School Sued for Ignoring 'Bullicides'

Staten Island teen walks in front of bus

(NEWSER) - A Staten Island 15-year-old whose family said she got bullied at school has died after walking in front of a bus holding a suicide note, reports the Daily News . Classmates had taken the belongings of Amanda Cummings and even made mean comments on her Facebook page after the incident, her uncle said. "I’m not going to tolerate this. I’m gonna go full force," said Keith Cummings. "Kids can't do this to each other." More»

56 escaped and 48 were killed; wolf and monkey still at large

(NEWSER) - The wild animals on the loose in Ohio had a hand with freeing themselves. Terry Thompson, 62, owner of the 46-acre animal farm, deliberately released 56 animals from their cages last night before killing himself, police say. More developments:

• Only a monkey (with herpes) and a wolf remain at large somewhere around Zanesville, Ohio, reports the Columbus Dispatch .
• Authorities killed 48 of the animals, reports the AP . "Public safety was my No. 1 concern," says the local sheriff. "I gave the order that if the animals looked like they were going to get out, they were going down."
• Among the animals that escaped were 18 Bengal tigers, 17 lions, and eight bears.

'They have no heart,' says grief-stricken dad

(NEWSER) - Bullies are continuing to plague a grief-stricken family even after the suicide of their 14-year-old gay son. New York student Jamey Rodemeyer killed himself after repeatedly complaining about bullies at his school and after making a heart-breaking YouTube video where he talked of his hopes for a better future. Now those same bullies chanted "we're glad he's dead" when Jamey's 16-year-old sister, Alyssa, attended a homecoming dance. "She was having a great time, and all of a sudden a Lady Gaga song came on, and they all started chanting for Jamey, all of his friends," Jamey's mom, Tracy, said on the Today Show. "Then the bullies that put him into this situation started chanting, 'You're better off dead!' and 'We're glad you're dead!'" More»

Jamey Rodemeyer, 14, couldn't take the bullying any longer

(NEWSER) - As members of the US military were about to celebrate their right to serve as gays, one gentle New York gay student, 14, was ending his life because he could no longer face bullying at his school. "I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens," Jamey Rodemeyer wrote in his blog earlier this month. "What do I have to do so people will listen to me?" He was found dead outside his Buffalo home after he posted a final message on Tumblr, thanking Lady Gaga. In a heart-breaking "It Gets Better" YouTube video he recorded earlier this year, Rodemeyer said that things were "getting better" because friends were supporting him. More»

He could get eight years in prison

(NEWSER) - An Indiana high school senior is facing up to eight years in prison for the egregious felony of… bringing a blowup doll to school. Tyell Morton planted the doll in the girl’s bathroom as a senior prank, but administrators didn’t think it was funny. All they saw on the security camera was a hooded figure take a package into the bathroom and leave without it. Soon, the Indiana State Police bomb squad had been called in to deal with the raunchy inflatable. More»