Sad

Teasing and taunting led girl to end her life - 3/7/01

This story came up in a forum I was reading. I hadn't heard about it, mainly because I'm not plugged into much of the Wiccan or neo-Pagan sites.

Those of us who choose Paganism as a religion often feel like outsiders already. For a child who was trying to feel her way into adulthood, I can see where her religion and dress were both ways of expressing something inside and also that which marked her as different, liable for taunts and worse. The Tempest Smith case brings up a lot of questions about bullying, about tolerance for other faiths, about depression in youth, and about the loss that happens in the confluence of all of these.

Remembering the Tempest Smiths of the world might help bring us to greater tolerance though. I hope so, anyway.