The top official for the school district where 14-year old Kenneth Weishuhn, Jr. died by suicide last weekend after being mercilessly bullied by classmates, says he “had no idea” the bullying would lead to the teen’s suicide, nor is he willing to re-examine school policy on bullying. Kenneth James Weishuhn Jr.’s funeral was Thursday morning.
READ:Â 14-Year Old Suicide Victim Was Receiving Death Threats For Being Gay
Weishuhn was also receiving death threats on his cell phone, and was the subject of a Facebook hate group, but Dan Moore, Superintendent of the South O’Brien Community School District, who serves three Iowa towns, including Kenneth Weishuhn’s tiny town of Primghar, seems to be circling the wagons and defending the district.
Moore “said administrators knew of only one incident regarding Kenneth and that he believes they dealt with it well,” the AP reports in a Boston Globe article:
“I feel the school did address the issue that they were aware of when it came to their attention,” Moore said. “Obviously, we had no idea that we’d have an end result like this, or what was going on outside of here.”
He said administrators didn’t know about the alleged online and phone harassment, but that they may not have intervened even if they did unless it carried over into school.
Teachers began standing in the hallways after someone complained that boys were yelling slurs at Kenneth, and the school addressed the issue of bullying at an assembly. But the teen’s mother and sister said they don’t think administrators did enough to protect him.
The AP adds:
Moore said the district has no plans to change its policies, but that it is still examining the circumstances surrounding Kenneth’s death and will explore ways of better impressing upon students that bullying is unacceptable.
Kyle Munson at The Des Moines Register reported on the funeral:
“We buried a student today,†said a reflective [Superintendent Dan] Moore. “We should never have to do that.â€
Moore said he had gleaned a message from the homily at Weishuhn’s funeral: Take the hate and throw it out of here.
“We’ll get through this,†Moore said as much to himself, it seemed, as to the pair of journalists standing next to him.
The U.S. 2010 Census reported Primghar has a population of 909. It’s 908, after one student didn’t “get through this.”
Moore needs to do more. Nine out of every 10 LGBTQ students report being bullied in school. Most “get though” it alive but far from unscathed. Too many do not.
After every tragedy, top officials always say, “we had no idea” this could have happened, despite warnings every day that it will.
KTIV interviewed community members during Kenneth’s funeral: