This coming from a mom with a son on the team: his teammates and classmates are saying the bullying thing is nothing but a vicious rumor. Kent was well liked and had many friends. Right now there are no answers.

FairwoodKing;986497 wrote:I, too, would like to know exactly what happened. A number of years ago, I worked with gay teenagers who were at high risk of suicide because of bullying and because of serious problems at home. About a year ago, the gay community put out a video and book titled "It Gets Better" in an attempt to convince these kids that if they just stuck it out a couple more years, their lives would be much happier. Even President Obama helped us with this project. Even if this boy at DSJ was not gay, we could have helped him if we had just reached him. His death is our failure.

If you hear of any other teenagers, gay or straight, who are suicidal, please let me know. I may be able to help.

good points who knows what happened . In light of what happened at Penn state more diclosure is needed . Young people should never be put on the back burner . Very sad for a young life to leave before his time

Delphosfan;986532 wrote:This coming from a mom with a son on the team: his teammates and classmates are saying the bullying thing is nothing but a vicious rumor. Kent was well liked and had many friends. Right now there are no answers.

What if it was teammates that were doing the bullying? Not that far fetched.

http://www.limaohio.com/news/schulte-75476-delphos-john.html

Many times in a situation such as this. Everyone looks for answers that simply are not there.
My deepest sympathy to his friends and loved ones.
I am so sorry for your loss.

Royals Fan

My thoughts and deepest sympathy to the family. As for answers, who knows that anyone will ever find those.

As a former student of DSJ, I can tell you the pressures of attending that school are many. You feel pressure all around you ... from the faculty down to your parents, even your fellow students. You MUST be a winner. Anything less is simply unacceptable because the Bluejays the best. It's drilled into your head from the moment you step into kindergarten class until the moment you step across the podium to accept your diploma when you graduate.

And, yes, I do have experience around other high schools ... I've since moved away. I have perspective.

Parents, please take a moment and realize the pressures you are putting on these children ... because they are just kids after all. They have alot going on inside. They are going through puberty; they have tests; they have homework; some of them have part time jobs; and some are just trying to figure out life; do we really need to be putting extra pressure on them to win, win, win? It's high school football, basketball or whatever the sport ... who cares, really? You doing it for them, or yourselves?

Oh, and I agree with an earlier poster ... of course the other football players might say the bullying was not true .... they may have been the ones doing it, after all. I know some of DSJ's students were not easy on me, but things like that seem to be neatly swept under a rug and tucked away. Wouldn't want the best and brightest to be tarnished.

edinburgh;986719 wrote:My thoughts and deepest sympathy to the family. As for answers, who knows that anyone will ever find those.

As a former student of DSJ, I can tell you the pressures of attending that school are many. You feel pressure all around you ... from the faculty down to your parents, even your fellow students. You MUST be a winner. Anything less is simply unacceptable because the Bluejays the best. It's drilled into your head from the moment you step into kindergarten class until the moment you step across the podium to accept your diploma when you graduate.

And, yes, I do have experience around other high schools ... I've since moved away. I have perspective.

Parents, please take a moment and realize the pressures you are putting on these children ... because they are just kids after all. They have alot going on inside. They are going through puberty; they have tests; they have homework; some of them have part time jobs; and some are just trying to figure out life; do we really need to be putting extra pressure on them to win, win, win? It's high school football, basketball or whatever the sport ... who cares, really? You doing it for them, or yourselves?

Oh, and I agree with an earlier poster ... of course the other football players might say the bullying was not true .... they may have been the ones doing it, after all. I know some of DSJ's students were not easy on me, but things like that seem to be neatly swept under a rug and tucked away. Wouldn't want the best and brightest to be tarnished.

seriously?

edinburgh;986719 wrote:My thoughts and deepest sympathy to the family. As for answers, who knows that anyone will ever find those.

As a former student of DSJ, I can tell you the pressures of attending that school are many. You feel pressure all around you ... from the faculty down to your parents, even your fellow students. You MUST be a winner. Anything less is simply unacceptable because the Bluejays the best. It's drilled into your head from the moment you step into kindergarten class until the moment you step across the podium to accept your diploma when you graduate.

And, yes, I do have experience around other high schools ... I've since moved away. I have perspective.

Parents, please take a moment and realize the pressures you are putting on these children ... because they are just kids after all. They have alot going on inside. They are going through puberty; they have tests; they have homework; some of them have part time jobs; and some are just trying to figure out life; do we really need to be putting extra pressure on them to win, win, win? It's high school football, basketball or whatever the sport ... who cares, really? You doing it for them, or yourselves?

Oh, and I agree with an earlier poster ... of course the other football players might say the bullying was not true .... they may have been the ones doing it, after all. I know some of DSJ's students were not easy on me, but things like that seem to be neatly swept under a rug and tucked away. Wouldn't want the best and brightest to be tarnished.

Ya do realize that can describe THOUSANDS and thousands of schools across the country.

Even in their own league there are a number of places that the kids have tons of pressure to perforam athletically, academically and they also get leaned on by adults.

What you said isnt false at all about the pressures of being a kid nowadays.

I hope you arent insinuating, because it came out that way, that the pressure at DSJ is more than other places and that those pressure lead to this.

FairwoodKing;986497 wrote:I, too, would like to know exactly what happened. A number of years ago, I worked with gay teenagers who were at high risk of suicide because of bullying and because of serious problems at home. About a year ago, the gay community put out a video and book titled "It Gets Better" in an attempt to convince these kids that if they just stuck it out a couple more years, their lives would be much happier. Even President Obama helped us with this project. Even if this boy at DSJ was not gay, we could have helped him if we had just reached him. His death is our failure.

If you hear of any other teenagers, gay or straight, who are suicidal, please let me know. I may be able to help.

FuckWadQueen,

Your post was totally inappropriate. You have no idea what the teen was going through, let alone his sexual preference. To assume he was gay is a leap into your world. Give him a little more credit than that, Dickweed.

I am sad to hear about this loss being a Blue Jay alumni. I have heard that the bullying story may be bloated but who knows? I do know that his family was highly competitive and being the youngest may have encouraged him to rise to the occasion but again who knows. I am saddened by this tragedy of a young athlete with so much potential and I will keep his family in my prayers.

you guys do not need to say anything about him. if you do not know what happend keep your mouth shut..you said you didnt wanna disrespect him or his family?...then shut your mouth.

thavoice;986752 wrote:Ya do realize that can describe THOUSANDS and thousands of schools across the country.

Even in their own league there are a number of places that the kids have tons of pressure to perforam athletically, academically and they also get leaned on by adults.

What you said isnt false at all about the pressures of being a kid nowadays.

I hope you arent insinuating, because it came out that way, that the pressure at DSJ is more than other places and that those pressure lead to this.

Don't want to turn this thread ugly but get off your "insinuating" kick. You used it in both your posts here. No one is insinuating anything. Not Fairwood and not this other dude. They were trying to help.

And so what if high pressure describes any thousands of schools. Just means that that many more people need to step back and look around. It's high school sports not anything more significant.

djr123;987184 wrote:you guys do not need to say anything about him. if you do not know what happend keep your mouth shut..you said you didnt wanna disrespect him or his family?...then shut your mouth.

[video=youtube;axCCAUUnUPU][/video]

DeyDurkie5;986722 wrote:seriously?

Yes, seriously. If you look at the Facebook page of St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church ... the Church tied to St. John School, their status reads for today something to the effect Mary Queen of VICTORY pray for us. Seriously? Victory is what the concern is? What I posted earlier is/was real, whether anyone wants to acknowledge it or not.

Sad to hear about this horrible tragedy. I don't care if it was bullying, sexual preference, problems at home, or what the reason was. It is extremely sad that when a high school student feels the best option is suicide.

Prayers to the family.

Prayers go out to the family, friends, team, school, and community from Orrville. We had a young man earlier this year on the football team take his life as well.

edinburgh;986719 wrote:My thoughts and deepest sympathy to the family. As for answers, who knows that anyone will ever find those.

As a former student of DSJ, I can tell you the pressures of attending that school are many. You feel pressure all around you ... from the faculty down to your parents, even your fellow students. You MUST be a winner. Anything less is simply unacceptable because the Bluejays the best. It's drilled into your head from the moment you step into kindergarten class until the moment you step across the podium to accept your diploma when you graduate.

And, yes, I do have experience around other high schools ... I've since moved away. I have perspective.

Parents, please take a moment and realize the pressures you are putting on these children ... because they are just kids after all. They have alot going on inside. They are going through puberty; they have tests; they have homework; some of them have part time jobs; and some are just trying to figure out life; do we really need to be putting extra pressure on them to win, win, win? It's high school football, basketball or whatever the sport ... who cares, really? You doing it for them, or yourselves?

Oh, and I agree with an earlier poster ... of course the other football players might say the bullying was not true .... they may have been the ones doing it, after all. I know some of DSJ's students were not easy on me, but things like that seem to be neatly swept under a rug and tucked away. Wouldn't want the best and brightest to be tarnished.

Uhhh....Everything but that first statement is trash

To the person who claims to have gone to St. John's. I went there too. I also taught in the high school for MANY years. The pressure at St. John's is only to those who wish to succeed. No one gets made fun of for not competing or being in sports. It is your choice. I taught in the public school also, and the pressure there was worse. St. John's does want to be the best, but in a family atmosphere. It is when you push your brother or sister to succeed. If they fail, you still love them and support them. It is a family. Period.

What a sad situation. My prayers go out to this family and community.

Has the subject of concussions and suicide came up?

Take a second to GOOGLE "Concussion Suicide" .
Scares me more and more, as I watch me 11yr old son play football. And what is the alternative sport --- soccer (numerous blows from the ball to the head).

rejemaky;988703 wrote:To the person who claims to have gone to St. John's. I went there too. I also taught in the high school for MANY years. The pressure at St. John's is only to those who wish to succeed. No one gets made fun of for not competing or being in sports. It is your choice. I taught in the public school also, and the pressure there was worse. St. John's does want to be the best, but in a family atmosphere. It is when you push your brother or sister to succeed. If they fail, you still love them and support them. It is a family. Period.

I don't "claim" to go to St. Johns ... I went there. I NEVER felt like it was a family. I did participate in extracurricular activities, though, because I wanted to.

I have family members that still go there, which is my concern. I would like to see whatever issues there may be resolved. If it's bullying, let's see it addressed.

It depends upon what public school you taught in ... if you taught in one with metal detectors, sure, pressure would be worse. If you're talking about the one across town ... I doubt it.

You teachers are often as clueless as the parents, prolly because you have kids at St. Johns. You only want to see whatever benefit St. Johns may give. You don't want to see the bad side. And before you make any accusations or insuations, I was never in trouble in school ... I never did drugs, I never drank, I never partied. I just simply never bought into the whole "we're a family" thing. I have a family that truly does love me for who I am and what I can do. For the record, I am quite successful ... that success comes from within. Not that I am, but I doubt the St. Johns family would love me if I were gay. This is just one example of the conditional St. Johns family love.

The bottom line is ... a child took is his own life ... that's just sad. It makes me sad to know a child felt no other out.

edinburgh;988895 wrote:I don't "claim" to go to St. Johns ... I went there. I NEVER felt like it was a family. I did participate in extracurricular activities, though, because I wanted to.

I have family members that still go there, which is my concern. I would like to see whatever issues there may be resolved. If it's bullying, let's see it addressed.

It depends upon what public school you taught in ... if you taught in one with metal detectors, sure, pressure would be worse. If you're talking about the one across town ... I doubt it.

You teachers are often as clueless as the parents, prolly because you have kids at St. Johns. You only want to see whatever benefit St. Johns may give. You don't want to see the bad side. And before you make any accusations or insuations, I was never in trouble in school ... I never did drugs, I never drank, I never partied. I just simply never bought into the whole "we're a family" thing. I have a family that truly does love me for who I am and what I can do. For the record, I am quite successful ... that success comes from within. Not that I am, but I doubt the St. Johns family would love me if I were gay. This is just one example of the conditional St. Johns family love.

The bottom line is ... a child took is his own life ... that's just sad. It makes me sad to know a child felt no other out.

I went to DSJ, loved it, didn't feel any overwhelming pressure. Sounds like you just took everything too seriously. I felt nothing but support from the community win or lose. You're painting DSJ in a little bit of a negative light and it's starting to annoy me.

Thoughts and prayers to the family, friends, and entire community. May the love of those around you help you through the days ahead and may your sorrow give way to the peace and comfort of Gods love.

With Sincere Sympathy,

The Youngstown Ursuline Fighting Irish

edinburgh, I am a graduate of Delphos St. John's as well. I am part of the DSJ family and I love it. I'm sorry you didn't choose to be part of our family. It really is a great thing. We love and support each other no matter what. I see it every day. No family is perfect and neither are we, but I wouldn't trade this family for anything.
We encourage our kids to be the best they can be in anything as I would assume all families and school would. We are there to help you succeed and pick you up when you fail. Then we encourage you to keep trying. I'm sorry your experience was a negative one. But you are always welcome at DSJ.

Incidentally, when we refer to Mary, Queen of Victory, victory means eternal life over death. It has nothing to do with football or any sport.

Prayers from Smithville!