Suicide Awareness

Nine known suicides all within one month. September. All guys ranging in age 13-19. Bullied for being gay or perceived of being gay.

Billy Lucas, 15, died Sept. 9

Cody Barker, 17, died Sept. 13

Tyler Clementi, 18, died Sept. 22

Asher Brown, 13, died Sept. 23

Harrison Brown, 15, died Sept. 25

Seth Walsh, 13, attempted suicide on Sept. 19 and was on life support for little over a week. He officially died on Sept. 28 after being taken off life support.

Raymond Chase, 19, died Sept. 29

Felix Sacco, 17, died Sept. 29

Caleb Nolt, 14, died Sept. 30

Bad things usually happen in 3s. This has happened nine times that we know of. There were probably more that weren’t publicized. Only five of these were publicized everywhere in great detail. Anti-gay bullying is one of those issues that needs to be taken care of now and today. It can no longer be put on the back burner.

Bullying is something everyone has gone through at some point in their lives, even I’ve been bullied. Just now with facebook and other social network sites, bullies have become bolder, and it’s become easier to spread words of hate about another person.

If you’re being bullied, you shouldn’t get discouraged because there is help out there. There’s The Trevor Project which is an organization “determined to end suicide among LGBTQ youth by providing life-saving and life-affirming resources including our nationwide, 24/7 crisis intervention lifeline, digital community and advocacy/educational programs that create a safe, supportive and positive environment for everyone.”

If you feel like you are being bullied and you don’t know how to handle the situation, call The Trevor Project’s suicide hotline at 1-866-U-TREVOR.

Dan Savage is also the creator of the “It gets better” project. He, along with his partner, posted a video on youtube on Sept. 21 after the first suicides, telling teens to not choose suicide because it does get better.

“However bad it is now, it gets better and it can get great, it can get awesome and your life can be amazing but you have to tough this period of it out and you have to live your life until you’re around for it to get amazing and it will,” Savage said.

With over 1 million hits on youtube, the “It gets better” video has spread like wildfire. Celebrities and people from all over the US have recorded their own stories letting everyone know it gets better with time.

Oct. 20 was also “Wear purple day” which was organized in remembrance of the recent suicides. Many students around the US wore purple to recognize the tragedies that had happened during September.

Bullying can carry on into college past middle and high school. At any time that you may feel overwhelmed due to bullying, please call The Trevor Project or call the Counseling and Wellness Center at 850-474-2420 or call the Hopeline Network at 1-800-SUICIDE. And again, I am always here to help and can be contacted at any time via e-mail at jnr12@students.uwf.edu.