Really Sad: Freshman Commits Suicide After Bullying

Stuff like this really angers me:

ACTON - Jeremiah Lasater was a gentle giant. At 6 feet 5 inches tall and 220 pounds, he was the kind of teen who can bully other kids if he wishes.

Instead, the 14-year-old Vasquez High School freshman was the one who got pushed around. Classmates routinely pulled down his pants. They threw food at him in the cafeteria. They made fun of the boy with the thick glasses who took special-education classes.

The teasing probably started when Jeremiah was in sixth grade, said senior German Hernandez, a teaching assistant in the boy's fifth-period Algebra I class. Kids called him a nerd.

"He didn't deserve that," he said. "He should have talked to somebody."

Jeremiah apparently kept his troubles to himself until Monday, when he decided he couldn't take it anymore. After a student threw chili on him during lunch, he walked to a restroom, pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head.

You can read the rest of the story here.

Fellow teachers and staff (and parents!), please be on the lookout for warning signs. Sometimes kids will keep it to themselves, so it is up to us to step up for them.