Wasted Suicide
		By Jesse Smith


	If you live on the east coast of Canada, you've probably heard
of a little boy named Emmet, recently. The young man, age 14, that shot himself
to death over a year ago. Young Emmet left behind a suicide note, which stated
he had been bullied. The note claimed that Emmet had been abused,
threated, robbed and pushed into criminal activity by a young lady.
Her name was not released by the press under the young offenders' act.

	Another young person. Another tragic death. Another waste.
The reason of my writing this, however, is not to mourn the passing
of Emmet. Nor to criticize the girl that extorted him. That horse
was beaten to death a long time ago. Rather I would like to
make a few points that I have not yet, in the past year, heard mentioned.

	First of all, I'd like to extend my sympathy to the young lady who
has been charged (and sentenced) for the death of young Emmet. While this
might sound odd, bare with me. This girl (name unknown) has a long list of
criminal charges. At the age of...what, fifteen? This tells me that
something was seriously wrong in this girl's life. Come on.
Fifteen and she already has a rap sheet. Plus the new charges
brought to bare on her in this new case. It sounds to me like this
girl has not been properly cared for. I'm not suggesting that she
isn't responsible for her own actions. She most definitely is.
However, the reasons why she picked out Emmet to harass are probably
many. I think her parents, or lack there of, should also be
investigated. Children that are taught right from wrong and cared
for properly are less likely, I believe, to strike out against others.
I sincerely hope that the young lady charged in this case gets the
help she needs. I don't just mean therapy. I also mean some tender
loving care.

	Next, let's take a look at everyones' victim, Emmet. What this
boy was thinking is beyond me. First of all, he was being picked on
by a girl with a criminal record. Reporting her would have probably
helped him out a bit. Perhaps, but what if that didn't fix things.
She might have beaten him to death. Well, he's dead by his own hand.
So there was obviously nothing to lose by trying. Why not charge her
without killing himself? Next, what if he'd wanted to bring the problem
to attention and live? Well, he did have a gun. Heck, if the
authorities had ignored him, he could have taken matters into his
own hands. As sick as it might have been, it makes more sense for him
to defend himself rather than kill himself. The victim making himself
more of a victim.
This kid was obviously suffering from confusion and low self-esteem.

        Next, let's examine Emmet's friends. They, according to the
Daily News, often loaned Emmet money to prevent him from being beaten.
The amounts were, reported, at $60 at a time. Quite the sum. Now, tell
me, what sort of friends would loan out $60 at a time, but not help
protect you? Sounds a little strange to me. What sort of friends
stand by while you are beaten and driven into depression, yet toss
around money? This seems a little odd to me.

	That brings me to my next point. Emmet's parents. Yeah, I know,
I'm ragging on the parents here a lot. However, since both the victim
and aggressor were minors, it seems appropriate. Emmet's mother has
stated that the young girl, sentenced to a year in youth detention,
got a simple `slap on the wrist'. It's not enough for her. Fine,
that's expected. Victim's parents are always disappointed at the
sentence. Let's turn it around now. What should the penalty be for
neglect. Think about it. Her son was beaten, pushed into committing
theft and driven to distraction. Did she notice? No. Did she know
anything was wrong before her son showed up dead in her own house? Was
she even aware that her son had a gun? Probably not. Did she realize
that young Emmet was so confused and feeling like such a victim that
he wanted to die? No. Sounds like pretty severe neglect on her part.
I think that her anger at the accused is a cover for the sadness she
should feel. I wonder when she planed to teach Emmet to stand up for himself.