FUNdamental Wrote:
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> Boy, accused of bullying, kills himself
> By Robert Mills, MediaNews
> Posted: 10/29/2010 10:59:15 AM EDT
>
>
> GROTON -- Hunter Perkins had been labeled a bully.
>
>
> The Virginia boy, 16, a third-year student at the
> prestigious and private Groton School, was
> accused, along with two other boys, of harassing
> another student about his sexuality, according to
> his father, Walter Perkins. His father said he was
> told to come get Hunter immediately.
>
> Within a week, Hunter Perkins would be dead.
>
> Hunter's father, Walter Perkins, of Chantilly,
> Va., said he drove 10 hours overnight to pick up
> his son Oct. 6 from the school's infirmary.
>
> Perkins said he was told his son would likely be
> expelled, and he was encouraged to have his son
> withdraw from school instead. Police were
> investigating. He took his son home.
>
> The next five days would be hell for the Perkins
> family. Walter Perkins said he was angry with his
> son and the damage he had done to his future by
> allegedly joining with two other boys to create
> demeaning comics about another student.
>
> He was trying to find another school for his son,
> and encouraged his son to leave Groton School, but
> Hunter wanted to fight any efforts to expel him.
> Walter Perkins said his son claimed many other
> students behaved the same way, and that he was
> being singled out.
>
> But Walter Perkins said officials from the Groton
> School continued to contact him daily, pushing him
> to withdraw his son.
>
> Finally, on the night of Oct. 11, just 10 hours
> after Hunter Perkins met his psychologist, the
> stress became too much for him.
>
> Walter Perkins said he was in his bedroom, calling
> his daughter so that the family could get together
> to figure out what to do. (His wife died nine
> years ago.)
> "There was the crack of a gunshot in the
> basement," Walter Perkins said.
>
> He ran downstairs and found his son bleeding
> profusely. He tried to perform CPR, but Hunter
> would soon be dead.
>
> An alleged bully had taken his own life.
>
> Walter Perkins said he had locked up all of his
> guns because he knew his son was in a fragile
> state, but said his son found a gun his mother had
> owned.
>
> Walter Perkins blames his son's death, at least
> partially, on the way Hunter was treated by school
> officials, whom he said were so eager to be
> politically correct that they never tried to teach
> his son a lesson.
>
> "They knew my son was on mental-health
> medications, but they still had to treat us like
> dirt," Walter Perkins said last night.
>
> Earlier this month, Groton School Headmaster
> Richard Commons confirmed for The Sun that a
> student had died, but said it was school policy
> not to disclose information on individual
> students. He would not comment on whether bullying
> played a role in the death, but said the school
> has an anti-bullying policy in place.
>
> "Our thoughts and prayers are with the family,"
> Commons said at the time.
>
> He could not be reached for further comment last
> night.
>
> A spokesman for Middlesex County District Attorney
> Gerard Leone confirmed that Groton police have
> sent the results of an investigation into a
> bullying incident at the Groton School to
> prosecutors, who are considering whether there was
> any criminal conduct.
>
> No one has identified the two students Perkins had
> joined in the alleged bullying.
>
> Walter Perkins, meanwhile, isn't sure what his
> next step will be. He hopes someone can learn from
> what happened to his son, a boy who he said was
> always eager to help others, and who had been
> picked on himself at the Groton School -- when he
> died his hair pink in support of breast-cancer
> awareness.
>
> "I just hope they change their procedure," he
> said. "I'm praying something good comes out of
> this."
>
>
>
>
> Read more:
>
http://www.nashobapublishing.com/groton_news/ci_16
> 467904#ixzz14QHokSgA
Hopefully Chuckles' bully, eesh, will do the same!