March 31, 2010 12:33 PM

13-Year-Old Jon Carmichael Commits Suicide Following Bullying (VIDEO)

By
Edecio Martinez
Topics
Daily Blotter

Jon Carmichael (CBS/KTVT)

JOSHUA, Texas (CBS/KTVT/AP) Bullying may have claimed the life of another student. Jon Carmichael took his own life Sunday after some say he was bullied by bigger classmates.

Jon was an eighth grader at Loflin Middle School and those closest to the 13-year-old say he had been picked-on for years.

Phoebe Prince (Personal Photo)

Jeremy Stanbaugh, one of Jon's best friends, told CBS affiliate KTVT that Jon was bullied "because he was short."

"It's just gonna be quiet around here without him around," Jeremy said to the local station.

Other students told KTVT that Jon was a good student and well liked among his friends.

Karen Gowan, who took Jon to her church with her son, hopes there is a lesson to be learned about bullying.

"If there's one positive thing that would come out of this is that kids would learn to treat other kids with respect," Gowan told the station.

In Massachusetts, another student, 15-year-old Phoebe Prince, committed suicide after she was mercilessly harassed for months, something that school administrators knew about but did not stop.

Now, with nine students charged in the bullying of Prince, who hanged herself at her family's home in January, questions have arisen about how accountable school officials should be for stopping bullying.

Reporting Contributed by CBS Affiliate KTVT


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by iloveujon3214 May 2, 2010 1:52 PM EDT
Jon was so amazing!
I wish he never had left</3
He could put a smile on anyones face
Rest in Peace Jon Thomas Carmichael
I love you
-Bailey Martin
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by deannabeans April 11, 2010 11:52 AM EDT
My son is bullied due to his size.... His doctor has expressed concerns two years in a row and I've gone to the school, spoken with the asst. principal and the councelor, nothing has changed. So I continue to talk to my child, watch my child, have him enrolled in taekwondo and try to teach my child he's a wonderful person and to disregard what the kids say or do.... It's a shame that the schools allow this to happen even when it's brought to their attention. I'm actually looking at moving out of Garland and into another city so I can remove my kids from a school system that doesn't listen to parents or pay attention to what is happening right under their roof...
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by htcrebel September 18, 2010 4:32 PM EDT
Hi...

Do what you have to do to keep your family safe and healthy. I was bullied in Highschool, and my experience is that if I didn't have the parents I have...who knows what I might have done....I know I wouldn't be here to answer this. This is a problem that is hard to fix....but the answer is in your own hands...
take care of him :)
by ModelIt April 1, 2010 10:58 PM EDT
I thought it was fascinating that this story was followed by politicians avataring each other. Bullying continues well into adulthood.

We have got to model and expect respectful behavior if we want our children to respond in kind. I've read through most of the posts here, and those on the Prince story. It's truly frightening how many adults bully each other and just horrifying that some blame the victims.

Bullying is complicated because empathy is something most readily learned very early in childhood and then reinforced through modeling in the family. By the time a kid is in middle or high school, an administrator can discipline the kid (or kick the kid out), and that may stop the behavior for a time, but will probably not stop the behavior completely because the kid hasn't developed empathy and probably doesn't witness it at home. The research is clear: many bullies have bullying parents and/or bullying sibs.

Teaching empathy is possible, but time consuming and not always well received by someone who doesn't relate.

If we really want to see an impact on bulling, parents need to start modeling caring behavior as soon as children are born. Call me a pessimist, but I won't see it in my lifetime.
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by chronicdime April 1, 2010 11:26 AM EDT
last time i checked we are not animals although some parents allow their children to act like it something needs to be done to stop this file charges against these bullies and if that doesn't work go after the parents its not fair to these kids who are being bullied they haven't done anything to deserve that no one should have to suffer any kind of abuse just imagine what these bullies will be like when their older!!!
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by 4merGOPr April 1, 2010 10:05 AM EDT
If the parents of the children who bullied this poor young man knew of their childrens actions they should be held accountable and charged with complicity. If parents want control of their childrens morals, education, and lives they should face the consequences of their childrens actions. Enough, if a parent can't control their children then these children should be adopted out.
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by Robin081564 April 1, 2010 9:33 AM EDT
Bullying is not a product of our modern society. It has always been going on. I would guess that it is a part of our evolutionary history. The larger meaner kids establish dominance over the smaller ones based on physical superiority. We see the same thing in the animal kingdom.

If anything in modern times has changed in this regard, it is the fact that there is now more opportunity for the opposite to occur, especially in adulthood. Today, at age 13 the big fish eats the little one... but, fast-forward to age 33 and you will find that the former little nerdy guy is now the boss at work and the former alpha-male is now at his mercy and doing his bidding. Now that, is a situation that did not occur naturally before our modern societal evolution.
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by peacefulperson April 1, 2010 9:47 AM EDT
That is, if the nerdy 13-year-old LIVES to be 33.

And knowledge has always been power. Smart people have always been the most powerful, at all times in our history and in our evolution. Brute strength is a useful tool only when you have the brains to know when to use it and when not to use it.
by Mark_67 April 1, 2010 8:05 AM EDT
Any of the school staff that was informed of either childs case and did nothing should be charged with a crime. I have had four kids in schools at one time and I see it all too often. School staff dont want to be bothered with bullying yet a school girl can be arrested for writing on her desk. Another striped searched for advil. I, after years of dealing with the public school systems have no respect for any school staff member. I have seen good kids go bad because of the way teachers and staff have treated them but they know just short of having sex with a student or hitting a student, they cant be fired. They know the state protects them. Thats why the school staff wont be held responsable for these poor kids suicides from bullying that went on in thier schools.
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by markamichaud April 1, 2010 6:00 AM EDT
Breaks my heart...13 years old.
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by lastdays April 1, 2010 2:40 AM EDT
These are different times, not the good times of the past.
We must take different actions, it is not going to get better for a while. We must be wise to save our families, look at things differently.
The reason? these are the last days of this system of things.
The Devil knows his time is short, (he will soon be thrown into the abyss, or bottomless pit as some versions say)and he wants to do as much damage as possible before he cannot act any longer.
The cruel actions you see are due to the influence of Satan and his wicked angels.(when Satan was cast out of heaven a multitude of angels had also turned wicked and were cast out with him down to this earth)
So children who are not taught correctly by their parents can be used by these wicked spirits to be unloving and very cruel.
To protect our children from them we must pray, intervene, remove them from the site of danger, whatever it takes.
We are fighting a dangerous enemy, but we can have help, all the angels didn't turn bad. There are many who have stayed loyal to their creator. These can be a help to us, and a protection.Pray to God to protect and help us using these angels--- times are different, our actions for protection must be different.
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by o_b_a April 1, 2010 1:32 AM EDT
The following controversial short film is about this subject:

http://www.ronansescape.com/

It won first place at the recent International Sedona Film Festival held in Arizona.
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