My 11 yr.old granddaughter & her freind are being severly teased as being gay ,only because they are tomboys,some Anita Bryant lady started it all ,and it is really getting out of hand. How should my daughter handle this situation?

laura, kent, U.S.A.

If a child feels different then talking to a counsellor, clergy or priest will only reinforce these feelings. They need to feel 'normal', able to relate to their own age group.
As parents we need to talk openly to our children from an early age, encourage them to have friends of different races, religion etc to prevent them from becoming bullies themselves through education and information.
If needs be kids can counsel each other simply by remaining good, supportive friends regardless of their life choices.

kathy, wexford, ireland

i no how he feels iv been through it and still am im 15 aswell and iv tried hanging myself and slit my rist i no how he must of felt

josh jones, york, england

How low must this child have felt to resort to this. . . .always thinking of you Jonathon. You know that. . . .

Vanessa, London,

AB

If its that easy how come car builders dont use the same technology thus eliminating pedestrian road accidents.

It aint rocket science.

Chris, Cairns, Australia

A tragic loss of a young life, and unimaginably horrible for the train driver and all the witneses and emergency services that have to deal with the aftermath.

I think parents and teachers need to be more aware of the bullying that goes on around them. Teachers especially need to do more if they feel a child is at risk or being bullied. Although in this case nobody can be blamed, perhaps in future tragedys like this may be avoided by catching the culprits and identifying the issues earlier on.

There is also a need for more gay/lesbian youth clubs, places where youngsters can go in confidentiality to get support and reassurance..

Tony Hall, London,

bullies like the ones that taunted this young boy should be made accountable for their actions.... i know what it is like to be taunted about my sexuality and can only be thankfull that i came accross the taunts a lot later in life than this lad and found my own way of dealing with it and had the support of groups.... maybe it's time that support groups for this age group came in to being . it would give people like jonathan somewhere to voice whats happening and take the isolation out of the experience of coming out.

james, dublin, ireland

AB, London said:
"I blame the train designers who persistently in every country on earth manufacture clumsy inefficient badly designed trains that still fail to
scoop up any kind body lying on the track

Nearly 200 years ago the Americans designed a front-end to a train that pushed fallen trees and animals off the track
Geeeeez,...Its not flaming Rocket science"

You cannot blame the train. even with some form of scoop it won't stop you being hit at high speeds, you are still going to be hit and probably killed since you are being hit by a heavy object at high speeds. Why should the trains be modified for something that would still kill. Next you will be saying cars should be modified and built so you get scooped up. Get real, such a stupid idea, and would not work anyway.

The only people to blame are the people who caused this young boy to do such a tradgic thing. It is a shame that one can end their life just because of some cruel evil people. Rest In Peace.

Tiz, Derbyshire, UK

I am now in my final year of sixth form, and this kind of thing still happens a lot, and schools have no plans to do anything about it. They simply try to brush it under the carpet. With this type of bullying you can't tellyour parents because you don't want them to know your gay, and the school will do nothing about it because they know this.

Scott, Nottingham, England

Really the only people who should be blamed here are the bullies.

I bet the friends he called feel awful.

Ruth, Haslemere,

Hopefully people will realise just how damaging bullying can be. It doesn't necessarily have to be homophobic bullying.

I personally hope that the bullies will be forever guilt-ridden for that they have done.

Ian, London,

As a gay man this upsets me. We have come on leaps and bounds as a country over the years, but that jibes in schools and offices through the country lead gay men and teens to commit any form of bodily harm, let alone suicide is just shameful.

The police say there is no criminalty commited - well there should be. For a young man (or woman) to take their life as a result of systematic bullying should mean that those who purportated the bullying should be held to account as aiding and abbetting the persons death.

Until we take a harder line and make examples of people who use words like "gay" and "queer" to mean negative things, people coming to terms with their sexuality will constantly feel pressure to deny who they are.

RIP Jonathan.

Joe, York, UK

No-one can blamed for train. Coz this train went high speed and impossible stop as fast could hurt to other peoples who on board train and train is too heavy to brake to stop train quick enough 85mph is very difficult stop quick. But i only blaming peoples who are tease him for being gay. I feel very sorry for this lad who had been kill by peoples who make him feel low. He is peaceful now.

BK, Milton Keynes, UK

We should remember this the next time we use or hear anyone use 'gay' as an insult.

What a waste of a beautiful young life.

Trish, Dublin, Ireland

My brother is the same age, I would move stars and the planets if that ever happened to my bother, I have peaceful thoughts for the family and hope young Jonathan has peace in the next world

Jason Massey, Bracknell, berkshire

welcome to seedy hovel Britain

I blame the train designers who persistently in every country on earth manufacture clumsy inefficient badly designed trains that still fail to
scoop up any kind body lying on the track

Nearly 200 years ago the Americans designed a front-end to a train that pushed fallen trees and animals off the track
Geeeeez,...Its not flaming Rocket science

AB, London,

Yes, and this proves that there is still a lot to be done when it comes to discrimination, this is the 21st century, but this kind of thing belongs in the 19th century. How could it happen?
The people who bullied him should be up for manslaughter.

Will, Manchester, UK

Terrible....but happens all the time. I blame conservatives who allow people to spout homophobic views. I blame schools and the church.

Conor Mackey, Cardiff,

Oh that's so sad,

My deepest condolences go to his family.

I too suffered terribly at the hands of school bullies, this included teachers.

Chris , Hull, East Yorkshire

At least his suffering is now at an end.
But, what a waste and what sadness fills this world!

Joe, London,

Words are hard to find , my prayers go out to johnathans mum and dad , I am a teacher and I am gay , children can be hurtful , the only way we can stop children being homophobic now and later in their adult lives , is to talk in our schools about homosexuality , a thing that many think we should not do .Thankfully younger people are today more able to accept that someones sexual orientation is nt a matter of choice ,but we still have to do more , and doing so will prevent the loss of a human being .God bless mate .

john benner, leeds, UK

Only 6% of schools in England and Wales have an anti-homophobia bullying policy; the shadow cast by "Clause 28" still remains.

Bullying happens because of race, sexuality, gender, age, size and a whole raft of other reasons. The key issue here is that the educations system fails to teach our nation's youth that it is simply wrong to discriminate on any such grounds, and that needs to form part of an overall anti-bulying campaign.

During my time at University I chaired an LGBT group whose members aged from 14 and over and from what I could see many of these homohobic taunts are used by bullies purely because homophic taunts have enetered our language and become almost acceptable by many. The word "gay" has gained a new meaning for something being 'stupid'. This is particularly distressing for young people who are confused about their sexuality and for whom this use of language creates a negative image of themselves and their sexuality.

My condolences go to the family of the boy

Babak Erfani, Loughborough, England

absolutly shocking with all the money people plow into schools and counselling things like this still happen, This kind of behavious cannot go on with nothing being done stop the bullying now ...

ozcar..., falkirk, scotland

Poor fella.
Condolences.

And condemnation to the low-life scum who do this in schools - although the problem of bullying extends far beyond homosexuality, and this particular topic shouldn't get disproportionate emphasis.

Joe, Manchester,

What an absolute tradgedy!

Despite the new Equality laws, and anti bullying policies that his kind of inhuman behaviour to others just because they are a little different (in this case being gay) says so many bad things about the society in which we live.

My heart goes out to his mum, dad and sister. What could have been a bright, long and fullfilling life snuffed out because of bullying and intolerance. This is SO wrong!

I'll light a candle in Jonathan's memory.

Mike, Durham, UK

My sympathies to the young man's family.


Words said in hate, bigotry, or fear or insecurity, can cause every bit as much harm as knife wounds or bullets--but are worse, for that the wounds are invisible. It is like a mental rape.

I only wish that there was, published with this article, a helpline number for suicide and/or counciling.

Nancy, Glens Falls, USA NY

Having recently moved from Barry in South Wales, back to the South West, I can vouch for the intensely homophobic nature of the place. It's not the majority of the older residents, it's the youngster that are the worst. The amount and utter viciousness of the level of abuse stunned me. So it is no surprise to learn that this poor lad just couldn't take it.

Homophobic bullying is the fastest growing "trend" in our schools, much of it violent, and this is the result. It is about time that the authorities did something instead of piecemeal table scraps, and they need to stop listening to the voices of the bigots who decry any mention of gay people in our schools, or more and more young, vulnerable gay teenagers are going to die.

Jennifer Hynes, Plymouth, England

There is only one reason why this happened.

A total lack of desire amongst educational professionals to do what is really required to stop bullying.

Kevin Smith, London, England

How very very tragic. Here we have a bright young kid, looking at an otherwise bright future, if he wasn't made to feel like a piece of subhuman trash by others because he is gay, and who is now dead. How totally unnecessary. And what's more sad is that there are many people that think "that's one less".

Victor Dago, Athens, Greece

When on earth is the Government and schools going to stop covering up bullying and deal with it head on ?. It is disgusting that this Country has allowed schools to degenerate into "bullying fields"
and it is high time discipline was brought back in to schools to stop this. My condolences go to the parents of the boy who killed himself ,and let us hope that the bullies have this on their consciences, if they have one, for a long time to come.

Sergei, London, UK