Jadin Bell, an Oregon teenager, was another one of those
kids, targeted for being gay or perhaps just seeming to be gay—whatever that means—until he got to a point where
he could no longer take it. One day, he went to the playground at an elementary
school, climbed to the top of a jungle gym, and hanged himself. A passerby saw
his body and tried rescuing him; Jadin was taken to Doernbecher Children's
Hospital where he was put on life support. After several days, and still no
brain activity, his family decided to let him go. [See post HERE]
Another one.
Shortly afterwards Jadin’s father, Joe Bell, made a decision.
He could have been angry, he could have been distraught, he could have been a
lot of things, but he decided, after burying his young son, that he would just
go for a walk.
And Joe Bell is walking all across the United States to help
spread the message against bullying. He
says it'll take two years to walk the 5,000 miles—at a rate of 15-25 miles a
day—and make it to the East Coast; Joe Bell resigned from his job to take that
walk, and he’ll be doing it on two artificial knees; he had replacement surgery
in 2010.
"I needed a break. I was ready, I was looking for something different. I just wish, however, that I was doing this under different circumstances."—Joe Bell
And as he walks from one
coast to the other, he’ll stop to speak at schools and other venues about
bullying, about the need to report it if it happens to you, or if you see it
happening to anyone. He has even set up a foundation, Faces for Change [HERE]
to promote anti-bullying programs.
See, Joe Bell
understands that we don’t need another suicide, like that of Jadin Bell, or Lance Lundsten, Tiffani Maxwell, Eric James Borges,
Teddy Molina, Jamey Rodemeyer, Josh Pacheco, David
Hernandez Barros, Brandon Elizares, Joel Morales, Zachery Gray, Jay 'Corey' Jones,
Jack Reese, Kenneth Weishuhn,
Rafael Morelos, Phillip Parker, Jacob Rogers, Nicholas Kelo Jr., Brandon Bitner,
Tyler Clementi, Asher Brown, Billy Lucas, Phoebe Price, Jaheem Herrera, Jeremiah Lasater, Megan Meier, Eric Mohat,
Carl Joseph Walker Hoover …. Those are just the ones I’ve talked about
on this blog, but there are so many, many more.
Joe’s walk will
take him through Texas, Arkansas and Louisiana, before he moves north through
Pennsylvania, New York and his destination of the Delaware coastline. He’s most
looking forward to the New York stop because that was where Jadin wanted to
live one day.
If, by chance,
Joe Bell walks through your town, why not go out and meet him, and thank him
for not only honoring his son’s memory, but for getting up and doing something
about bullying. And, if he doesn’t pass your way, why not stop in at Faces forChange and see what you can do to help.
Before we have “Another
One”.
oooooooh, wonder if he will pass thru/near philly...
ReplyDeleteWHEN will the h8 stop? :(
Locally, today, the districts (we have six) announced an initiative to improve school attendance by teaching students the importance of attending school, giving them *trinkets* (yes they used that word) for attendance and urging employers to give employees time off to attend school conferences.
ReplyDeleteWell... I have my own opinions about what would help these kids having taught them and trinkets will not do it.
What I noticed what was missing is another reason kids miss school - bullying. Not one mention. What do you think would more likely keep a child out of school - boredom? skate boarding more fun? lack of trinkets? lack of parental involvement? (I've seen it all except trinkets!) or fear of getting the crap kicked out of you?
this is courageous of him
ReplyDeleteJoe will definitely be in Philadelphia as it was one of the cities Jadin visited while on an eighth grade trip. I don't know if we are making arrangements that far in advance. Joe has estimated two years. But you may contact me at mikro@juno.com
ReplyDelete