Where is the love? Stop the Bullying

There have been many high profile cases of bullying where the bullies pushed their victim to suicide. More recently, there have been criminal charges against the bullies. Charges are getting more serious, yet there is continued bullying going on in schools across the nation.

This past Thursday, Jordan Lewis, a 15-year-old from Cambria, Illinois, shot himself because of the bullying he received in school. He had always loved football and played for his school his freshman year at Cartersville High School, but quit after the first day because he was picked on. His father, Brad Lewis, posted a series of videos to his Facebook page the night his son took his life. The video has an anti-bullying message, and Lewis explains his son’s actions. “This bullying has to stop. People have to stop treating other people the way they do,” said Lewis.

According to Lewis, his son watched an anti-bullying video in school the day before he committed suicide. In the video, the child went home and killed himself. This might have been a trigger for his son who texted one of his friends saying how he might hurt himself. His alarmed friend told her grandma who tried to reach out to Lewis’ ex-wife, who his son was living with at the time; the grandma of the friend ended up calling the police who then made a wellness visit to the Lewis household in Cambria, IL. After his mother left for work, Jordan called 911 and shot himself in the chest. The day Jordan killed himself was also Spirit Day, a day that raises awareness to bullying. Lewis thinks this might have been a coincidence and that his son might have wanted to send a message. “My son knows me well enough, that if he couldn’t get anything accomplished, I could take on what he wanted stopped,” Lewis said.

Recently, Rebecca Ann Sedwick, a 12-year-old from Lakeview, Florida, jumped from a silo in an abandoned cement plant. She had been harassed by her peers at school and on social media according to police. In her case, two of her bullies have been charged with felony counts of aggravated harassment. According to investigators, one of the said on Facebook that they knew they were bullying Rebecca and didn’t care.

Countless others have died because of tormenting by their peers at school and on social media sites like Facebook and Twitter. The saying, “Treat others how you wish to be treated,” is extremely true in the case of bullying. How many others will have to die for people to realize the severity of it?

By Erin Eskew