Middle School Students Grades 58: Fill & Download for Free

This answer may contain sensitive images. Click on an image to unblur it.Indirectly its a small percentage of children maimed or killed each year compared to those who commit suicide due to being bullied.Bullying is a form of child abuse regardless of the age of the aggressor. Its long term affects can and do cause some victim’s of bullying to commit ‘bullicide’“Bullying is the systematic abuse of power and is defined as aggressive behavior or intentional harm-doing by peers that is carried out repeatedly and involves an imbalance of power, either actual or perceived, between the victim and the bully.1 Bullying can take the form of direct bullying, which includes physical and verbal acts of aggression such as hitting, stealing or name calling, or indirect bullying, which is characterized by social exclusion. (e.g., you cannot play with us, you are not invited, etc.) and rumor spreading”Below is a long list of just some of the children who took their lives due to being bullied.If you don't think bullies can ‘kill’ their victims then just read the list below.List of suicides[edit]William Arthur Gibbs (1865–1877) was a boarder at Christ's Hospital school in Sussex who committed suicide by hanging on 4 May 1877 at age 12 after being bullied and beaten. This caused an outcry and the government subsequently held an official inquiry.[1][2][3]Kelly Yeomans (1984–1997), age 13, an English schoolgirl from the Derby suburb of Allenton, became widespread news when the cause was blamed on bullying to which she had been subjected by other local children. She was reported to be the victim of repeated harassment and taunting, particularly about her weight. 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[4] and shouting taunts aimed at Yeomans. This prompted Yeomans to tell her family, "I have had enough and I'm going to take an overdose."[5] Five youths between the ages of thirteen and seventeen were convicted of intentionally harassing Yeomans in the months leading up to her death.[6]Jared High (1985–1998), age 13, was a middle school student who committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with a gun because of being bullied. He died on September 29, 1998, six days after his thirteenth birthday.[7]April Himes (1986-2000), age 13, was an eighth grade student at Carmichael Middle School who committed suicide by hanging herself in the closet on Valentine's Day 2000 because of bullying. Students at school would go around and called her "fat" because of her weight.[8]Hamed Nastoh (1985–2000), age 14, Afghan-Canadian high school student who committed suicide by jumping off the Pattullo Bridge due to bullying.[9][10] Nastoh was a Grade 9 student at Enver Creek Secondary School in Surrey, British Columbia. He left a note for his family about all the bullying he had suffered. In the note it mentions that he was teased by his mates, classmates and even his friends would laugh at him. They would always call him "four-eyes", "big-nose", and "geek", because his average marks were above 90 percent.[9] At 5:00 pm, Nastoh's mother, father, and younger brother, David, went outside to hang out with a neighbour. Hamed and his older brother, Abdullah, were home during the night. One hour later, Abdullah took a shower. Hamed put on his new Tommy Hilfiger jacket, slipped out, and made his way, probably by bus, to the Pattullo. When Nastoh arrived at the Pattullo Bridge, he jumped.[11]Dawn-Marie Wesley (1986–2000), age 14, Canadian high school student who committed suicide by hanging due to bullying.[12] She was a student who committed suicide, after allegedly experiencing a cycle of bullying by psychological abuse and verbal threats from three female bullies at her high school.[13] She left behind a note to her family that referred to the bullying to which she had been subjected: "If I try to get help, it will get worse. They are always looking for a new person to beat up and these are the toughest girls. If I ratted, they would get expelled from school and there would be no stopping them. I love you all so much." She committed suicide by hanging herself with her dog's leash in her bedroom.[13]Nicola Ann Raphael (1985–2001), age 15, Lenzie Academy high school student who died by suicide via an overdose of co-proxamol due to bullying.[14]Ryan Halligan (1989–2003), age 13, was an American student from Essex Junction, Vermont, who died by suicide at the age of 13 after allegedly being bullied by his classmates in person and online. According to the Associated Press, Halligan was allegedly repeatedly sent homophobic instant messages, and was "threatened, taunted and insulted incessantly".[15] Halligan's case has been cited by legislators in various states proposing legislation to curb cyber-bullying.[15] In Vermont, laws were subsequently enacted to address the cyberbullying problem and the risk of teen suicides, in response.[16] In 2008, his suicide and its causes were examined in a segment of the PBS Frontline television program entitled "Growing Up Online." His suicide has also been referenced in many other news stories on bullying.Jeff Weise (1988–2005), age 16, was an American high school student who committed the Red Lake shootings and then died by suicide after years of bullying, gunshot.[17]Desire Dreyer (1989-2006), age 16, was a junior at Glen Este High School who committed suicide by hanging in her bedroom after being bullied by a group of girls at school.[18]Megan Meier (1992–2006), age 13, was an American teenager from Dardenne Prairie, Missouri, who died of suicide by hanging three weeks before her fourteenth birthday. A year later, Meier's parents prompted an investigation into the matter and her suicide was attributed to cyber-bullying through the social networking website Myspace. Allegedly, individuals intended to use Meier's messages to get information about her and later humiliate her.[19][20][21][22][23][24][25]Brodie Panlock (1987–2006), age 19, was an Australian waitress from Melbourne who died after jumping from a multilevel carpark in Hawthorn. Her suicide was attributed to serious workplace bullying at the café where she worked. Her parents successfully lobbied the Victorian Government to amend the Crimes Act 1958 to include serious bullying as a criminal offence with a maximum penalty of ten years imprisonment.[26]Jessica Logan (1990-2008), age 18, committed suicide by hanging in her bedroom after being badly bullied at school by students over a nude picture. When she and her ex-boyfriend broke up, the boyfriend forwarded her picture to hundreds of other high school girls, many of whom allegedly harassed Logan at school, calling her a "slut" and "whore." [27]Sladjana Vidovic (1992–2008), age 16, from Mentor, Ohio, hanged herself in October 2008 by jumping from a window with a sheet around her neck. She and her family were from Croatia. Because of her accent and her name, other students called her names like "Slutty Jana" and "Slut-Jana-Vagina".[28][29][30]Jaheem Herrera (1997–2009), age 11, was a fifth grade student in Atlanta, DeKalb County, Georgia, who committed suicide by hanging in the closet with a belt after being bullied by his classmates.[31]Hope Witsell (1996–2009), age 13, was a middle school student who committed suicide due to bullying. The bullying began when Hope "sexted" a photo of her breasts to her boyfriend. The photo went viral after it was posted online, causing all the other kids at school to start bullying Hope. When the school officials discovered the photo, they kicked her out of school. Hope struggled to handle the pain, later deciding she couldn't take it anymore. Her mother found her hanged from her bed canvas with a pink scarf.[32]Tyler Long (1992–2009), age 17, was a homosexual student with Asperger syndrome. Because of his homosexuality and disability, students would steal from him, spit in his cafeteria food, and call him names like "gay" and "faggot". When his mother Tina Long went to the school to complain about the bullying, the school responded to them saying that "boys will be boys" or "he just took it the wrong way." On October 17, 2009, two months into his junior year of high school, Tyler Long changed his pajamas into his favorite T-shirt and jeans. He strapped a belt around his neck and hanged himself from the top shelf of his bedroom closet. The story of his suicide was later told in the 2011 documentary Bully.[33]Ty Smalley (1998–2010), age 11, was bullied because he was small for his age. Bullies would cram him into lockers and shove him into trash cans. They would also call him names like "Shrimp" and "Tiny Ty". On May 13, 2010, Ty was cornered in the school gymnasium and a bully started a fight by pushing him. Normally, Ty would just walk away when a situation like this occurred, but on this occasion, he stood up for himself and pushed back. He and the bully were both sent to the school office. Ty served a three-day suspension, but the bully only served one day of his victim's suspension. After school that day, Ty committed suicide by shooting himself in the head with his father's .22 caliber pistol.[34] His story was also told in the 2011 documentary Bully.[35][36]Phoebe Prince (1994–2010), age 15, an American high school student who died by hanging herself, following school bullying and cyberbullying.[37] Her death led to the criminal prosecution of six teenagers for charges including civil rights violations,[38] as well as to the enactment of stricter anti-bullying legislation by the Massachusetts state legislature.[39] Prince had moved from Ireland to South Hadley, in the U.S. state of Massachusetts.[40] Her suicide, after suffering months of bullying from school classmates, brought international attention to the problem of bullying in US schools. In March 2010, a state anti-bullying task force was set up as a result of her death. The Massachusetts legislation was signed into law on May 3, 2010.[39] The trial for those accused in the case occurred in 2011.[41][42] Sentences of probation and community service were handed down after guilty pleas on May 5, 2011.[43]Tyler Clementi (1991–2010), age 18, a student at Rutgers University in Piscataway, New Jersey, who jumped to his death from the George Washington Bridge on September 22, 2010. On September 19, Dharun Ravi, his roommate, and a fellow hallmate allegedly used a webcam to view, without Clementi's knowledge, Clementi kissing another man.[44] On September 21, the day prior to the suicide, the roommate allegedly urged friends and Twitter followers to watch via his webcam a second tryst between Clementi and his friend.[45][46] Clementi's death brought national and international attention to the issue of cyberbullying and the struggles facing LGBT youth.[47]Jamie Hubley (1995–2011), age 15, died by suicide on October 14, 2011. The Ottawa teen was subjected to anti-gay bullying. Hubley's death was the impetus for the Accepting Schools Act, 2012, an act of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario which mandated school boards across the province to develop tougher anti-bullying programs with tougher penalties for infractions, and offered legal protections for gay-straight alliances in the province's schools.[48] On June 3, 2013, Allan Hubley (the father of Jamie) and Laureen Harper announced a new federal anti-bullying strategy, which will see approximately 2,400 teenagers across Canada trained in delivering peer education workshops and presentations against bullying for their fellow students.[49]Jamey Rodemeyer (1997–2011), age 14, was a gay[50] teenager, known for his activism against homophobia and his videos on YouTube to help victims of homophobic bullying. He ended his life by hanging himself, allegedly as a result of constant bullying.[51]Ashlynn Conner (2000–2011), age 10, was an elementary school student who committed suicide by hanging herself in the closet on November 11, 2011 because of bullying. According to her mother, she had tried to get help from teachers, but they told her to "sit down and stop tattling". Kids would go around in school calling her "fat", "ugly", and a "slut". When she asked her mother to be homeschooled, she refused. As a result, she took her own life. Her body was discovered by her sister.[52]Audrie Pott (1997–2012), age 15, a student attending Saratoga High School, California. She died of suicide by hanging on September 12, 2012. She had been allegedly sexually assaulted by three teenage boys at a party eight days earlier and pictures of the assault were posted online with accompanying bullying.[citation needed] Pott's suicide and the circumstances surrounding it have been compared to the suicide of Rehtaeh Parsons, a young woman in Canada, appearing to show highly similar characteristics. New laws are being considered as a result of these events.[53][54]Amanda Todd (1996–2012), age 15, a Canadian high school student who died of suicide by hanging due to school bullying and cyberbullying.[55] She died by suicide at the age of 15 at her home in Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada. Prior to her death, Todd had posted a video on YouTube in which she used a series of flash cards to tell her experience of allegedly being blackmailed into exposing her breasts via webcam;[56] bullied; and physically assaulted. The video went viral after her death,[57] resulting in international media attention. The video has had more than 20 million views as of 2019.[56] The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and British Columbia Coroners Service launched investigations into the suicide. At the time of her death, Todd was a grade 10 student[58] at CABE Secondary in Coquitlam,[59] a school that caters to students who have experienced social and behavior issues in previous educational settings.[60] In response to the death, Christy Clark, the premier of British Columbia, made an online statement of condolence and suggested a national discussion on criminalizing cyberbullying.[61][62] Also, a motion was introduced in the Canadian House of Commons to propose a study of the scope of bullying in Canada, and for more funding and support for anti-bullying organizations. Todd's mother Carol established the Amanda Todd Trust, receiving donations to support anti-bullying awareness education and programs for young people with mental health problems.Kenneth Weishuhn (1997–2012), age 14, was a teen who is known for his suicide which raised the national profile on gay bullying and LGBT youth suicides. Weishuhn, then 14 years old, was allegedly bullied in person, death threats were sent to his mobile phone, and he was the subject of a Facebook hate group. He was targeted for being gay, having come out one month before his suicide. Weishuhn told his mother Jeannie Chambers "Mom, you don't know how it feels to be hated". The bullying was characterized as "aggressive",[63] "merciless"[64] and "overwhelming".[65] In response to the bullying, Weishuhn took his own life in April 2012.[66] He hanged himself in the family's garage.[67][68]Jadin Bell (1997–2013), age 15, was an Oregon youth known for his suicide which raised the national profile on youth bullying and gay victimization in bullying. Bell, a 15-year-old gay youth, was allegedly intensely bullied both in person and on the Internet because he was gay. He was a member of the La Grande High School cheerleading team in La Grande, Oregon, where he was a sophomore. On January 14, 2013, Bell went to a local elementary school and hanged himself from the play structure. He did not immediately die from the strangulation and was rushed to the emergency room, where he was kept on life support.[69] The Associated Press reported that a spokesman for the Oregon Health and Science University's Portland hospital announced that after being taken off life support Bell died on February 3, 2013.[70] Bell's death was largely reported in the media, starting discussions about bullying, the effect it has on youth, and gay bullying. The Huffington Post,[71] Salon,[72] Oregon Public Broadcasting,[73] Raw Story,[74] GLAAD,[75] PQ Monthly,[76] PinkNews[77] and many other media outlets reported on Bell's death. The media reported his suicide stemmed from being bullied for being gay, which Bell's father fully believed, stating "He was hurting so bad. Just the bullying at school. Yeah there were other issues, but ultimately it was all due to the bullying, for not being accepted for being gay."[78]Rehtaeh Parsons (1995–2013), age 17, a former Cole Harbour District High School who died by suicide from hanging. [79] on April 4, 2013, at her home in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Canada, leading to a coma and the decision to switch her life support machine off at Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre on April 7, 2013.[80] Her death has been attributed to online distribution of photos of an alleged gang rape that occurred 17 months prior to her suicide attempt, in November 2011.[80][81] On a Facebook page set up in tribute to her daughter, Parsons' mother blamed the four boys who allegedly raped and released images of her, the subsequent constant "bullying and messaging and harassment," and the failure of the Canadian justice system, for her daughter's decision to attempt suicide.[82]Rebecca Ann Sedwick (2000–2013), age 12, American middle school student who committed suicide by jumping due to bullying. Sedwick was a seventh grader at Crystal Lake Middle School in Lakeland, Florida. Sedwick was cyberbullied and bullied in person for one and a half years. Two girls, ages 14 and 12, encouraged others to fight Sedwick, and sent her electronic messages encouraging her to kill herself.[83] In November 2012, her mother Tricia said that "she came home near tears every day".[84] Rebecca committed suicide by jumping from a concrete silo tower to her death.[85]Matthew Burdette (1999–2013), age 14, was a ninth grade student at University City High School in California. He took his own life after two weeks of bullying at school over an embarrassing video. He left a suicide note saying, "I can't handle school anymore and I have no friends. I didn't want to kill myself, but I can't do this anymore." According to Matthew's friends, who spoke up, a classmate went to the bathroom hearing Matthew's moans, peered over the bathroom stall and secretly recorded Matthew while he was in the bathroom. He then posted the video on social media sites including Snapchat and Vine, claiming he caught Matthew "jacking off". According to the Burdette's attorney Allison Warden, a teacher sent Matthew out of class for eating sunflower seeds, but gave him no direction to go, so he went to the bathroom. The boy who took the video confessed and was arrested by the San Diego Police Department.[86]Alyssa Morgan (2002–2015), age 12, was a seventh grade student who was bullied, some part because she was bisexual, kids went around calling her worthless, stupid, and called her racial slurs. On April 6, 2015, Alyssa hung herself in her room.After 3 days in the hospital, Alyssa died on April 9.[87]Ash Haffner (1998–2015), age 16, was a North Carolina student who died by suicide in 2015 at age 16, after being bullied for years because they identified as LGBTQ.Izabel Laxamana (2002–2015), age 13, Filipino-American student attended Giaudrone Middle School in Tacoma, Washington as a 7th grader. She was bullied by family and peers. However, her father, Jeff, had cut her hair short due to having put on a sports bra and leggings to send to her boyfriend. The employees called Laxamana's parents for a parent-teacher conference on the 4th while the haircut happened 24 days later. Izzy was even forced to drop out as student body president, even if it meant more bullying from other students. She cried all day, and the bullies failed to give up as she ignored them. On Friday, May 29, 2015, she jumped off a bridge after an encounter with her grandparents. She died roughly 24 hours afterward in a Seattle hospital.[88]Kennedy LeRoy (1998–2015), age 16, was a high school student with Asperger's Syndrome who committed suicide after being bullied at school.[89]Cassidy Trevan (2000–2015), age 15, was an Australian high school student who committed suicide two years after being gang-raped by a group of older boys from her school in Melbourne. The gang-rape had been orchestrated by two female classmates who pretended to offer her their friendship after bullying her incessantly. The girls and another boy acted as lookouts while the assault took place. The five teenagers involved were named to the police but were never interviewed.[90]Felix Alexander (1999–2016), age 17, was a high school student who took his own life, throwing himself in front of a train after seven years of bullying.[91]Daniel Fitzpatrick (2002–2016), age 13, ended his life by hanging himself from the attic with a belt after years of relentless bullying while a student at Holy Angels Catholic Academy. He wrote a letter about his former friends (who didn't like him for no reason) how they were bullying and blaming him, and his teachers weren't doing anything to help him. He ended his life on August 11, 2016, two weeks before his fourteenth birthday.[92]Tyrone Unsworth (2003–2016), age 13, was an eighth grade student in Brisbane, Australia who committed suicide on November 22, 2016 after years of bullying motivated by his homosexuality.[93] His grandfather had planned that he would be at school on this day, but he remained at his grandfather's farm. His grandfather returned to the farm from work at about 1 p.m. When he did not find Unsworth in the house, he "walked out the back" and found him dead.Brandy Vela (1998–2016), age 18, was a high school senior who committed suicide in November 2016 after years of bullying in person and online by her peers about her weight. According to Brandy's sister Jacqueline, the bullies creating dating websites to harass Brandy. They would lie about her age, use her picture, and use her phone number to tell people she's giving herself up for sex for free to call her. Brandy shot herself in the chest with a firearm and died at the hospital the following day. After Brandy's death, a couple of teenagers were arrested for bullying her.[94]Katelyn Davis (2004–2016), age 12, was sexually abused by her stepfather,phiscallly abused by her mother, and bullied online. On December 30 2016,Katelyn hung herself in her backyard over her treehouse.[95]Gabriel Taye (2008–2017), age 8, was a third grade student who committed suicide after being bullied. According to documents, school video footage shows students in the boys bathroom knocking Gabriel down, he was unconscious by the time the school faculty came to pick him up and send him to the clinic. When Gabriel returned to school two days later, the bullying continued. He later committed suicide by hanging himself from his bunk bed with a neck tie.[96]Jessica Scatterson (2004–2017), age 12, was a student from England who committed suicide by hanging in the closet due to bullying at school and online. One of Jessica's friends said that she came home from school with scratches on her face and a swollen eye from a fight with another girl. Her body was found at 3:45 a.m. on April 22, 2017, two days before her thirteenth birthday.[97]Mallory Grossman (2005–2017), age 12, was a sixth-grade student at Copeland Middle School who committed suicide after nine months of relentless bullying at school and online. Her parents complained to the school officials about the bullying, but their concerns were dismissed. Her mother, Dianne, said that the bullies still haven't been punished. The method in which she ended her life has not been revealed. After her death, she was cremated. According to the Mallory's Army Facebook page, Mallory was born on Earth Day of 2005.[98]Toni Rivers (2006–2017), age 11, was a sixth grade student in South Carolina who committed suicide by shooting herself with a gun after being bullied. Before her death, she told her friends that she couldn't take the bullying anymore. She was taken to the hospital, where she received treatment for 72 hours before dying.[99]August Ames (1994–2017) (born Mercedes Grabowski) was a Canadian pornographic actress and model. On December 5, 2017, Ames was found dead at her home in Camarillo, California at the age of 23.[100] Her death was ruled a suicide by the Ventura County Medical Examiner's Office.[101] Media outlets have insinuated Ames committed suicide following successive comments on Twitter in which she defended her refusal to perform in a pornographic movie with a man who had previously worked in gay pornography and sparking an "online firestorm".[102] Ames wrote that the decision was out of concern for her health. Some members of the gay community suggested her comments were homophobic and ill-informed about STI testing in the adult industry. Friends said she suffered from depression,[103] and Ames had previously discussed struggles with bipolar and "multiple personality" disorder.[104]Rosalie Avila (2004–2017), age 13, was an seventh grade student at Mesa View Middle School who committed suicide after two years of bullying. Her mother found her body, hanging in the closet. Before she took her own life, she left some suicide notes on her bed including, "Sorry, Mom and Dad, I love you.", "Sorry, Mom, you're gonna find me like this. And "Please don't show my picture at my funeral" Her father later discovered what she had written in her journal. It is said the kids were bullying her at school about her braces: "They told me I was ugly today. They're making fun of me about my teeth." In late December of 2017, she was buried.[105]Ashawnty Davis (2007–2017), age 10, was a fifth grade student in Colorado who committed suicide by hanging after being bullied at school and online. According to her parents, Ashawnty was bullied after a video of a fight she was in at her school in Aurora in October was posted on an app. Ashawnty confronted a girl who had already been bullying her and the fight was recorded on a cellphone and posted to an app called TikTok - Make Your Day. When Ashwanty found out about the video, she was devastated. Two weeks after the video was taken, she took her own life.[106] About a week after Davis' death, an eight year old girl from New Jersey named Imani Mccray saw news reports of the suicide of Ashwanty Davis on the computer before taking her own life. Her parents discovered McCray unconscious in her room that afternoon not long after they reportedly sent her to her room for a timeout. She was pronounced dead 40 minutes after arriving to the University Hospital.[107]Gabriella Green (2005–2018), age 12, was a middle school student in Florida who committed suicide after being bullied at school and on social media. According to police, the two bullies, who were also 12, confessed to bullying and stalking Gabriella. When Gabriella told one of the bullies she tried to hang herself, the bully responded, "If you're going to do it, just do it!" Gabriella's cousin told the police that she slipped a dog leash around her neck and hanged herself in the closet. The bullies were arrested.[108]Andrew Leach (2005–2018), age 12, was a sixth grade student at Southheaven Middle School who committed suicide by hanging himself in the garage on March 6, 2018. Andrew was bullied in school after revealing he might be bisexual. The kids at school would go around calling him "fat", "ugly" and "worthless." One day, his classmates followed him to the bathroom and told him, "We're gonna put hands on you. You're not going to make it out of this bathroom." After his death, he was buried.[109]Stephanie Johnson (2005-2018), age 12, was a sixth grade middle school student who committed suicide by hanging herself in the bathroom after being bullied. Before her death, her classmates told her to go to the bathroom and "kill herself." She died in the hospital four days later.[110]Jamel Myles (2009–2018), age 9, was a fourth grade student from Denver, Colorado who committed suicide after his classmates bullied him for being gay.[111]Du Yuwei (1999–2018) was a Chinese singer and ex-member of GNZ48. On October 16, 2018, Du Yuwei committed suicide at the age of 19 via charcoal-burning, after being bullied for her affair with Huang Jiawei.[112]McKenzie Adams (2009–2018), age 9, was a fourth grade student in Alabama who committed suicide by hanging herself in the bathroom after months of relentless bullying from her classmates.[113]Seven Bridges (2008–2019), age 10, was a fifth grade student at Kerrick Elementary School in Louisville, who committed suicide by hanging in the closet with a belt after his classmates teased him over his colostomy bag.[114]Hailie Masson (2005–2019), age 13, was a middle school student who committed suicide by hanging after being bullied. Before her death, she had a TikTok account and later became a famous TikTok star. She was cremated after her death.[115]Kevin Reese, Jr. (2008–2019), age 10, was a fifth grade student in Robinson Elementary School who committed suicide after being relentlessly bullied by his classmates. According to his mother, his classmates wrote on his tablet 'kill yourself' and 'You don't belong here'. His sister later found his body, hanging in the closet.[116]Ashley Lovelace (2002–2019), age 16, was a high school sophomore known as misslovelace on Instagram. On January 21, 2019, Ashley Lovelace committed suicide due to cyberbullying and depression. [117]Hailey Nailor (2002–2019), age 16, was a high school student who committed suicide by jumping off a mall parking garage roof after being bullied at school and online.[118]Niegel Shelby (2004–2019), age 15, was a ninth grade student from Hunterville, Alabama,He was a homosexual teenager who commited suicde because his classates and friends bullied him because of his sexuality. On April 18, Nigel hung himself in his bedroom, his mother later discovered his body.[119]These children are gone but will never be forgotten.

Good luck Malvi Shah with your 7-yr-old son. My parents had no idea how to educate me (even though Dad is a chemist who might have won a Nobel prize with a slightly different life path), but my educational path was less tumultuous than many people who’ve written here.My parents were born in Taiwan in the 1930s-1940s, and came to the US in 1963 for graduate school. They were both from wealthy families, but decided to be “downwardly mobile” idealists - leaving their families without money. Dad declined to take over the family business, and thus his parents didn’t like him much. Basically, they were Chinese “hippies” rebelling against traditional attitudes, but very conservative compared to American/European hippies and beatniks.My parents were the opposite of “Asian Tiger” parents, and encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to be happy. Dad was familiar with both US and Chinese educational systems, and felt that the Chinese system builds a high level of basic skills, but stifles creativity as an adult thinker/researcher/scientist.Mom (1966)Me (1966)I was born in Indiana in 1966. Grew up speaking Taiwanese. Could read English before age 1 - not sure exactly when, my earliest memories include already being able to read.Funny story: I was fascinated with cars, and had fun naming cars as we drove around the US. But I was ashamed of cheating…if I couldn't recognize the car by shape, I would read the name. Little did I know, that people were more impressed by my reading…than naming the cars by shape. :-)When people are extremely intelligent, they often make very poor guesses about other people’s motivations…until they get a lot of real-world experience with the wide range of personality styles, emotional levels, ability levels, and life experiences in other people.When I was 4, my parents had me tested (possibly an IQ test) to enter kindergarten early. My birthday was in November, and Colorado required kids to be age 5 by September, but my parents didn't want me to wait a year. I was told that the tester refused to give my parents a score (which is proper procedure for Ratio scores with old Stanford-Binet tests - Ratios above 160 are considered “no score”).I thought it was strange, but didn’t think much of it until 2015 when I stumbled onto Quora (with many IQ-obsessed people). It’s possible my parents were told a score, and decided to tell me “no score.”Some people think all smart people have a fantastic memory. My memory is terrible. I have trouble remembering a 7-digit phone number or a 7-word sentence.I learned many mnemonic methods, but I’m too lazy to use them. For storage, I use notes on my smartphone, an Excel spreadsheet on my computer, and I e-mail myself.I have a relatively high iq, yet a terrible working memory. Why? And what can I do to fix this?Aphantasia - Some people see visual images of a page, and can read the words. I visualize nothing. Strong audio, but weak/no touch or smell imagery either. I build 3D mental models, but more from a sense of touch.- When the Mind's Eye Is Blind (Scientific American, 2018)- Aphantasia: How It Feels To Be Blind In Your Mind (2016 FB viral post)- Aphantasia - Wikipedia Since I have audio memory, one of my mnemonic tricks to remember numbers is to repeat some of the digits out loud so I can recall the audio sounds while I remember some of the other digits. The lack of internal image memory makes “memory palace” techniques less strong, but since I can 3D model in my head, it does work.Unlike some people who compulsively learn, I like to have a mind which can be calm and empty, or active and full of wonder. My favorite thoughts are awe, wonder, curiosity, love, compassion, joy, and gratitude. I’m not so fond of problem-solving, planning, worry, anxiety, and anger.———————————————-Starting School (1971–75, age 4–8)———————————————-So I started kindergarten in 1971. Since my Dad was a post-doc trying to get enough publications for a professorship & tenure, we moved twice, and I attended three kindergartens in Ithaca, NY (Cornell), Boulder, CO (U Colorado), and Rochester, NY (U Rochester).I remember the frustration in Jan 1972 of often writing the wrong year (1971) on my school papers.I had no sense of being unusually smart. The internet had started in 1969, but I wouldn’t use it for another 11 years (1980), so I had no reference points. In 1971, I learned to play football in the snow in Colorado, and was mostly frustrated that the other boys wouldn’t let me be quarterback.When I got older, my parents shared that they had no idea how to raise me.For chores, I was assigned to read a regular encyclopedia and a medical encyclopedia front-to-back. When I finished those, they bought a 25+ volume Encyclopedia Britannica (which I don’t think I ever finished).I grew up on college campuses, sometimes accompanying my dad while he programmed some computers to analyze chemical compounds and anti-cancer drugs. He sat me at punch card machines, and I would type my name, address, and other things on punch cards while he worked.School wasn’t challenging, and I was bored by some of it, but I didn’t know any better. Sometimes I would just read a book while the teacher was speaking. This upset one teacher who liked to quiz kids who weren’t paying attention, make them look bad, and give them an “F” for the day. But one day when he signaled me out to ask me questions, I answered them correctly, so he gave me an “F+”. Other times, I would doodle and draw. Or I would do my homework in class, so I didn’t have to do it after school.In kindergarten and 1st grade, I was often assigned to help/tutor other kids.I was reading at 4th grade level, but the 2nd grade teacher didn’t want me to read above grade, so I made no progress that year in English.Unlike some “autodidacts” here, I could learn things at a slow speed, or at a fast speed. It didn’t bother me to learn at the “school speed”. I could function socially in the academic world.Since my parents were not great with English (There’s no one for 2 generations - grandparents, cousins, etc… with good language skills, it’s not in my genes), I didn’t have much exposure to English/American literature.Dad did have Scientific American, Physics Today, and Popular Science on the living room table, so I read those every month. And Reader’s Digest (not quite literature…) and Consumer Reports.When teachers didn’t have more assignments for me, sometimes they would give me a box of math questions on index cards (100,000s of questions). Grunt work.I often went to the library, checked out a stack of 15–25 books, rinse, and repeat (a typical non-textbook takes me about 1–2 hrs at a leisurely pace, 15 sec - 2 min if skimming quickly).——————————————————————————Attending 4th grade & middle school (1975–76, age 8–9)——————————————————————————In 4th grade (1975–76), my teacher and parents arranged for me to go to the middle school for math (pre-algebra) after New Years. I was excited and nervous. Wanted to do well, so I learned the whole math book over Xmas break.Oops. Didn’t know I wasn’t supposed to do that. So the middle school math teacher (Mr. Tumminelli) ended up teaching me Algebra I, II, Trigonometry, etc…Every day I had a tiny school bus driving me back & forth between grade school & middle school. Not sure how my parents arranged this. They were amazing.———————————————————————————————————-Attending 5th grade, 6th grade, and Kent State University (1976–77, age 9-10)———————————————————————————————————-We moved from Rochester, NY to Kent, OH (Kent State University). I remember my dad being very angry at the time, but I didn’t realize for another decade that Dad’s professor was using him for cheap labor, and refusing to write letters of recommendation. So without recommendation letters, he was able to get a job as an assistant professor, but at a small non-Ivy League schoolKent State University didn’t yet have an Early Admit Program…and Center for Talented Youth (CTY, Johns Hopkins) didn’t begin until 1979. …but somehow my Dad was able to introduce me to professors at Kent State to take some math classes (1976–1983), unofficially at first, then officially after 1–2 years when the Early Admit program was created.The math professors said the number of student complaints about “Calculus is too hard” dropped dramatically when a 10-yr-old began taking classes with them. :-)So in 1976–77, I was enrolled in 5th grade, 6th grade, and university. A bus would take me to the college for half the day, or I might take night-classes.Started programming an old 1960s IBM with FORTRAN on punchcards.When a program wouldn’t work for an unknown reason, we often opened up the computer to look for insects (real-life “bugs”).—————————————————————————————————-Attending 7th-11th grade, and Kent State University (1977–82, age 11–15)———————————————————————————-——————Next year, I did 7th grade and college. I studied math, computer science, chemistry, physics, and violin at college. Wasn’t so good at English, so took that, history, government, biology, PE (Physical education), etc… at junior high and high school.Rehearsal for debut violin recital (Mozart Concerto #3) at age 12 (1978) with the Kent State Sinfonia.Dad got a TI-58 in 1978 (programmable calculator for $200–300, $800–1,200 in 2019 dollars). Programming at home without punch cards!- TI-59 / TI-58 - WikipediaBetween 6th grade and 11th grade, I didn’t skip any grades. My parents were not fond of accelerating me too quickly. I mostly missed my friends from K-4, as I never again had a big group of friends from 5th–11th grade in Kent.In 7th and 8th grade, I was greatly puzzled by puberty in boys. Many of the boys began to do really stupid and hurtful things (Tell Polish jokes and make fun of other people).I got interested in girls at age 12, so the first two years of attending college were before my sex drive started. I was a shy introvert, not athletic (5′7″, 115 lbs), with no fashion sense - your basic nerd. So no success there for another 7 years.I wondered how other people like me navigated life, but didn’t find much in those pre-web-browser days (pre-1991). What helped me most were two things:(1) Terman studies (1921-)Genetic Studies of Genius - Wikipedia (2) Leta Hollingsworth’s “Children Above 180 IQ” (1975)Amazon.com: Children Above 180 IQ Standford-Binet Origin and Development (Classics in Child Development) (9780405064678): Leta Stetter Hollingworth: Books—————————————-Working during high school—————————————-My first consulting project in 1979 (or 1980) was when the high school teachers were negotiating salary scales (e.g. BA + 5 years experience = $X, MA + 10 yrs = $Y). They wanted to compare multiple salary scales for overall benefit to all teachers, and no one knew about business spreadsheets on mainframes (1961) or VisiCalc (first microcomputer spreadsheet, 1979), so I hard-coded a spreadsheet.I worked for my Dad on various FORTRAN programs in Chemistry, including a crazy program for factor analysis. For a few days, I couldn’t figure out what this program was doing. Finally I realized that the author was using variables shoehorned inside format statements to achieve variable-length fields and different numbers of fields (e.g. “X = 2.3 Y + 4.56 Z” or “X = 2.8 Y”). Fortran 4 used fixed-format output, and the method was quite ingenious and TOTALLY unreadable. One of the coolest programs I’ve had the pleasure of working with.Later I worked for another Chemistry professor doing 3-D visualization of chemical compounds. An Apple ][ was used to interface to a mainframe doing most of the calculations. This was 4 years before GUI interfaces migrated from Xerox Parc (1973) to the Apple Lisa and Macintosh (1984).———————————————-Meeting kids from other schools———————————————-Did some AIME/AMC exams in 9th-11th grade. Best was 2nd in Ohio. But never studied, and didn’t realize that they were important, so never got to meet any IMO people from around the world. Art of Problem SolvingTheodore Roosevelt High School (Ohio) was so backwater, about half the kids didn’t do any college. We had classes in cosmetology (cutting hair), wood shop, auto shop, stenography (typing), OWE (Occupational Work Exchange)…and maybe one student per year went to a lower-level Ivy League.Almost no one took SATs (which required a 10 mile trip to neighboring Akron, OH). ACTs were the usual exam. Didn’t realize that ACH (SAT IIs) subject tests even existed until after visiting Harvard. I think we had four AP classes in our high school (English, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, maybe history). I don’t think I took any of the AP classes.In 10th & 11th grade, I started doing science fairs and symposiums. Won state science science symposium, but was pressured to decline the award for drinking underage. Guy who took my place won the International Symposium in England. Whoops. Might have messed up my chance to get into Harvard. Butt got saved a 6–9 months later though.Entered the Westinghouse Science Talent Search and won 6th place ($7,500 - Harvard tuition was only $6,000 at the time, so more than 1 year of tuition). For the first time, I met kids from the Bronx High School of Science, Stuyvesant, and other magnet/private schools.For the first time in my life I met someone smarter…MUCH smarter. When some of the 40 finalists were hanging out, the topic of “who’s the smartest one here” came up. No discussion. Unanimous. One guy was clearly WAAAY above the rest of us.Because of Westinghouse, I got invited to an American Academy of Achievement dinner, where I met Jay Luo (graduated college at age 12, Prodigy views his homeland - Taiwan Today), Steve Jobs, John Glenn (1st man on the moon), Brooke Shields, George H. W. Bush (the first one), etc…Years later, I spoke with Michael Kearney (graduated college at age 10, has the current record) via phone, but we didn’t hit it off.Decided to start college as a freshman (even though I had enough math for a BA), and applied to Harvard, Princeton, MIT, and Stanford at age 15 (1981). Got into three, but was rejected at MIT (Heard later that MIT might have had a minimum age of 16 in the 1980s).Visited Harvard and Princeton. Didn’t visit Stanford (which may have been a mistake, it has great flat areas for rollerblading, and lots of volleyball nets), so chose Harvard to be safe, since I liked the people there.————————————————-Life at Harvard (1982–86, age 15–19)————————————————-At Harvard, I finally realized that my level of intelligence was quite rare.Students were introducing me to their parents as “yada yada yada…”I skipped the undergraduate math curriculum (…and vaguely wish I had audited or taken Math 55ab), and started with Complex Analysis (Math 213ab), before abandoning higher math.Played in the orchestra for two years, and got to tour Europe and the USSR (before the wall fell). But practicing/playing for 8–12 hrs/day for 1–2 months convinced me that I didn’t like music enough to do it professionally. So I stopped playing violin in 1984 after sophomore year.Dad introduced me to a Nobel laureate in Chemistry (Prof. William Lipscomb, who recently died at age 91), and I ended up doing some X-ray crystallography in his lab. Later worked in a virology lab at the Harvard Medical School for Prof. Donald M. Coen. Started a Yahoo!-like system for Harvard, but in the pre-browser (pre-1991) era, it was a flop.Dad didn’t have money, or understand the US elite college admissions system (In high school, I had few extra-curriculars, no leadership activities, did no volunteer work - unlike my younger brother and sister), but he did have connections! He also suggested submitting a project for the Westinghouse STS, which probably made me a lock for Harvard (In the 1980s, I think they accepted all 40 Finalists who applied).Had a lot of fun taking challenging classes, but it totally submarined my ability to get into a top graduate school. I chose classes based on the professors’ teaching ratings - Government, History, Literature, Linguistics, Science, whatever… Eventually I had to get special clearance to graduate because I hadn’t taken enough classes in my major (Chemistry and Physics).Did a 1.5x load (6 classes) officially & audited others.Sometimes I skipped 1–2 levels of prerequesites to take classes, which wasn’t great for my grades. I wasn’t bright enough to skip prerequisites and still get an A+.If I were to do it over, I might have(1) Finished a BA & PhD ASAP, while impressing key professors(2) Used connections & research to get a tenured professor position(3) …then explored other classes and topicsBut I didn’t know any better … and was just excited to have challenging classes.Clueless youth.I was two years behind Lisa Randall (physicist) who won Westinghouse STS in 1980. See Can a person be both extremely beautiful and highly intelligent?Masako, Crown Princess of Japan (will be Empress on 5/1/19) was one year before me. As was Conan O'Brien (comedian, talk-show host).———————-Spiritual Crisis———————-In senior year (1985–86), I had my first relationship (I was 18, and she was a 19-yr-old 1st year), and it created a crisis of values.My parents were not religious and had a philosophy of “Be first, and you’ll always have a job” (Along with “Do whatever you want, just be happy.”).But I had always felt this was unfair to everyone else in the world, as not everyone can be first. How can we have a world which everyone can have a fulfilling life?This resulted in a suicidal manic-depression which lasted 12 years (1986–1998).In retrospect, I was dealing with 3 things:(1) Realignment of values. Discovering God.(2) Poor emotional skills. Inability to cope with the “dark night” and dark emotional places, and come back to happiness, wonder, awe, curiosity, love, compassion, and joy.(3) Inexperience with relationships. Coming out of “initial euphoria” and not knowing what to do.So it took me ten years to get a bachelor’s degree (1976–86, age 19).————————————After College (1986–2019)————————————Retired at age 40 (2007)…Spent 16 years traveling around the world (2002–2018).I’m 52 now. Not sure what’s coming next.Long-lived ancestors. Grandma lived to 103. Mom (79) & Dad (82) are still in good health.Funny thing is my mom never expected to live to age 50. She grew up in Taiwan during WW II, and people died a lot back then from disease.At a springboard diving meet at the Rose Bowl Aquatic Center in the 1990s, a 94-yr-old lady (Viola Krahn) was diving. 1922 NCAA champion. The 70-something men & women could still do 2.5 somersaults.Viola Cady Krahn, 102; Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame MemberMet a guy trying to set the record for oldest man to run a marathon. Except there was a guy 5 years older who was still running. :-)

Teenagers are notoriously rebellious by nature, but most of us eventually grow out of that naive adolescent phase.Some, however, appear to completely miss the boat. Many of them — at least according to a study published this month in the journal Child Development — end up abusing alcohol and drugs, have trouble maintaining a steady, healthy relationship, and often have problems with the law.Ironically, the kids who seemed to have it all at age 13 — popularity, invites to parties, older friends, and love lives — are the ones who “didn’t turn out O.K.” psychologist Joseph P. Allen, told Jan Hoffman for The New York Times, where we first learned about Allen’s study.The reason these “cool” kids are lost at sea as adults isn’t karma working its magic — it’s more scientific than that.Allen — together with three other researchers at the University of Virginia — conducted one of the first studies of its kind to explore how a certain type of behaviour exhibited in some teens, which he calls “adolescent pseudomature behaviour,” may be having a negative impact on future development.As the name implies, adolescent pseudomature behaviour characterises young teens who want to look and feel mature before they actually are — they haven’t reached the emotional and behavioural maturity that comes with adulthood. To look and feel mature, these teens often behave in ways they consider mature, like drinking alcohol, smoking, partying late, and having sex.The curse of being “cool”Although past studies have suggested that this type of behaviour can be beneficial in the short-term, gaining you higher social status in school, far less was known about the “long-term implications of this early adolescent behaviour,” Allen states in the paper.Until now, that is. Allen and his team found evidence to suggest that this behaviour might actually hurt social status in school.To find out the long-term repercussions of this early behaviour, the team spent 10 years following the behavioural habits of 184 subjects (86 males and 98 females). When the study began, all the subjects were 13 years old and in either 7th or 8th grade. When it ended, they were 23.All of the subjects were recruited from a single middle school that, according to the researchers, represented “suburban and urban populations in the Southeastern United States.” The average family range of annual income was between $US40,000 to $US59,999 and about 58% of the subjects described themselves as Caucasian, 29% as African American, 8% as mixed race and ethnicity, and 5% as being from other minority groups.These numbers are not an exact match to the general American population, but they’re not far off either. According to the US Census Bureau, in 2013, about 77% of the popularion identified as Caucasion, 13% African American, 2.4% as “two or more races,” and the rest included other categories like “Asian,” “Native Hawaiian,” “Hispanic,” etc. Similarly, the average family range of annual income was just under $US52,000 in 2013.The researchers interviewed the subjects over the years in order to document their social status throughout middle school, high school, and afterward. They also spoke with other students who said they knew these people best.