought his life wasn’t worth living anymore. god bless his soul.
Folks always wonder what makes bullying different when it’s about sexual orientation. It’s because people believe gay people bring it on themselves when they look or act stereotypically gay. That is what leads to them taking their own life. They are hearing that it’s their own fault for getting bullied.
When I was in high school, even my closest friend said “She’s bringing it on herself” when she witnessed me get harassed because I looked gay. People assume that the bullying will stop if those kids would just quit acting so faggy or dykey…but those kids feel like they can’t or don’t know how.
these kids shouldn’t have too. If adults lead by example, and accept these kids for who they are – it wouldn’t be this huge problem
Exactly.
Of course they shouldn’t have to. Even as a gay teenager I felt strongly that I shouldn’t have to change.
But it’s systemic and follows people their whole lives. Most people believe gay people wouldn’t get discriminated against if they kept their gayness to themselves. It’s even at the root of DADT.
It would be great if adults would just step up for the kids. But it is more complicated and branches out into every part of society.
Sadly whilst bullying still exists in our schools too, here in the UK , I think there is a far greater tolerance of gays in our schools. As a former secondary teacher ( ages 11 upwards) I can vouch for an ‘out culture amongst the teenagers in many of our schools. I think this is because of government policies. It’s actually quite ‘cool’ to be gay and whilst there are isolated cases of anti- gay behaviour it isnmore likely to be verbal rather than physical. However bullying remains a problem worldwide. It arises wherever there is anti anything. Look at dictatorships, genocide, all brought about by ‘ego’. Get rid of the fundamental need for many to feel superior, and the need in others to be led rather than to lead and you will address many of the problems of ‘bullying’.
We are running out of space on this planet we need to be able to live together with respect, without fear and in harmony.
This is why parents need To get police involved. Just mention harrassment and they will be all over it. Similar thing happened to my son and I kept mentioning police and harassment. Things are much better now
OH DAMN JUST READING ALL THESE COMMENTS JUST AMAZED ME AND NOT ONLY THAT JUST SO SAD ABOUT THIS KID LIKE I NEVER SUFFERED REALLY THIS KIND OF BEHAVIOR BUT REALLY I CAN IMAGINE HOW MUCH PAIN HE WENT THROUGH BY HIMSELF FELT LOST AND NOT WANTED, WHY IS THIS WORLD LIKE THIS WHY, I JUST LOVE ALL MY STRAIGHT FELLOW PEOPLE THAT WE HAVE IN THIS WORLD THEY MEAN SO MUCH TO ME FOR STANDING UP FOR US, JUST KNOWING THIS MADE ME TEAR UP, I REALLY DO HOPE THAT THERE IS SOME CHANGE IN THAT SCHOOL IT NEEDS IT THEY NEED TO TAKE IT TO STRIKE THEY NEED TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE…IT CAN’T KEEP GOING ON SOMEONE OUT THERE DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT BE THE BIGGER PERSON AND REALLY SPEAK UP DO WHATEVER IT TAKES AND SUPPORT THE FAMILY AND THE PEOPLE THAT ARE GOING THROUGH THE BULLYING YOU CAN DO IT SPEAK ABOUT IT & MOST LIKELY CHANCES THERE CAN BE SOMETHING DONE ABOUT IT!!! HAVE FAITH, MUCH LOVE & SUPPORT FOR THE FAMILY <3
Asher lived next door to my parents. This has hit very close to home for me. He was a sweet, gentle boy who deserved so much better than the suffering he endured. I know his parents, Amy and David, and they are wonderful, loving people who are obviously devastated. My prayers go out to them. I have read other posts other places about this story and some of them are very unkind and blame and accuse Amy and David. I am sickened by this. How can people say hurtful things to those who are hurting so deeply already? I went to the same school district in the ’70s and was bullied then, simply because I moved there from California and did not fit in. We need Zero Tolerance for bullying. We need to find out who these kids are and hold them, their parents and the school district responsible. Maybe if there were harsh penalities for this kind of brutality it would come to an end. Something must be done. I think the only way to accomplish this is to sue the school district. If they have to pay up they WILL make changes. God bless you, Amy and David. Your sweet boy was truly an angel. I will never forget him.
Has anyone read the work of John Taylor Gatto? He was a New York City public school teacher for 30 years, and was named teacher of the year three times. One of his acceptance speeches is linked below, and it explains some of what schools are actually about, what the climate there is like, and why it is that way:
http://www.home-ed.vic.edu.au/2002/02/26/john-gatto-teacher-of-the-year-acceptance-speech/
In this video, he explains more about what is going in schools:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3197707524036023590#
I can’t read anything about the school system without thinking of him.
It really ties in. The prison-type environment drives people to the brink. He gave a speech called “Beyond Columbine” in which he addressed this stuff very eloquently. There’s video of it somewhere online.
Anybody who is in school, or who has kids in school, take a look at Gatto’s work.
Also, if anyone else is wondering if there’s another way to do things, check out the Sudbury Valley School in Framingham, MA. The school is run by a school meeting in which everyone, whether they are a 4-year-old student or an 84-year-old staff member has an equal vote. There are not grades, tests, homework, or academic requirements of any kind, yet all the kids that go there learn to read, do basic math, etc. The kids determine their own curriculum:
http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/educational/watch/v34958783G9kFG7Q
This is so heartbreaking, my thoughts go out to his family.
fucking hell. What heartless fools, they shouldn’t be allowed to teach at a school, let alone run it. I hope they find some kids responsible, charge them and send them to juvi.
Ultimately it is the parent’s fault. You don’t “make complaints” without copies, registered mail, escalating to the board of ed, documented emails, MEETINGS. Alot is wrong with this story. She doesn’t even state the data about “the phone calls”. And the step father (key point) just happens to have an available weapon with AMMO laying around? HRMPH
It doesn’t always occur to people to make copies of these things, unfortunately. And why are you expecting a newsletter article to present every last shred of data on something?
Sorry, trial by media makes me kind of ranty.
Alot is not wrong. Alot is always right.
high five for bringing alot into this
…No, ali, ultimately it is the fault of the people who BULLIED THE KID TO DEATH, and the people whose job it was to stop it and didn’t. Do you see how that works? What possible motivation could you have for trying to push the blame on to the parents?
The stepfather having a gun at home is a different thing, and one I definitely have feelings about, but that’s legal and whatever, so. If there weren’t people BULLYING THE KID TO DEATH it wouldn’t have been an issue.
It is completely heartbreaking that these kind of things happen and that they are allowed to happen by adults who should know better and should protect the children. The hatred that is directed at people simply based on sexual orientation is inexplicable to me. I will never understand it or condone it and will do whatever I can to combat it (with love, never with more hate). My heart goes out to the Truongs, this tragedy should never have happened! My heart also goes out to every LGBT person out there who has faced similar horrific treatment.
Brb, crying.
Wow, this makes me so sad, I just want to cry.
It seems like everyday I hear about a new tragedy brought about by hatred towards gay people, it is so sad this is still going on.
Some people just should not be in charge of a child’s well being, those teachers should be put in jail!
Dear world,
seriously?
this is absolutely disgusting. i’m appalled. i don’t know what’s worse, what those kids did to that poor boy or the school ignorance. makes me wonder what happened to those kids to make them so hateful.. or who they might be living with..
heartbreaking.
well.. if that’s really the school’s website (http://hamilton.dpsk12.org) then:
1- it’s creepy.
2- According to the site, school started on August 19th. So it took Asher approximately 1 month to commit suicide.. that’s a record, inmates won’t suffer that.
3- There are plenty of ways to contact the school and register a complaint about what happened.
I’m sure Asher is in a better place now, smiling at the other kids, parents, teachers, police, media and everything disposable in this life.
Hey, the site you link to is a school in Denver Colorado, not Texas. This would explain the lack of counselling notifications, though I haven’t been able to find the website for the actual school so I can’t comment any further on that.
this makes me want to puke.
i like to think of myself as a ‘glass half full’ type of person, but there is just nothing redeeming about this. it’s so unbelievably sad.
It’s interesting that the school website has no info on their homepage about the availability of grief counselors or anything that may help this kid’s classmates cope with this. It makes it looks like the school is ignoring the fact that this happened.
The Principal’s email: [email protected]
This is so rediculous that this kind of thing still happens – & that has nothing to with the fact that my daughter is bi. I used to flip out on the kids that wanted to make fun of & mimick the special ed kids who were using sign language. I made it VERY clear to them that the special ed kid was soooooo NOT the one w/the mental issue especially since for some they were just deaf – but that was not the point)!! I was very popular & was shushed & told I was putting my standing in jeopardy. I told them I didn’t give a flip & that I didn’t/don’t wanna be popular w/such idiots! One of the times my being just a little outspoken (lol) was a good thing! My kids were taught how to pick their friends based on:
Do ya like them?
Do they treat you well?
OK!
Another suicide.
Rutgers freshman kills self after classmates use hidden camera to watch his sexual activity.
I repeat: I hate everyone.
Wow. Just. There are no words. Crying.
My heart is crying. his parents should have built up his confidence more. what a shame. kids are Ruthless!)
to the person that blamed the gun for this childs suicide: you are retarded. and another point: no matter how much a parent loves and cares and builds their childs confidence, that emotion will always be there. why do you think columbine happened? when students like this are literally tortured for 8 hours a day 5 days a week with no relief and the dread of returning to school what do you expect? the bullies deserve whatever they get. i think the kid should have taken that beretta and gotten rid of some unnecessary evil in the world instead of himself. vigilante justice needs to make a comeback because too many people are looking the other way.
Wow, are you seriously endorsing MASS MURDER?
Bonus points for use of the r-slur. People like you are why disabled people kill themselves.
I am so sorry for the loss of this young boy. I have a 10 year old son, I can’t even imagine. Prayers to the family of Asher.
I think that it is horrible this poor little boy took his life on account of being bullied. I think that schools need to take this matter, or similar matters just as this more seriously. Bullying should not be tolerated at any school, because things like this happen. If a teacher or someone from the school administration don’t want to be bothered with this subject, then this obviously is not the job for them and they should find more people who are compassionate, qualified, tolerant and patient because that is what is needed to deal with children.
I find it to be coward of the people letting this happen in your school I’m happy I don’t go to your school we in Canada would never leave this happend we would take action and stop these people from doing harm to others what is wrong with this picture anyways why would people watch this happen what if that were your brother or your sister has people gone so bitter that they have no feelings..this poor kid needed help where were you all when this happen…you proberbly did not want to interfere…let me tell you I would of and I would make does people pay for killing that 13 year old…who ever watch this kid being bullied shame on you I feel sick to my stomach…….
I just wanted to say that in this day in time it shouldnt matter wat your preferences are everybody has their own way of life and parents need to teach there kids right from wrong teach their kids that people weither adult or teenager should be able to make their own choices. What right do people have to pick on and bully someone because of ther life style. u no if that boy wanted to live his life that way that was his choice noone elses. I speak this way because i have friends and family that are gay and that is their life choices i dont look down on them for that at all I love them no matter what they choose
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The kids who bullied Asher Brown wanted him to die, and now they got what they wanted. No doubt they are all absolutely satisfied with the result and given the success of their enterprise thus far, they will now be emboldened to try it again on other gay kids, or straight kids who seem gay to them in some way.
Incitement to kill is a crime, but is this a crime to incite murder if the murder you wish to take place is of someone else by themself? As a priority, measures should be being taken to find out how many other gay kids these children told to kill themselves. If incitement to suicide is a crime, then without question, those responsible should be charged with the offence.
A lot of people posting on hate sites like YouTube are saying that all gay people should kill themselves and this no doubt impacts on gay teenagers using YouTube and other bully sites.
It is reassuring to note however that while YouTube and its ilk are swamped by hate and violence, the thumbs ups and thumbs downs indicate that the majority are not in support of all gay teens taking their own lives as you might otherwise believe from reading the reams of anti-homosexual rhetoric, most of it coming from self-proclaimed Christians.
While I am sure that Christians as a rule deplore bullying, violence and suicide, sadly the message given out at some of the more evangelical sects run by profiteering hucksters is at the very root cause of holier-than-thou grandstanding ultimately leading to youth gangs feeling justified in attacking defenceless kids half their size.
Gay kids can only take so much before they come to the conclusion that they have no future, if all it holds for them is universal hate and violence from their home, their peers, their school and their church. To such children, death is a merciful release.
May they rest in peace.
screw the teavhers my sister was being bullied for 2 straight years long and the teachers wouldnt do anything about it
This is tragic news. This needs to stop, community, parents we are all involved and we have the ability to change. It’s important to create a better place for our children!
Go into google and type, “Bane Elementary School Houston Texas” go look at the comments and you’ll see a.r brown, that simply say, “I did. Not like it”
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