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In reply to the discussion: Fat-shaming may curb obesity, bioethicist says [View all]eridani
(51,907 posts)58. Congrats to Callahan for being an accessory after the fact to bullycide
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suicide_of_Kelly_Yeomans
In evidence to court, Yeomans was described as a pleasant and friendly girl. However, she was reported to be the victim of repeated harassment and taunting, particularly about her weight. Her parents said that the incessant bullying had left Yeomans feeling miserable. Her mother asserted that she had gone to her daughter's school, Merrill College, Shelton Lock, thirty times to complain about the issue, but received no assistance. School officials, however, claimed they had received only one complaint.
Matters came to a head in September, 1997, when a group of youths reportedly gathered at Yeomans's home on several consecutive nights, on each occasion throwing food at the house and shouting taunts aimed at Yeomans. Her mother later said that the incident prompted Yeomans to tell her family, "It is nothing to do with you Daddy, nothing to do with you Mummy, and nothing to do with you Sarah [her sister]. I have had enough and I'm going to take an overdose."
The parents said they were worried and sought help for their daughter's obvious depression, but did not believe she would carry out her threat to take her own life. However, Yeomans was soon found dead in her bedroom after taking an overdose of painkillers.
In evidence to court, Yeomans was described as a pleasant and friendly girl. However, she was reported to be the victim of repeated harassment and taunting, particularly about her weight. Her parents said that the incessant bullying had left Yeomans feeling miserable. Her mother asserted that she had gone to her daughter's school, Merrill College, Shelton Lock, thirty times to complain about the issue, but received no assistance. School officials, however, claimed they had received only one complaint.
Matters came to a head in September, 1997, when a group of youths reportedly gathered at Yeomans's home on several consecutive nights, on each occasion throwing food at the house and shouting taunts aimed at Yeomans. Her mother later said that the incident prompted Yeomans to tell her family, "It is nothing to do with you Daddy, nothing to do with you Mummy, and nothing to do with you Sarah [her sister]. I have had enough and I'm going to take an overdose."
The parents said they were worried and sought help for their daughter's obvious depression, but did not believe she would carry out her threat to take her own life. However, Yeomans was soon found dead in her bedroom after taking an overdose of painkillers.
Tough to get enough exercise if you can't do it in public for fear of constant vicious abuse.
http://chronicle.augusta.com/stories/1997/03/23/met_205736.shtml
Jacqueline Graham still can't bring herself to show her son's room to a stranger, but you don't need to look past the photos in the living room to see who he was: He was the fat kid who didn't have any friends. The easy target. The mark. It's all there in his eyes: The sweetness. The shyness. The hurt.
At 5 feet 4, 174 pounds, he wasn't the heaviest kid at his school. But he was sensitive, and when others teased him about his weight, when they chased him down the street or smacked the back of his head when the teacher wasn't looking, he sometimes cried. In the social hierarchy of fifth grade at Westwood Heights Elementary School, that put him squarely at the bottom.
WOULD THINGS HAVE been any different at Parkway Middle School? Sammy was to have started sixth grade there that Monday, the morning his father cut him down from the tree.
<snip>
He was logical and precise, gifted not only at puzzles but at music and math. He could dissect complex arguments with lawyerly skill. Yet he liked the same toys as his cousin, an infant. And he was awkward and clumsy; he couldn't even clap. Josh rode a bike before he could.
In the water, his awkwardness vanished. Not in the daytime - he was too ashamed to let anyone see him in his bathing suit. He had to swim in long pants and a shirt. But at night, it was magic, like shedding his body. In the water at night, he was free.
<snip>
He can only imagine how it must have happened, how God must have watched Sammy steal into the yard with a flashlight, a rope and a step stool, having pieced together his final puzzle: The body he hated. The school he feared. The perfect place that awaited his soul.
He could go there. He would go there. It would be easy, like swimming. Just position the stool and climb up, toward heaven. Then step into God's waiting arms.
Jacqueline Graham still can't bring herself to show her son's room to a stranger, but you don't need to look past the photos in the living room to see who he was: He was the fat kid who didn't have any friends. The easy target. The mark. It's all there in his eyes: The sweetness. The shyness. The hurt.
At 5 feet 4, 174 pounds, he wasn't the heaviest kid at his school. But he was sensitive, and when others teased him about his weight, when they chased him down the street or smacked the back of his head when the teacher wasn't looking, he sometimes cried. In the social hierarchy of fifth grade at Westwood Heights Elementary School, that put him squarely at the bottom.
WOULD THINGS HAVE been any different at Parkway Middle School? Sammy was to have started sixth grade there that Monday, the morning his father cut him down from the tree.
<snip>
He was logical and precise, gifted not only at puzzles but at music and math. He could dissect complex arguments with lawyerly skill. Yet he liked the same toys as his cousin, an infant. And he was awkward and clumsy; he couldn't even clap. Josh rode a bike before he could.
In the water, his awkwardness vanished. Not in the daytime - he was too ashamed to let anyone see him in his bathing suit. He had to swim in long pants and a shirt. But at night, it was magic, like shedding his body. In the water at night, he was free.
<snip>
He can only imagine how it must have happened, how God must have watched Sammy steal into the yard with a flashlight, a rope and a step stool, having pieced together his final puzzle: The body he hated. The school he feared. The perfect place that awaited his soul.
He could go there. He would go there. It would be easy, like swimming. Just position the stool and climb up, toward heaven. Then step into God's waiting arms.
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/exhibitionist/2011/09/marilyn_wann_bullycide.php
Teens who perceive themselves as "too fat" -- regardless of what they actually weigh -- are more likely to think about suicide and attempt suicide, according to a 2005 study.
In April, two 14-year-old best friends in Minnesota, Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz, died in a shared suicide. Haylee was teased for her weight and her red hair. Haylee's aunt, Robin Settle, said that although Haylee wasn't "severely overweight," she was so self-conscious she rarely ate at school.
Brian Head was 15. One day, students were pulling his hair and slapping him. He had been bullied for his weight since seventh grade. He shot himself. In a poem discovered later, Brian described himself, "as an insignificant 'thing,' something to be traded, mangled, and mocked," reports Barbara Colorosa, author of The Bully, the Bullied and the Bystander. Brian's father successfully lobbied for a law in Georgia that makes bullying a crime.
Brian's death wasn't the last weight-related bullycide. In 1996, I heard about 12-year-old Samuel Graham, who hanged himself from the family's backyard tree rather than start junior high and face taunts about his weight.
In 2004, eighth-grader April Himes skipped 53 days of school to avoid weight-based bullying. School officials were unable to stop the harassment, but they also informed her she must attend or face a truancy board and possible juvenile detention. At that news, she hanged herself.
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It worked for me! I didn't want to be a smoker any more. I hated the way my clothes and
CTyankee
Jan 2013
#66
Well, I DID feel inferior to nonsmokers. I remember that at the time I admired Ralph Nader and
CTyankee
Jan 2013
#129
Yeah, it doesn't, that's why obese people should pay 20% more in insurance premiums
snooper2
Jan 2013
#50
threads are often recommended, not because the person agrees, but because the subject is
niyad
Jan 2013
#11
how about addressing our entire food system, the poisons, the additives, the crap, the lack
niyad
Jan 2013
#6
yes, thank you. and how about the fact that in many urban areas, there are NO supermarkets,
niyad
Jan 2013
#21
there was a wonderful 4-part series on pbs called "designing healthy communities" that addressed
niyad
Jan 2013
#56
What's next, outright bullying overweight kids at school? Publicly shaming them...
OldDem2012
Jan 2013
#7
His next new ad, "Shame the Gays" ... Then we can move onto "Shame the Brown Skin People" and
RKP5637
Jan 2013
#76
Ridiculous & cruel. There are many obese people due to medical conditions. Now we're shaming
JaneyVee
Jan 2013
#8
Well you got it right on the nail geomon6. I am obese and I am a stress eater when I
southernyankeebelle
Jan 2013
#35
It's very hard. I have been pretty luck now that I have gotten older. I told my doctor
southernyankeebelle
Jan 2013
#43
Your right. Sometimes is worse then eat a smaller portion of your regular foods you like.
southernyankeebelle
Jan 2013
#113
Yes, cause that worked so well to curb teen pregnancy, std's, and people getting high...
Kalidurga
Jan 2013
#26
I don't understand how such an idiot is part of the hastings center. I have been looking at their
niyad
Jan 2013
#30
As an obese person I'm sick and tired of people degrading us. Fat people don't like being
southernyankeebelle
Jan 2013
#33
your so right. I have thyroid problems. In fact I just had a checkup for cancer. I got
southernyankeebelle
Jan 2013
#40
Funny thing is for me once I stopped worring about dieting the yo yo stopped. What I did
southernyankeebelle
Jan 2013
#69
many years ago, a friend told me that she (a very large woman with a thyroid problem) had
niyad
Jan 2013
#89
my husband's cardiologist gives him the "lecture" every time he goes in for his regular
CTyankee
Jan 2013
#68
I have A-Feb (irregular heart beat). They haven't had that talk with me. But
southernyankeebelle
Jan 2013
#71
That doctor alone would stress me out. I would find another doctor that is in your health net.
southernyankeebelle
Jan 2013
#99
I used to be a smoker until employers started treating smokers like lepers. Even if they only
DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav
Jan 2013
#52
Thanks for the link. Hopefully this will shut up the "you cost me more" crowd, but we're
DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav
Jan 2013
#105
What ever happened to live and let live? It's no ones business if you're fat or you smoke. It's your
DogPawsBiscuitsNGrav
Jan 2013
#101
I agree with the losing weight is not easy, but it certainly can be cheap.
nobodyspecial
Jan 2013
#55
how do you propose that people do that who live in areas that have no supermarkets or grocery
niyad
Jan 2013
#73
of course, why didn't I think of that? and just how do you travel that measely three miles?
niyad
Jan 2013
#136
where did you get the idea I was referring to myself in any of that? nice try, though.
niyad
Jan 2013
#148
Shaming/bullying in regards to one's weight is one of DU's dirty little secrets...
Earth_First
Jan 2013
#59
Can we shame them with cheese sandwiches? Is that still in vogue? nt
OneTenthofOnePercent
Jan 2013
#65
I'm betting this doctor makes money on the side treating eating disorders.
backscatter712
Jan 2013
#67
The trouble is that "doing something" will not necessarily put you anywhere near "ideal" weight
eridani
Jan 2013
#161
I had some clown give me shit in the supermarket checkout about what I was buying.
hobbit709
Jan 2013
#87
Walking is FREE and shoes are cheap. Walking is the BEST exercise for overweight people.You don't
kestrel91316
Jan 2013
#107
Back when I was on a med that unbeknownst to me caused uncontrollable cravings...
Hekate
Jan 2013
#108
The bioethicist is nuts, but why do you think weight loss needs to be expensive? nt
RedCappedBandit
Jan 2013
#114
I've felt ashamed for years. It hasn't helped me, and I have only gotten larger.
GreenPartyVoter
Jan 2013
#152