Ted Molina
A year after the Flour Bluff Independent School District received national attention for refusing to allow students to form a Gay Straight Alliance, the district is accused of not handling bullying that led to a former student’s suicide on Sunday.
Ted Molina, 16, faced bullying since fifth grade from a group of boys who used racial epithets and threatened to fight him. Molina’s mother is Asian. The family blames the school district for not handling the bullying properly, his aunt told the Corpus Christi Caller-Times.
Molina played football in middle school, but quit his freshman year hoping the taunting would stop. When it continued, he withdrew from Flour Bluff High School on March 5. While he seemed to improve, he posted several grim photos of himself on Facebook hours before he killed himself in his bedroom. He did not leave a note.
From the Caller-Times:
Sophomore Ashley Stover, 16, said Ted was a good student who smiled, did his school work, got to class on time and had few absences.
Ted, whom she knew since at least middle school, never showed signs of wanting to commit suicide.
“He was just smiling and happy,” Ashley said.
In the hours before he killed himself, Ted posted three, sullen pictures of himself on Facebook that family and friends say look nothing like the happy-go-lucky boy they knew who always liked to make people laugh.
“I don’t think he was trying to hurt anyone else or cause anyone else pain,” his friend Kyle Stewart said. “He just wanted his pain to end.”
Ashley said she saw a group of students repeatedly bully Ted.
“He kind of bottled everything in,” she said.
Eighth-grader Meadow Kendig, 14, said she backed Ted up in a dispute with the same group of students about a month ago when they threatened to fight him off campus.
Meadow said she plans to wear blue on Thursday with other Flour Bluff students as a way to honor Ted.
“We loved him, and we’re going to miss him,” she said.
UPDATE: Equality Texas posted a KRIS-TV newscast that features a mother who pulled her two students out of Flour Bluff ISD because they were being bullied and the district did little to stop it.
Equality Texas Deputy Executive Director Chuck SMith commented on the story by referencing HB 1942, a bill the organization helped pass last year. It requires Texas school districts to implement polices for reporting and responding to bullying.
“These incidents of bullying and harassment cannot be swept under the rug. They cannot be ignored,” Smith wrote on the post. “The lives of Texas school children are at stake.”
I am a student here and i think its strange because my teacher know about bulling and is the only one who cares
I truly believe the district is at fault. My children are in CCISD and I can firmly attest to the fact that little if anything is done about these bullies. What is wrong with the parents today? Are you as moms and dads so self absorbed or suffer from such low self esteem that you have to put this same attitude upon your children? It’s so pathetic. My heart goes out to the family who lost their loved one to such a sad tragedy. So, come on FBSD and CCISD, what are you going to do about bullying now??
I’ve lived in South Texas for 16 years and then moved to Dallas for 2, and Austin going on 5. It’s the ignorance and backwards thinking nature of the community there. They have little to no thought about trying to make things better for anyone besides their sports teams.
I am so saddened by the events that have occured at flour bluff school.My daughter use to go there until i pulled her out last yearShe started kinder there and wanted to graduate there as well.She was a varsity cheerleader,popular and well liked.There were four girls that taunted her on a daily basis.Two of them were actually old friends of hers.The bullying became so bad that i decided to call the school and tell principal and her other teachers.My daughter was jumped by one of the girls one night.These girls tried to destroy my daughter confidence and happiness.My daughter has told me of several events that have gone on as far as bullying with other students.Something needs to be done.What is wrong with you people?
Nobody told Crenshaw. I’ve had to deal with bullying personally myself before and he did something the DAY I went to him. If he’d been told, something would’ve been done about it.
As a concerned parent, I just want to say that my heart goes out to the parents and family of young Ted Molina. If the pic listed is any indication of how he truly appeared, he was a handsome boy. To the administrators of this school: if you are reading this… shame on you for not caring enough about ALL of your students (even the bullies) to investigate this child’s claims before the tragedy. Bullies usually bully because they are not being taught well at home. As administrators, you had the power to bring the parents of these boys in, sit them down and help all of them understand that there would be consequences for their poor behaviour. As teachers and educators, that is what you are supposed to do! Kids can’t guide themselves or else we’ll have a Lord of the Flies scenario. Wake up! Do your jobs! Pay attention to each child like he/she were your own… that is what you are supposed to do otherwise why are you in the profession that you’re in??
I am a parent of two teens that attend Flour Bluff ISD HS. My daughter was a very good friend of Teddy and even dated him a couple of times. This has hit her hard and I am very afraid of my children’s safety at Flour Bluff. I kept them out of school most of last week and I am so afraid to send them back because of all the anger that this community is feeling after Teddy’s tragic loss. To be honest, Teddy’s death should have NEVER happened. I do run a Facebook page that is in support of Jonah Mowry’s Courage To Stop Bullying and sadly this page is now dedicated to Teddy Molina and our crusade to make our schools safer, bully free, and to never have another “Teddy Tragedy”. If you would like to see the different resources that we offer on our page, how to spot bullying, the signs of bullying, and now sadly, how to help your teen as they grieve, please feel free to join us on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/supportjonahmowryscouragetostopbullying All we want is to make sure that the school steps forward and takes responsibility for what they didn’t do to help Teddy and for those who abused and harassed and viciously attacked Teddy day in and day out to be held responsible. Please, educated yourselves on bullying and how to stop it. And, if you are being bullied or need help with grief or anything else, you can always ask on our page or even email me at phenomenonandbeyond@gmail.com and ask for Julea. I will personally make sure that you get the advice and help that you need in a very discrete way. I will never mention names but I WILL make sure that you are put in touch with the right people. And please keep Teddy’s name living on. Don’t allow Flour Bluff ISD to sweep this under the rug and not take responsibility for what they lied about and refused to do for our students and for Teddy. No one ever deserves to feel that suicide is the only way to end a problem. There is help and I will make sure to help you. Please don’t let there be another “Teddy Tragedy” ever again. Be very blessed.
My heart goes out to the family but I do not believe the district is at fault. Bullying believe it or not will always be a part of life and a part of growing up. Teddy had loving friends and loving family, when things go wrong you are supposed to lean on family. Killing oneself is like slapping the loved ones in the face, and then they feel like there MUST be someone else to blame. The child pulled the trigger, it was his decision. I have seen my boyfriend die of cancer, watched him fight for his life because he WANTED to live. Anyone who ends such a precious thing and betrays their family is selfish. Sad, but true. There are many fighting for their lives and for their loved ones. At the end of the day, nothing but grief can come from a death, it’s no reason to point fingers and listen to the media, which likes to twist the words of the truth.
My name is Lloyd Guerrero and I was recently involved in a hate crime that circled around Richland Hills, TX and has recently gone international. I have started up an non profit organization called “Project: Blue Voice” that is a project to stop hate crimes around the world as well as prevent things like this from happening. We r currently in the works of forming different branches for school systems and the community as well in order to be able to reach out to everyone instead of just one group of people. I would like to speak with the family of this child regarding the incident that took place as well as get some information on the school district that it took place in. please email me at: bluevoiceproject@yahoo.com or visit my facebook at: http://www.facebook.com/lloyd.guerrero as well as http://www.facebook.com/bluevoiceproject for more information regarding the foundation. Thank you and I really look forward to hearing from you.
To the commenter Jade — your logic is flawed because you don’t understand depression and suicide. I hope you never have to experience the death of a friend or loved one in this manner, but if you do you might realize how ignorant and insensitive your comment is. I also hope you never have to experience depression but if you do, I hope those around you are there for you in the way that you obviously won’t be for them. Wake up.
Flour bluff needs to stop bullying. Life is not a joke. My uncle gang is not funny whatsoever. As long as your a clean legit looking honest man they won’t break your face till your shedding tears of blood. This school needs to take closer looks at the students situation and teach them the cold truth about when they step outside those doors. Prison no joke whatsoever.