Seth Walsh: 13-Yr Old Commits Suicide After Bullying (Video)

by jazpiri | September 29, 2010 at 06:41 am

22044 views | 22 Recommendations | 10 comments

Seth Walsh, a 13-year-old boy from Tehachapi, California, has committed suicide after being bullied by classmates over his sexual orientation.

How did Seth Walsh die?

KGET-TV reported that Seth Walsh died Tuesday, September 28 after spending nine days on life support after hanging himself from a tree in his yard.

Seth Walsh's classmates say the 13-year-old was repeatedly bullied for being gay.

Tehachapi police stated they interviewed several students who bullied Seth Walsh, but no charged will be laid.

Meanwhile, the family of Seth Walsh is asking for privacy as they get through this difficult time. Seth had three siblings, ages 11, 17 and 18.

One family member released a Seth Walsh tribute video on YouTube, which stated:

"He was bullied and teased, now in the hospital, this face right here is suffering because of bullying, never say a mean thing again."

A fund has been set up to the the family of Seth Walsh deal with their expenses. Donations will be accepted at any Bank of the Sierra branch.

A funeral for Seth Walsh will be held Friday at 3:30 p.m. at First Baptist Church in Tehachapi.

A similarly tragic story took place in Texas last week as 13-year-old Asher Brown committed suicide. Brown shot himself in the head after classmates repeatedly taunted him and accused him of being gay.

The story of Seth Walsh brings back memories of Phoebe Prince, a Massachusetts teenager who is believed to have committed suicide because of cyber-bullying.

Here is the Seth Walsh tribute video

1 See all footage | View Slideshow

Share: email story | add to any | | facebook | stumbleupon

recommend Sign In or Join to post comments

marianmo

at 07:33 on September 29th, 2010

bullying is NEVER acceptable...why can we not accept differences of people...maybe we need to look to political and religious people who seem to be unable to get past bullying less fortunate and people ewho are different...it is time for intolerance to end

Amy Judd

at 08:35 on September 29th, 2010

How sad and tragic.

FaithlessTemplar

at 01:06 on September 30th, 2010

"political" people?

How many high school students bully others based on political preference?

or religious for that matter?

Noella3 (not verified)

at 18:53 on September 30th, 2010

Political as in political parties that use homophobia as a means to stir up hysteria and paranoia.Religious as in Christian fundamentalists continually stating that homosexuality is a sin and even want to outlaw it. Some of the more crazy ones want homosexuals executed.

FaithlessTemplar

at 00:46 on October 1st, 2010

These were high-school kids, not members of a political party.

Other religions than christianity also condemn homosexuality.

Bullying someone because of their sexuality is not really any different from bullying them over their height, weight, manner of speech etc.

jada smiley (not verified)

at 16:36 on November 1st, 2010

doesnt matter its still stupid juvinile and wrong god bless that poor kid im startin a peace and love club for TAS teens against suicide

Millie (not verified)

at 01:51 on October 2nd, 2010

Adults and children are bullied, picked on and teased due to many reasons, be it race, color of skin, eyes, hair, creed, religious preferences, height, weight, mental and physical limitations or deformities, health, personal skill levels, education/grades, credentials, financial status, and the list goes on. Compassion is what is needed here, not condemnation. Anyone who wishes to condemn another needs to put themselves in the shoes of the people they are speaking of and speaking to. WORDS DO HURT! My heart goes out to you in your deep and terrible loss. I have children, too, and I know how it must feel to lose even one of them for any reason at all.

KE1014 (not verified)

at 07:02 on October 3rd, 2010

There is a bit of a difference, obviously, between bullying of gay kids and, for example, fat kids. The frequency of suicides is proving that. Young gay kids are already struggling with being different in a way that is not "fixable." You can't lost weight, nor is it something that you feel will be be less important as you get older. I don't believe most kids are cruel to the point of trying to make gay kids commit suicide--I think what these kids did, and the death it likely caused, will haunt them their entire lives. But, what disturbs me is that everyone knew it was going on. That's what you keep hearing. Families of dead kids talking about it going on for years, complaining to schools and having nothing meaningful happen (or it actually gets worse--now they are "queer" and a "snitch"). Changing kids' behavior is hard (bullying is as old as the earth), but we have to change ADULTS' reactions to it. There needs to be harsh and immediate reaction to it. Detention, suspensions, forced to wear a clown suit--whatever. KIDS are simply too mentally unformed and delicate to understand the consequences of their actions--whether it is basically torturing a classmate or deciding that the only way out is suicide. We HAVE to find ways to stop this. It is becoming a national epidemic.

Dale Mathews (not verified)

at 12:58 on October 4th, 2010

HI =D i am gay and i am proud of it. We should get together sometimes

Derek Williams (not verified)

at 11:09 on October 26th, 2010

The kids who bullied Seth Walsh wanted him to die, and now they got what they wanted. No doubt they are all absolutely satisfied with the result and given the success of their enterprise thus far, they will now be emboldened to try it again on other gay kids, or straight kids who seem gay to them in some way.Incitement to kill is a crime, but is this a crime to incite murder if the murder you wish to take place is of someone else by themself? As a priority, measures should be being taken to find out how many other gay kids these children told to kill themselves. If incitement to suicide is a crime, then without question, those responsible should be charged with the offence.A lot of people posting on hate sites like YouTube are saying that all gay people should kill themselves and this no doubt impacts on gay teenagers using YouTube and other bully sites.It is reassuring to note however that while YouTube and its ilk are swamped by hate and violence, the thumbs ups and thumbs downs indicate that the majority are not in support of all gay teens taking their own lives as you might otherwise believe from reading the reams of anti-homosexual rhetoric, most of it coming from self-proclaimed Christians.While I am sure that Christians as a rule deplore bullying, violence and suicide, sadly the message given out at some of the more evangelical sects run by profiteering hucksters is at the very root cause of holier-than-thou grandstanding ultimately leading to youth gangs feeling justified in attacking defenceless kids half their size.Gay kids can only take so much before they come to the conclusion that they have no future, if all it holds for them is universal hate and violence from their home, their peers, their school and their church. To such children, death is a merciful release.May they rest in peace.