A 15-year-old Indiana teen took his own life last week in what is thought to be another suicide at least partially connected to school bullying, a result of the teen’s perceived sexual orientation.
Billy Lucas (via Facebook)
Billy (William) Lucas, a student at Greensburg Community High School in Greensburg, IN, was was found dead in a barn at his grandmother’s home Thursday evening — he had hanged himself.
Friends of Lucas say that he had been tormented for years. [WTHR-TV]
“He was threatened to get beat up every day,” friend and classmate Nick Hughes said. “Sometimes in classes, kids would act like they were going to punch him and stuff and push him.”
“Some people at school called him names,” Hughes said, saying most of those names questioned Lucas’ sexual orientation, and that Lucas, for the most part, did little to defend himself.
“He would try to but people would just try to break him down with words and stuff and just pick on him,” Hughes said.
Decatur County Coroner Doug Banks said Lucas left a note, but that it didn’t refer to bullying or blame anyone; Lucas reportedly never self-identified as gay.
A Facebook memorial page created in Lucas’ honor, begins with this bio: “Everyone made fun of him at school and he couldn’t take it anymore so he decided to end his life”.
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When will our children stop killing them selves?
When will the schools begin doing something more,than just talk about it?
OUR CHILDREN ARE KILLING THEM SELFS!!!
What more needs to be said?
How many more will die before something is done about this act of bulling?
Billy did not need to Die some one should of seen the signs or did the school ignore his what to his classmates was bullying?
I think bullying will stop as soon as the adults stop bullying each other too. The kids think its okay with what they see on the news and everything. They think its okay. It’s just as much the adults fault as the kids. I’m not defending the bullys actions because the system is all fucked up as it is. The bully thinks its okay even if sometimes the bully doesn’t beleive it, but the bully is so self conscience that he/she thinks that they should bully to fit in to society. And it’s like that even in the real world not just high school anymore. Something has to be done with ignorance and disrespect toward our fellow man.
when a boy whom i know personally and had been bullied all his school life finally blurted out he’d shoot his bullies up virginia-tech style,
his school, which didn’t lift a finger all along against the bullies, made the boy into the problem and subjected him to a corrective counseling program.
the school did nothing about the bullies.
that’s the way it is in this country where the biggest bullies are the “winners.” bullying is the guiding principle in individualist capitalism.
Quit blaming the schools or any other system…why is it that any other profession is not blamed…what about his doctor, he’s actually trained…what about the parents of the other children… homophobia I would think is a learned behavior…this time it was bulling because of sexual orientation next time perhaps race, religion or what ever else the bully needs to make him/her self feel important..
OMG as if the teacher didn’t see this happening to the poor kid, he seems like a great child but them stupid people that teased him should go to heal because if they were in the same position as billy they would of did the same thing. i hate people like that. and as if the teacher didn’t do anything to help.
billy R.I.P we will miss you <3