Parents say boy committed suicide after embarrassing video

[Jazzy]

A San Diego couple says their 14-year-old son committed suicide after an embarrassing video surreptitiously taken of him in a school bathroom went viral and led to him being "mercilessly bullied."

Timothy and Barbara Burdette filed a $1 million claim against the San Diego Unified School District. They say a teacher, an administrator and possibly other employees at University City High School knew their son Matthew, a Boy Scout who was studying for the Eagle rank, was being harassed but did nothing to stop it.

According to their claim, Matthew, who was on the water polo and wrestling teams, was kicked out of class on Nov. 15 for eating sunflower seeds. The teacher didn't give him anywhere to go, so he wandered the halls and ended up in a boys' bathroom, the claim said.

Another student peeked over a bathroom stall and videotaped Matthew, allegedly masturbating. That student posted the video on social media, including SnapChat and Vine, and it quickly went viral among students at schools through the district, the claim said.

"From the moment the video was posted, Matthew was mercilessly bullied, harassed and teased by students who had seen the video. This continued for the next two weeks," the claim said.

The parents said officials with the San Diego Unified School District were aware of the video and the bullying.

Two weeks after the video went public, on Nov. 29, Matthew committed suicide. His family said he left a note saying he could not "handle school" and had "no friends."

"Matthew took his life as a result of the embarrassment and humiliation caused by bullying related to the video and its distribution," the claim said.

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Who, in your opinion, is responsible for this suicide and why?

 

[Bluezone777]

The boy is for choosing to go through with it. No one can force you to do anything as the people around him through their actions or inaction might have encouraged this sad outcome but in the end it is him and him alone that is responsible for ending his own life.

 

[Khalessi]

This .. child .. was the victim of a serious crime.

The other boy who shot the video is indirectly, and partly responsible for this child taking his own life.

The school also, IMO, needs to take some responsibility for not only their inaction after the fact, but also for not providing immediate counselling for the boy.

Think bout it folks .. seriously how would you have felt, if at age 15 .. basically everyone you know ..has seen you masturbate on some fkd up video?

The child may have had some predisposition towards suicidal tendencies ..who knows .. but absolutely, the people surrounding this child .. failed in their duty of care, and therefore, they really were a contributing factor to the end result.

 

[Phossix]

Society's fault.
This kid was picked on, and took his life. Just because he chose to take his own life, doesn't mean nobody else affected the circumstances. Yes - kids are young and stupid, and are cruel. But nobody did anything about it. We have a generation of kids with new gadgets, and stuff people would kill to use in the past, and what do they use it for? Recording videos of people in the bathroom. Disgusting.

Going into school, and being a laughing stock? Nobody deserves that. Especially at the young age of only fourteen. The kids who made fun of him are going to have to live with a simple fact. They laughed at somebody who is now dead. And he cited that as the reason why.