Some call it "bullying," but I call it emotional and physical torture.
And it was school centered, emotional torture that claimed the life of 11-year-old Carl Joseph Walker Hoover last Monday. This young boy, who played football, basketball and was a Boy Scout, hanged himself when anti-gay bullying and constant harassment became too much for him to bear.
Carl Joseph Walker Hoover was so overwhelmed by bullying that he committed suicide by hanging himself with an extension cord.
His mother found his broken little body, living every parent's worst nightmare. [Carl's mother] Sirdeaner Walker, who was active at Carl Joseph's school as a member of the parent teacher organization, was aware that her son was being bullied and experienced repeated frustration at getting the administration to do anything effective about it.
Carl played football, basketball, and was a boy scout -- but that didn't stop other kids from picking on him, his mom said. Students called him gay and made fun of him for the way he dressed.
Sirdeaner Walker said she began phoning his school repeatedly when Carl first told her about the bullying last September, but she says the school was unresponsive.
Carl Joseph Walker Hoover should have been with us this Easter.
Sirdeaner Walker: It was just unbelievable to me. I thought I was in a dream. I thought I was in a nightmare. I couldn't lift him - so all I could do was scream.
In the days since, Sirdeaner and her close family - have been asking the question why? They say Carl was a great kid who loved sports and was involved in many community organizations and attended church every Sunday. The answer, they believe, can be traced to the cruelty of some of his classmates at the New Leadership charter school in Springfield. Sirdeander Walker: He was being teased at the school - he was being made fun of - he was being bullied. A lot of it surrounded by "you act gay," "are you gay?"
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