White Pines against Teenage Suicide
On October 20th 2010, the students of White Pines took a stand, literally, against Gay Teenagers Suicide. The student body of White Pines watched as Alana Palunuk, Sophie Gahne, and Laura Beach displayed an emotionally moving slideshow about teenage suicide due to discrimination, racial remarks and sexuality. The slideshow review six young individuals who took their lives after years of bullying about their sexuality. The suicides took place in the states and six individuals are:
Tyler Clement – 18-year old freshman at Rutger’s University.
Raymond Chase – 19-year old Sophomore from Johnson and Wales Univeristy in Rhode Island.
Seth Walsh – 13-year old student at Jacobsen Middle School in California.
Justin Aaberg – 15-year old who attended Anoka high school in Anoka Minnesota.
Asher Brown – 13-year old who lived in Cypress, Texas with his family.
Billy ‘Williams’ Lucas – Billy Lucas was a student at Greensburg Community High School in Greensburg Indiana.
These young boys were all harassed and bullied because of their sexuality.
I was able to have an interview with these students and talk to them about what their opinion was about the suicides and where they received the idea about starting this slideshow presentation.
Q: How did you come up with this?
Laura: We felt the need to help.
Sophie: There was a group on Facebook about wearing purple on this day to remember the teenagers who committed suicide.
Alana: It was to show awareness that this can really happen.
Laura: It was on the news channel and on Facebook and I thought we should do something.
Q: Why did you do it?
Laura: To stop the negative and derogative terms against gays.
Sophie: We wanted to take action against this. People don’t realize that words mean something, so they keep on doing it.
Alana: People go around calling people gay without really realizing it.
Q: How do you feel about the subject of teenage suicides?
Sophie: It’s horrible! It’s terrible to think that people could drive someone to do that, its like they(victims of teenage suicide) dig a hole too deep that it is impossible to climb out of and get help.
Laura: Many people think that its an escape to get out, no one will change for you.
Alana: It takes energy to do something like this, like they’d rest for days before committing suicide.
Q: How did you come across this important day?
Laura: We saw it on the news.
Alana: It was on Facebook and deviant art.
Sophie: It just sort of a movement.
Q: Why do you think it is so important to get this message across?
Sophie: They don’t realize what they mean to someone, a bully could call someone gay without realizing what it actually means.
Alana: Someone’s words are another person’s insults.
Laura: People have to think positive when someone is hurt, to embrace and be there for the victim.
Sophie: Sticks and stones can break your bones, but names can make your heart ache.
Q: What do you hope students get out of this?
Alana: A new opinion on teenage bullying.
Laura: We hope that students take time to think about what is going on in reality, not just on tv.
Sophie: People should learn realization, saying something could make a person could go home and cry for hours.