Baseball phenom, 13, dies by suicide. He came home from school, left video: 'I hate my life'

[RSherman]

26. What are the schools supposed to do

This story and others like it are absolutely heartbreaking. That said, what are the schools supposed to do? I taught high school for 33 years. School staff and administration did what we could, what was in our control. But now with social media, stuff gets started outside of school, then the kids bring it in to the school. I had two girls who I knew were having a problem with each other. I went to each separately, talked to them, begged them not to fight. The one girl was pretty receptive, but the other girl kept up crap on social media. She took it too far and the other girl attacked her during class. The kids think they're all tough online and they don't think the other party will really do anything about it. And, can I tell you the number of ADULTS who weigh in on teens' social media? It's horrible. Forty year old women "yelling" at a kid online. We had a parent trying to hunt down a high school boy at a concert because he heard the boy had said something bad about his daughter. Another girl planned an attack on another student. She pushed the girl's face in her locker from behind. She then threw her phone to a friend so that the fight could be recorded and posted online. Fortunately, she picked the wrong girl and the "victim" took the aggressor to the ground. And, can I tell you how often I was bullied by students and just had to take it? In a math class, this girl called me over every day for help. When I tried to explain the math problem, she would immediately start to argue with me, always ending with her calling me a "b...tch" and a "c*nt". There was a meeting with the girl, school social worker, principal and me but it never resolved. The girl's mother wrote a horrible letter to me. This girl is the one who I just referred to who started a fight. Thankfully, she was kicked out of school for the rest of the year. There was a parent conference with an elementary school student's father (big guy) and he came over the table at the female principal. Teachers were threatened by parents all the time.

When I was in high school, I tried not to get stuck in the halls after the bell. There were 2 girls who would stuff me in my locker. I did not use the bathrooms for fear of running into them. I did not tell anyone; I just dealt with it. I did not feel damaged or suicidal. I don't know why the results of bullying are so different now. It has to be social media.