Mom says Springfield boy, 11, who committed suicide was repeatedly bullied at school

Mom says Springfield boy, 11, who committed suicide was repeatedly bullied at school
by The Republican Newsroom
Wednesday April 08, 2009, 9:06 PM


Carl Joseph Walker-Hoove, 11, killed himself at his home on Northampton Avenue in Springfield on Monday.

By MIKE PLAISANCE
and PATRICK JOHNSON
Staff writers

SPRINGFIELD - Two days after the worst day of her life, when she found her 11-year-old son had committed suicide by hanging himself, Sirdeaner L. Walker said on Wednesday she wants the bullying to stop.

She found Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover hanging by an extension cord on the second floor of their 124 Northampton Ave. home Monday night after he had endured another day of taunting at New Leadership Charter School, where he was a sixth-grader, she said.

<snip>

"It was the worst experience of my life, and I'm a breast cancer survivor. Four years, it was four years ago I had breast cancer," Walker said.

She phoned the school repeatedly since Carl began attending in September but the bullying continued, she said.

Other students made him a target, daily calling him gay, making fun of how he dressed and threatening him, she said.

More:
http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/2009/04/mom_says_springfield_boy_11_wh.html?category=Deaths&category=Education&category=Springfield

Very sad! He looks like a really nice kid. May he rest in peace. :mad:

My prayers to the family!

It can be so painful, either crushing children like this or making them cruel in response.

"Calling him gay" just reminds me of how very important it is to combat homophobia just among our fellow adults because it is something that children learn and use to bully.
So sad.

where kids take their own lives in this circumstances.

Liverpool, England. Sadly I do not think this is an American phenomenon.

that poor little boy... he must have been in so much pain. :cry:

My heart goes out to his mother, his friends and family... and any other kids out there still being treated like shit by bullies, and having to watch as so many adults do *nothing* to stop it or even discourage it.

It's sickening that kids that young have already learned to use 'gay' as an insult.

as an insult - morning zoo shock DJs...I'm looking in your direction! :mad:

mom's may not (i.e. crap, damn, etc.) I will boot their butts to the curb if they call each other names or refer to something as "gay," even if it is just a silly video game they are talking about.

Are they not aware that a key component of education is the safety of their students and the protection of the "learning environment"?

Do the adults there not have the proper training and motivation?

This story is heart-breaking.

Almost all the children who killed others in schools were bullied beyond endurance. Children shouldn't have to be in a position that they start thinking about killing themselves or others.

Why don't school officials have a defined protocol to stop bullying?

Go to www.WhiteHouse.gov and speak up on this issue!

That it builds character, prepares kids for the 'real world' where bullies have been allowed to be as sociopathic and horrible as they please - encouraged to do so, even... so better to let them get used to dealing with it, I suppose is how they view it.

As with corporal punishment for children, they view it as 'not so bad'.

It's sick, really. It's so long past time to put an end to bullying.

I *know* some of this goes on in front of adults who do nothing or not enough.

Gay adults biggest failure is that we still haven't been able to stop our gay kids from getting tortured at school.

Holds culpability for these deaths.

I'm so so so sad about this. And angry.

there are no words, none whatsoever, that can be said that would properly express the magnitude, the horror of this tragedy. An innocent child is dead, a mother is devestated, and once again we must bear witness to the fruits of homophobic bullying. I am sure the officials will say all the right things but it is too late, too late for Carl, too late for his family and friends and we as a society will never know the potential, the good that Carl could have done. While I am not a person of faith I am reminded of the shortest verse in the Bible and that simply is "Jesus Wept" and this day I am weeping with him.

after finding her son dead. You'd have to fit me for a straight jacket. I hope his classmates parents are fucking proud of the values they've instilled in their children.

What a beautiful child. Words cannot express my sympathy for his mother.

when he himself was probably not sure...

:cry:

Rest in peace, Carl....

The way the school chose to "deal" with the bullying makes me absolutely ill. They made the victim eat lunch with some of his attackers everyday for a week. Don't adults remember what it was like being a kid and being bullied? Bullies get off on causing fear and strife. They don't want to communicate and make nice. Bullies no matter what age are sociopaths who target the vulnerable.

That poor sweet awesome kid. I just want to hug him when I see that picture.

why more people don't consider free home schooling options under the circumstances? I'm not placing blame, but I wish we didn't feel so compelled to comply with societal norms that we send some children into torturous situations on a daily basis.

:cry:

"Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt." One the biggest lies taught to children today!