[DiamondSmiles]

Rose Troup Buchanan
independent.co.uk

10 December 2014

An American twelve year old boy has killed himself after he was bullied by classmates for being a cheerleader, according to friends.

Ronin Shimizu, from Folsom, California, is believed to have taken his own life on Wednesday at around 3pm, but, local police authorities have not released any further details.

The young boy attended Folsom Middle School, participating in the school’s drama club and performing in the Vista Junior Eagles Cheer Team as the team’s only male member, before dropping out amid allegations of severe bullying.

“In 6th grade when he left to go home-school…saw him in the locker room. He just looked so happy to leave the schools. He knew he didn’t want to be bullied again,” 13 year old Hunter Reed, a friend of Ronin’s, told FOX40.

A member of Ronin’s old cheerleading squad told CBS Sacramento, “I heard that people called him gay because he was a cheerleader”.

Another friend, 11 year old Mia Kleinbardt, said, “Bullying him because of cheerleading, it’s not right. It’s what he loves to do and that’s a human right to do that”.

Shortly before his death, Ronin had left the public school system and signed up to the Folsom Cordova Unified School District’s home-school program.

Folsom Middle School confirmed that allegations of bullying were reported to the school by Ronin’s parents on numerous occasions.

“I can tell you we looked into each one of them and investigated them fully and took appropriate action for each instance,” District spokesperson Dan Thigpen told The Sacramento Bee newspaper.

“We don’t know if there was a connection between bullying and his death,” he said. “But, at the end of the day, we want all of our students to be protected from any form of harassment at school,” he added.

His family declined to speak to the press, as family and friends gathered on Thursday in a quiet candlelight vigil to the memory of their son.


Are Schools to Blame for Homophobic Bullying?
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/ed...s-9873421.html

[niknik]

Part of me feels like if that was my son I would be out for blood.
But on the other hand I wonder how the parents of this kid didn't know how depressed their kid was.
I dislike bullies, I think all bullies deserve to be taught a lesson.

[Mr Poo]

Parents fault in my mind.. They should have prepaired him for possible bullying if he wanted to join the cheerleading team as a 12 year old boy..

[GRiZ]

Poor child. It's a real sign of the times. Another kid falls victim to gay bullying

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by GODISNOTGREAT ↗

Poor child. It's a real sign of the times. Another kid falls victim to gay bullying

It is sad. We didn't have it in the 70s. At least not within the circles I traveled.

I was shocked Pennsylvania took so long to approve gay marriage.

Instead of going forward, society has taken a giant leap backwards.

Children as young as 8 have committed suicide. It's unreal to me.

I do see the parents of the bullies at the school my niece attends and they are trashy looking bullies, too.

[TheVrist]

Bullies in my day was that one, or two, big ugly fuckers that you could go weeks and avoid.


These days, they bullies come in mass numbers, and even utilize social media. Its horrible for the "different" kids these days.

[MrCorpse]

Parents fault 100%

They need to be paraded through the media and bullied mercilessly for their crime.

[niknik]

Originally Posted by TheVrist ↗

Bullies in my day was that one, or two, big ugly fuckers that you could go weeks and avoid.


These days, they bullies come in mass numbers, and even utilize social media. Its horrible for the "different" kids these days.

Ya, the Internet makes bullying less personal to the bully. Which probably makes them not fully grasp how much they are hurting someone emotionally.

When I was in school, we had like a small revolution because of bullying. If you remember Dazed and Confused, that's kinda what it was like where I grew up. Except I grew up in the 90's. Like a lot of 12 - 14 year old boys in that town I was bullied by the high school kids. Until one day, like I said, we had a small revolution. That day changed my entire outlook on being bullied and quiet frankly my personal safety. Never been bullied since, bully's don't tend to mess with you when they know you'll instantly throw down.

[Nite]

George Bush was a cheerleader, he worked out okay

[DiamondSmiles]

Originally Posted by TheVrist ↗

Bullies in my day was that one, or two, big ugly fuckers that you could go weeks and avoid.


These days, they bullies come in mass numbers, and even utilize social media. Its horrible for the "different" kids these days.

We talked to people we liked and didn't talk to those we didn't.

A fight was between two people with no weapons.

I wasn't bullied until I was about 54, and that was here!

I step in when little kids are bullied at playgrounds because I cannot stand to see a bunch of bigger creeps picking on someone much smaller.

They are just cowards, or jealous of who you are or what you have.