Ronin Shimizu, a cheerleader found dead, has an entire community mourning. 12-year-old Ronin Shimizu, who was the only male cheerleader from his school, was found dead last week. Shimizu committed suicide due to constant bullying.
Ronin Shimizu, cheerleader found dead in his California home, was bullied at the previous school he attended. On Wednesday, 12-year-old Ronin Shimizu was found dead in his Folsom, California home.
According to police, the boy committed suicide. His family and close friends are certain that bullying lead to Shimizu’s death. Ronin Shimizu parents recently removed him from California’s Folsom Middle School because he was constantly harassed by other students.
Shimizu was mocked and hit with anti-gay comments because he was the only male cheerleader on the Vista Junior Eagles Cheer Team. The seventh-grader, who was being home schooled, and according to his pals, he missed being a cheerleader.
Folsom Cordova Unified School District spokesman, Daniel Thigpen, confirmed that Shimizu was bullied while he was at Folsom Elementary and Middle School. Thigpen added:
“The complaints were met with appropriate action.We’re certainly using this as an opportunity to look back at how we looked at the allegations.”
Many of Ronin Shimizu’s friends were inconsolable upon learning of his passing. His former classmate, Mia Kleinbart, explained that he was often called gay and added:
“Bullying him because of cheerleading – that’s not right.He’s doing what he loves to do. That’s a human right to be able to do that.”
Another unnamed pal, stated that Ronin Shimizu was the happiest person she knew:
“Any time I talked to him it really brightened my day and made me feel better. I didn’t see why people would tease him because he was so nice.”
Folsom Cordova School District officials have made grief counselors available to help students and staff affected by the tragic event.
Ronin Shimizu, cheerleader found dead, has sparked another debate, about what can be done to stop bullying.
It’s always sad when a child commits suicide. But instead of automatically blaming it on the bullying, could he have been depressed since his parents pulled him out of class to homeschool? The family, by doing that, took away something he dearly loved.
You proved your ignorance with that comment, Deanna.
So everyone that his a different viewpoint than you is ignorant? Hmmm, And you call Deanna ignorant? you might want to look in the mirror
KNick – Deanna stated her ignorance up front – she does not know why he was depressed and suggested another contributing factor. Based on the information provided, her lack of certainty is understandable. The tone of your comment suggests that Deanna lacks the intelligence to completely agree with the article as perhaps you do. While a rallying cry against abuse by children of other children is admirable, it is also reasonable to dig deeper.
well Deanna, if you are going to take the article at face value, and I assume you are, it doesn’t say he was depressed about home schooling, though I don’t see how he couldn’t miss his friends at school. But the reality is, the article says he missed cheerleading. The bullying took away what he loved, cheerleading. And it is not the fault of the kids who bully either, it is their ignorant parents, because parents of bully’s…they know their kids are like that, behavior like bullying often is something that is very hard to hide. Parents of bully’s deserve to be sued, they deserve to be held accountable, forget that it is disgusting and immoral, its just plain cowardly. My son is luckily a junior in high school who is 6-3, 285 lb football player, who has never picked on anyone, and his size keeps him out of that, because bullies are cowards…they don’t bully people who can whoop their a**es. But the real question is Deanna…..why would you automatically blame the parents…? hmmmmm…..#you_are_exposing_yourself
really, Deanna??
the article states that the reason the boy is being homeschooled is because of bulling because he is a cheerleader. this means that the bullying appears to be the reason for the suicide.
Depression and mental health issues are to blame, not “bullying” or getting called names. Sad to see this happen but sometimes nobody is to blame except the mentally ill person that took their own life
let me get this straight – if a person commits suicide….it can’t be the bullying that is at the heart of the depression in a young CHILD? someone is showing how ignorant they are of mental stability in developing minds….spoken like someone who probably bullied people as a kid…or is the parent of the bullying cowards…
LOL, yeah I must be a bully, probably a racist well…you are so smart.
And you have never called someone a name , ever? Same with you kids? Let’s hope they dont sue you..
you called my my 11 year old child a name…you will be hearing from my lawyer Mr. Hypocrite.
really, Dan?
How do these things always get off track? Obviously none of us know all the facts. Of course, there could be multiple contributing factors. My heart and prayers go out to this boy and his family. I always hope and pray that more can be learned and done to decrease these tragedies. I would love it if they could be prevented all together but I know that is delusional.
Not only should the school be sued but the whole fu*king state of California , This should NEVER have happened.
Really Paul? Everyone in California should be held responsible and pay? The money California would pay comes from the residents who pay taxes, so you are saying people in San Diego or Sacramento who had no idea who this child was should pay? You sir are part of the problem, with your “I’ll get my money the old fashioned way, I’ll sue for it” attitude. Some people are responsible, but it definitely isn’t the entire state of California. The article implies but does not confirm it was bullying, the only person who knows why this tragedy happened is Ronin.
Unbelievable,,,,
My god people. A 12 year old boy is dead. So sorry.
Amen.
Where were the adults when this kid was being tormented. It is heartbreaking that he felt the need to end his life because of other kids tormenting him. This has to stop. How many kids have to die before schools have a zero tolerance policy for bullying. It is the teachers job to watch out for this stuff happening and to report it. Teachers turn a blind eye to it and now another kid is dead. And bullies should be expelled from school for doing what they are doing to other kids. No, the bully goes on to live their life and when they are older they want to say oh I am no longer that person. I was bullied and no the pain it can cause. I was fortunate because my bully killed himself. I didn’t have to deal with anymore after the two years I put up with him bullying me. I never told cuz I thought it would get worse if I did. It was a living hell what he put me through. I am now 46 years old and still affected by what he did to me.
Geez my consolation for kid and family.
in the mindset of former vp candidate Paul Ryan,if mere words caused him to checkout,he was too weak for this word anyway.and i agree with the intelligent comments that conclude we don’t know what the real cause of his depression was.could dad have been “bothering” him??? anything is possible in todays crazy world.
Really Neal???? You think that “if mere words caused him to checkout, he was too weak for this world??” Wow!! You are really assuming a lot!! Words are much more powerful than you believe…especially in the eyes of children.” With children, sometimes bullying can become unbearable, and they have a hard time coping with their emotions. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they are weak! Remember Neal…the kid was 12!! Sure, there could have been other elements to his depression, but as someone who was bullied, I guarantee you, Neal, that bullying was a major reason for his depression!!! Period! Yes, it is a crazy world…that’s probably the only thing that you wrote that I agree with! The mind is a VERY complex thing to understand…sometimes it’s hard to understand why people act the way they do. Then again, like I said…the kid was 12! ‘Nuff said.
So sad. Best wishes to the family during this time of tragedy. We have to be real here. Bullying is as much the parents fault as the child, more really. But there’s plenty of blame to go around- Religion & Politicians- for helping reinforce negative stereotypes of ‘certain’ segments of our society that they find undesirable. Teachers and Staff at this school. I think Teachers turn a blind eye to the needs of kids who are different in their eyes or not main stream. Finally the bullys themselves. Biblical Literalists, Teachers and many other ignorant people tend to blame the victim by saying things like – they wouldn’t be bullied if they acted more normal or didn’t call attention to themselves. Who are bible thumping morons or lying two faced, stealing politicians to say what normal is? Our whole society has forgotten the difference between right and wrong.