Bonnie Rodriguez says Austin was really lethargic last Friday evening, and when she asked him what was wrong, he collapsed. She immediately took him to a local hospital and on Saturday morning he was flown by medical helicopter to the main campus of Akron Children's Hospital. It was there she discovered that Austin had taken more than 100 of his own prescription pills.
Austin told his family he was gay about eight months ago, after coming out, first, to his friends. And then he came out at school, where, once that happened, Austin, a straight-A student, began getting bullied.
Bonnie Rodriguez: "I actually didn't know how bad it was for him in school until he actually did this. And until friends came out of the woodwork saying we knew Austin was going through this, we thought he was handling it a lot better. We didn't know what to do."
From what Bonnie Rodriguez learned, the bullying was cruel--enough to make an already shy teenager feel even more introverted--but it was also everywhere: "It was electronic, it was face to face bullying, they were hiding his gym clothes because they didn't want him changing in the locker room with them. They didn't want him to eat by them, or in the school lunchroom."
Now as this mother fights for her son and he fights to recover, she's determined to raise awareness about the impact of bullying and how it nearly cost her son his life. She prays that what happened to her son will spark open discussions on the issue of bullying in school, and warns parents that if you feel there's something going on with your child, trust those instincts and be aggressive in getting to the bottom of it. Doctors say the next few days will be critical for Austin and they're optimistic that he will recover.
This one hits home, for me, because of how Bonnie Rodriguez describes what happened to her son at school. See, I was that kid; the one who ate alone; the one who was tormented in the locker room and shoved in the halls and whispered about in class. The only difference is that when i was Austin's age, I wasn't openly gay and there wasn't a world of electronic media that could be exploited to taunt me.
But, and this sounds so trite, it gets better.
I made it through high school. I got out and went on with my life and found a world of people who don't bully others for their differences, but embrace the differences. I was able to forge a world of new friends who didn't see me as anything other than myself.
And I sincerely hope that Austin Rodriguez wakes up and gets that same chance.
source
Last night, on RuPaul's Drag Race, Sharon Needles shared his high school experience - unfortunately the same story.
ReplyDeleteMany of us were "that kid".
ReplyDeleteAt a school reunion last year I was actually standing next to one if the bullies and she said "I don't remember you," not in a way that said she didn't remember me, but in a dismissive way as to call to question my existence at all.
And that's the thing with true bullies. They refuse to acknowledge what they "do" they do to a person. To them you are nothing more than one of the multitude that they will use an trash before they ripen into something less than human themselves.
I hope he survives this
ReplyDeleteI hope he survives. I hope his mother begins a crusade. But even moreso, I hope his friends begin a quest to not only stop by bullying but to speak up when they see it happening.
ReplyDeleteit is my greatest failing as a teacher that i can fill a child's head with knowledge, i can help them reach their dreams and achieve their goals, but there is nothing i can do to protect them or save them from the hatred and prejudice of ignorant people.
ReplyDeletexxalainaxx