This has to stop.

Please, please talk to your kids.

Make sure they aren't getting bullied.

Make sure they aren't doing the bullying.

Teach them compassion and acceptance and if you can't teach them that, teach them to not hurt others intentionally. Please.

They hear everything .. they repeat everything.

Those racial slurs, those 'retard' references, those 'homo' jokes. Don't let that be their source of reference on how to treat others who might be different from them.

My bullied son's last day on Earth - CNN.com (http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/23/bullying.suicide/index.html)

A child shouldn't have to live in fear of being ridiculed and teased, to be shamed or insulted on a daily basis.

It is an outrage and the adults need to make it stop, because the kids can't.

As parents, we can't tolerate our children bullying others. When my son was in highschool, he acquiesed to some bullying of a gay classmate. I absolutely hit the ceiling. He made excuses that amounted to, "Well, I wasn't the one who said anything, I was just there." I taught all of them that if they stand by and don't speak up, they are just as guilty. I am proud to say that as he got older, he developed long-term, good friendship with several gay gentlemen (son is married and straight). If he had not stopped the gay bashing, not only would be have been sort of a mean person, he would have lost the benefit of these friendships.

When you child is the subject of bullying, I think it is a lot tougher. On the one hand, NOTHING hurts worse than seeing your child bullied. On the other, kids with a victim mentality have a big bullseye written on them. If they don't learn to have self confidence and stand up for themselves (without mama), it will only get worse.

That being said, with the internet and just the overall meaness that is out there - which I lay at the feet of a lot of the crappy parents who aren't thinking that they owe a responsiblity to the community at large when they give birth to pitbulls - a lot of bullied kids don't stand much of a chance. It is a bad, bad, bad situation. The heavy lifting needs to come from the parents of the bullies because they have the most power to change it.

Too many parents make excuses for their little darlings and believe everything the little Eddie Haskles tell them. If you think your child wouldn't bully, fabulous. But check it out. Sometimes where there is smoke there is fire.

:congrats::congrats::congrats::congrats:

You wouldn't believe what being bullied as a child does to a person as an adult. There are all kinds of residual effects. And it's surprising (or not?) how many child bullies turn into adult bullies. We don't pay attention to this problem as adults because as adults, we're supposed to be able to deal with it. We shouldn't have to - we should learn as children.

Karried thanks for starting this thread, I hope more people read it and talk with their children about bullying and suicide. One of my friends commited suicide when I was about 14, he was bullied by his abusive father, I still think about it from time to time. I wonder what kind of man could do that to their own child.

This next part isnt really about suicide but I saw a story on the news about it not to long ago and they said alot of kids are doing this. There is a video on the website that is just heartbreaking to listen to, but if it stops just one kid from "playing" this game its worth a look. Sorry about going a little off topic. Again...the first part of this video is very disturbing. GASP (http://www.stop-the-choking-game.com/en/home.html)

omg.. that first part broke my heart..... but thanks for sharing.

We have to talk to our kids about this kind of thing, even though it's painful, can you imagine if we didn't talk to them about it and something horrible happened?