Another One Gone
I saw his face on my television screen and I looked away. Pictures of a fresh-faced young teen with a bright smile flashed on the screen and I looked away because it was too early to hear the news of his fate. I went into my own thoughts about what I had to do that day as the news told his story. Not hearing his story didn’t change the circumstance, but for at least a few hours I didn’t have to feel his family’s pain.
When I got to school that morning one of sixth grade students approached and said “Another kid committed suicide because he was bullied.” All day long one or two students in each class came and told me parts of Lennon Baldwin’s story – he was 15, he was from NJ, he hung himself because he was being bullied on facebook because he was different. As the day wore on, I read the stories online. There was ‘suspected bullying’ but no one was confirming it. So I offered that glimmer of hope to my students because hope is all I have sometimes. Please don’t let it be due to bullying, I thought.
That night it was confirmed – WE LOST ANOTHER KID TO BULLYING. Lennon Baldwin was bullied on Facebook by three other kids. Another young spirit full of life – GONE. RIP Lennon Balwin. This time Lennon Balwin’s family has to suffer because he is GONE. His family will be suffering for years. Death is never easy, but when it happens because of bullying it’s senseless. And all the stories of this kid talk about how he always smiled….ugghhh he smiled and hid his pain from his family who is suffering without him.
I am a teacher And LOSING ANOTHER KID TO BULLYING tears me up. It feels like some people in society just can’t handle the technology we have today. When will kids learn that their words really diminish other kids? I can’t imagine the amount of pain that Lennon Balwin was made to feel by his peers.
In the movie, The Hunger Games, hope is described as the only thing stronger than Fear. My hope is that this generation is smarter and kinder than the previous and they won’t allow this to keep happening. RIP Lennon Balwin.
Hugs,
marlene
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