Two teenagers in Brunswick, Ohio, apparently took their own lives in separate incidents over the weekend, several news outlets are reporting.
14-year-old Matthew Homyk died Friday night in a suspected suicide. Police are not releasing specific details surrounding his death. Friends of Homyk claim he had been bullied in school and on the Q&A website ask.fm.
“People picked on him over social media, I hear,” 13-year-old Kaitlyn Anderson, a friend of Homyk, told the Medina-Gazette. “He was picked on because he was different.”
It’s unclear whether Homyk was LGBT.
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This is not the first time ask.fm has come under fire for giving anonymous cyber bullies a platform to prey kids who just happen to be different or vulnerable. There are several Facebook pages with hundreds of thousands of followers that call for the site to be shut down.
The second teenager to take his own life was 17-year-old Anthony Gill. The teen was was found hanging in his backyard on Monday morning. It is believed that he, too, was a victim of bullying.
Both teens attended Brunswick High School, which is located just outside of Cleveland. The school announced that it is making grief counselors available to students, although some feel this is not enough.
The Plain Dealer, a local newspaper in Cleveland, reports that a group of students have asked that an official anti-bullying program be implemented at the school.
“Many students have requested an anti-bullying and suicide prevention group to be made,” a student wrote to the paper on Monday.
“Sadly, the principals have rejected this idea. So students are going to school, but not going to classes. They risk suspension, but don’t care. They hope to get media attention and hope the school changes their mind.”
Brunswick Superintendent Michael Mayell said the school plans to investigate if bullying was a contributing factor in the teenager’s suicides.
“Right now, it’s all just hearsay,” Mayell told the Post, “but it’s something we are going to be looking at more closely.”
Yes, sup, we know that bullying is not a problem in the schools and that even if it were, nothing can be done about it.
that_dude247
Man. If these kids can just make it out of high school and their little towns. IT DOES GET BETTER.
KittyLitter
There have been way too many suicides lately. It honestly can’t be THAT bad that they feel the need to end it all because of morons- these guys did have friends- they weren’t “alone.”
Will L
It’s always a shame to hear this, but what the hell is wrong with people these days? There have always been bullies. We had one in our school who would bully ANYONE not just gays. I had lots of other friends and you just learn to ignore the shithead. Life goes on. You have to learn to cope because, yes, it does get better but there will always be SOMETHING in life that requires you to be strong. High school is a learning experience. If you can’t handle high school, you certainly aren’t going to survive real life.
DShucking
@Will L: “If you can’t handle high school, you certainly aren’t going to survive real life.”
Obviously.
dsp
@Will L….yup, get where you are coming from, but there is a limit.! I was beat every other day, spite on in class every single day, friends I had out of school……would not be my friends at school…..then say I am so sorry but cannot be part of your torment!… I was laughed at by classmates,and teachers looked the other way or were part of my torment. So yes…..We can man up!!!!! But!!! and Yes but, there comes a time, enough is enough! When you are 12, 15 and even 18……!!!! It get’s better does not register! It is hell! I am a lucky person et my late 40’s to have gone trough it all.!! But in my trials and tribulations,…..there have happened to be a minimum of 4 suicide attemps on my behalf! Am i happy today? YES! did I know it then? NO!…Also, my family could never understand, except who and, …. as they….say what I am , is not part of them!!! I was left alone! I have not spoken to my familly in over 20 years! Not one of them has tried to contact me in the same amnount of time!!! So ya, !!! MAN UP YOU SISSIES! EFF YOU! I am a gay man. I am proud. My familly is not part of me, but my past is! So the scars are still emotionally thre, I have learned, I have overcome! My bulllies were my friends, my teaxchers and my familly! So I have survived Highschool….and am surviving LIFE! so stop beeing a bully by judging others lives you know nothing of!!!! I am strong! I am gay, and I am HAPPY! after 56 years!
sfbeast
Didn’t these kids have parents they could have told what was happening? How absolutely horrible.
WT-NZ
@dsp: Bravo and kudos to you Mr! Agree wholeheartedly with all you say. Walk a mile in someone elses shoes. Then,and only then, can you have even a slight understanding of the plights of others…
hotshot70
SChools keep saying they are working on preventing bullying. I was bullied in school until I punched the one guy right in the balls. The principal was gonna suspend me, but when I said I would go to public media and tell them how I am getting punished for being bullied, he dropped it. Its time schools made the penalties SEVERE. Expell them, arrest them, lock them in a REAL jail. See how they like “Bubba” welcoming them to the cell!
NG22
So sad to know we can’t save them all. But we have to try. I get so angry when I hear about complacent adults—parents , teachers, and administrators. I understand there are anti-gay people, but what would you rather have, a gay kid or a dead kid? It’s of the utmost importance to strongly address bullying at the first sign. I bet these poor people involved wish they hadn’t waited.
dali
It is presumed that these two boys have commited suicide “as a result of alleged bullying”. Apart from hearsay, nothing really proves that bullying was the one cause of their suicide. Don’t call me a troll. I have been a victim of bullying many years in childhood and adolescence. I understand the feeling. Yet I have not killed myself.
What people need to know is that scientific studies have shown that there are many risk factors that can lead to suicide, such as being male, previous self-harm, mental illness such as depression and schizoprhenia, drug/alcohol abuse, childhood physical and sexual abuse, poverty, physical illness such as cancer and HIV, and especially in professions like doctors, vets, dentists and farmers that have access to highly potent drugs and poisons. The list of risk factors goes on and on.
What I’m saying is that although bullying is despicable and perhaps criminal, it should not explain solely one’s suicide. These boys certainly had other “issues”.
Suicide is never an option, no matter the reason.
gyntlgynt
I can’t believe the principals said no to the students of that school.You think they would know that it’s harder to learn anything when you being bullied.
actinglead
A few comments on this article from a Brunswick student who actually knew these boys:
I was surprised to find this article here, it seems to be taking over my life. Neither of them were LGBT and showed strong interest in girls (if i remember, they have had girlfriends in the past.) Yes, they have been bullied, but Brunswick is a larger school so the administrators find it too hard to be stopped (yes,they are very lazy.)They never really showed any signs of depression, or any self harm, to a point where i think their parents did not even know. It is a sad thing, but the things they are putting into place at Brunswick is slow, lacking, and most likely not going to work. Especially since they are copying other schools in the county.
And since this is a gay news site. It is very conservative over here, so anti bullying things are useless. There is no GSA at Brunswick,there is only one in the county at Medina only created 2 years ago…
Feel free to ask me more about the issue… but I do not know everything about it
gaym50ish
The school district will look into it and determine that these boys never “reported” being bullied, so it won’t go any further. Or they will release a statement that they are “taking steps to combat bullying,” or the community is “addressing the problem of teen suicides.”
These are statements designed to make people feel better, not to call them to action. The public’s attention usually lasts for a few weeks and then it’s back to business as usual.
Gay groups like GLSEN have resources for schools to establish anti-bullying programs, but they are almost always rejected because parents don’t want their children “indoctrinated” by gays. Focus on the Family even has a program called “True Tolerance” that purports to teach parents “how to protect your schools from the gay agenda.” It instructs parents to monitor anti-bullying programs to make sure they don’t acknowledge there are gay kids who are victims.
Of course we don’t know if these kids were gay. It’s convenient to blame a suicide on depression, but that does not get to the root of a person’s despair. We know from bitter experience that many gay youth simply suffer in silence if their families are fundamentalist Christians.
disneyvillain
R.I.P Matthew Homyk and Anthony Gill. My prayers go out too both of the families god bless them.
Louis
Its funny here this thread is about 2 kids who took their lives due too bullying yet the same pathetic hypocritical attitudes of some from the LGBT community continues too go on.
Its either they need too suck it up man up if they cant survive high school then how do they expect too survive life after high school etc etc etc…
Its nauseating reading comments like this ALL THE TIME not just on sites like this one either.
Enough is enough with the careless heartless macho attitudes about stuff like this this needs too stop in this country.
The fact the very SAD fact of the matter is that some of the worst culprits are from and within the LGBT community in regards too bullying sad but inevitably true.
My heart goes out too the families of both these kids and it does not matter if a child is gay or straight children are precious they need too be saved they deserve too and need too live in this world happily carefree and most of all being able too love themselves and accept themselves for what and who they are as human beings.
Everyone belongs in this world and too the bullies gay or straight you aren’t even capable of caring unless the machismo attitudes and the who gives a crap attitudes and suck it up crap is an example of CARING about your fellow human beings .
Smh.
Louis
This community gets more and more callous and unfeeling everyday.Smh indeed.
Doris Fontaine
just as Eva explained I cant believe that someone can profit $8599 in one month on the internet. did you look at this web site… http://gg.gg/z5yv
Cam
@Will L:
So it’s the kids fault and nothing should be done about it? That’s like saying “Gee, women were raped all the time when I was young and they just learned to ignore it.”
Treat bullying inside school the same way it would be treated outside school. Charge the kid with assault, harassment, etc…
frubino
You are completely motherfuckers … to bully pupils is your priority? Dements!!
DShucking
@hotshot70: Lovely. You’ve clearly not overcome your trauma since you have the presence of mind to wish violent prison rape on your childhood tormenters.
Matt G
1- you don’t have to be gay to be a victim of homophobia! If kids think you’re gay, you’re a target, regardless if you’re straight or asexual.
2- even if it doesn’t lead to suicide, bullying an homophobia are damaging to kids growing up. At best it teaches skills that can easily lead to being a sociopath like masking feelings, pathological lying, etc that you have to develop just to stay alive.
Alan down in Florida
I wish them eternal peace from their demons and offer my condolences to their survivors but I wonder if they knew each other. My last experience with high school was almost 45 years ago but back then 17 year olds and 14 year olds didn’t hang out together.
I can’t wrap my mind around the “coincidence” that two teenagers who decided life was no longer liveable happened to attend the same small town high school and chose the exact same day to do it. What are the odds of that happening? Has to be so long that you’d more likely win Powerball than what happened occurring.
actinglead
@actinglead: a little update on my previous comment. Bullying has no connection to this story now. It was caused by mental health issues and issues in other areas of their personal life.
asby
i think part of what makes it harder for kids today is what makes it easier….the internet…..back in the day once u left school u could go home and not have to deal with anyone…..this day an age with Facebook,twitter,instagram and who knows what other sites….kids are getting messed with 24/7 on a bigger scale….i hated high school and grew up in a small town …i could not wait to get out and did as soon as i could……anytime u read about any of these kids killing themselves it is just really sad
Louis
@asby: Nods indeed nowadays cyberbullying is worse then it has ever been and many of them get away with it .You really have too wonder what kind of parents could ever let their kids grow up too be soulless sociopaths.
tdx3fan
@that_dude247: There are no small schools in the Cleveland burbs. When these kids start to realize that they control their own destiny is when things get better. We need to place more focus on empowering children because we will never be able to truly end bullying.
tdx3fan
@KittyLitter: It has little to do with having friends and even bullying. It has to do with prolonged periods of complete hopelessness that often goes unnoticed because these kids are invisible and often stay in the middle (not to bad and not to good) where they draw little attention to themselves. If you know a C and D student that has no real prospects, pay close attention to them.
tdx3fan
@dsp: I am very happy that you took control of your own life and made it through. That is awesome news. Please share your story as much as possible because these kids need to realize they are not alone in what they are going through.
tdx3fan
@NG22: Honestly, most of the homophobes I have known would much rather have a dead kid. They might not say that openly, but that is how it is. I once had a family member complain because we did an AIDS quilt patch for a kid that had died of AIDS and not knowing who they were I mentioned the kid was gay. Being dead from AIDS was something that should be honored… being gay… not so much… in their view.
Billysees
So many heartfelt comments here.
These stand out to me.
KittyLitter – “It honestly can’t be THAT bad that they feel the need to end it all because of morons- these guys did have friends- they weren’t “alone.” ”
dsp – sad to read your bio. Good you said “I am HAPPY! after 56 years!”
NG22 – “So sad to know we can’t save them all. But we have to try. I get so angry when I hear about complacent adults—parents , teachers, and administrators.”
gaym50ish – “We know from bitter experience that many gay youth simply suffer in silence if their families are fundamentalist Christians.”
Louis – “…children are precious they need too be saved they deserve too and need too live in this world happily carefree and most of all being able too love themselves and accept themselves for what and who they are as human beings.”
Matt G – “…bullying an homophobia are damaging to kids growing up.”
asby – “…anytime u read about any of these kids killing themselves it is just really sad”
Louis – “You really have too wonder what kind of parents could ever let their kids grow up too be soulless sociopaths.”
tdx3fan – “We need to place more focus on empowering children because we will never be able to truly end bullying.”
tdx3fan – “@dsp: I am very happy that you took control of your own life and made it through. That is awesome news. Please share your story as much as possible because these kids need to realize they are not alone in what they are going through.”
One further comment — think of all the good things that are occurring towards LGBT folks and encourage them to happen more often.
ironhorse
@that_dude247:
This not always true. I came out in the 6th grade to my friends and parents. When I reach the age fifth teen year old. I decided to attend my first Gay Youth Group, when saw first hand my own kind rejecting me cause my color of skin. When i introduce myself with a open hand, they look at in a evil way and move away from me. The group was made up of twenty Caucasian high school kids, broke the full circle when i sat in the circle.
In my Junior year, felt more of this racism with a fellow Gay classmate in P.E. class after saving his butt from b jocks in the locker room. He did want my kind (color gay boy) saving him.
After high school, attended couple bars at twenty-one (Charlies, Preston’s, Nu towne saloon,BS West,) I was told that my kind wasn’t welcome in those bars by the patrons. I wish Gay community would drop all the racism. I love all people and don’t care about the stupid (age,sex, race,body type) only judge people by the their char, not skin tone.
queerwhizkid
i am in Hs and get majorly bullied for being gay. if i could like hide it i would.. but i can’t i am my momz clone. get hit with a lot of food and faggot is written all over stuff (my locker and desk).. i have though of killing myself. But i knw it will get better and i have a teacher who is vry supportive. my grades r good, but not sure i will go to college (will go on line). But i see light at th end of the…..tunnel?? (i think thts the saying). I will always be me, and i really like qeerity and a appreciate all th support.