Lance Lundsten, Tiffani Maxwell Commit Suicide After Reported Bullying

Two teenage high school students reportedly committed suicide this weekend in separate incidents, and friends and family of both say they were harassed and bullied at school.

On Saturday evening, 18-year-old student Lance Lundsten of Miltona, Minn., killed himself, local station KSAX reported. The local sheriff's office "confirmed to KSAX that they believed Lundsten's death was a suicide," though further details were not reported.

According to his Facebook page, Lundsten was openly gay. On a Facebook memorial page in Lundsten's honor, friends said that Lundsten had been bullied at school for his sexual orientation. Some students who knew Lundsten believed the bullying may have led to his suicide.

Sen. Al Franken (D-MN) offered his condolences at an event on Monday.

"My heart goes out to Lance's family, and friends and loved ones. It's a tragic event, not only for them, but for the school, and the Alexandria community and really for all of us," Franken said.

"LGBT kids really do need (more) protection," Franken said. "They're two or three times more likely than straight kids to get bullied. Nine in ten LGBT students said they've been bullied or harassed and almost two-thirds say they don't feel safe in school."

In a separate incident in Slippery Rock, Pennsylvania, 16-year-old high school student Tiffani Maxwell reportedly shot herself on Saturday morning, according to local station WPXI.

Maxwell's family believes bullying is to blame for her death. Maxwell was expelled last week. The family said students told teachers they saw Maxwell do drugs.

"She got text messages, saying 'Tiffani you're in rehab.' 'You're on drugs,'" said Maxwell's mother Sandy. Maxwell's parents said their daughter wasn't on drugs and they were just rumors.

The parents are hoping to now save other teenagers from bullying.

"Even if it saves one kid ... just remember there are family members behind you and that tomorrow will be better," said Sandy Maxwell.

More details here.

If you're in crisis or considering suicide, please call the toll-free national suicide hotline at 1-800-784-2433 or visit SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.

Comments

[GC1301]

09:36 PM on 01/24/2011

It doesn't get better. Kids learn hatred from adults. Adults are the closed minded bigots that lead to the bullying. Our own government has laws that discriminate against gay citizens. How could you expect anyone to feel fulfilled in this environment. It all stems from religion and fear (which are intimately related). Lets have an honest and real discussion about this.

[Kalie]

05:06 PM on 01/24/2011

I think they need more tolerance in Pennsylvania and Minnesota. Everyone is not gonna be just like you...deal with it without intimidation.

[ben616]

04:36 PM on 01/24/2011

I went to a medium sized and fairly diverse high school in the midwest in the early nineties.
I do not remember the type of bullying going on that I read about on here.
It just seems like high school students would have to have so much more power and dominance over the faculty than we did to get away with it.
When do you bully someone in high school? In class? in the hallway? At lunch?
We had to run to make it to class between the bells. Any horsing off was nipped in the bud.

[Kuncous]

05:18 PM on 01/23/2011

When people kill themselves, they are the only ones to blame. Take some responsibility! Parents sorry for your lose but no one can MAKE you kill yourself, you are just weak and make a choice. No laws are broken here stop blaming others. Reminds me of Joshua law. You can't make everyone pay for something you did or failed to do even in the mist of a horrible self induced tragedy. Sorry but this is how I feel....

Mother of teenage daughter, bullied but not broken!

[Norma Desmond]

02:20 AM on 03/17/2011

wow what a _stupid comment... sad.

[Mr Anonymous]

01:38 AM on 01/22/2011

I'm probably going to get a lot of heat for this, but people now-a-days are weak and stupid. Almost everyone gets bullied for one reason or another. Deal with it. If you don't like getting harrassed online, don't go to the sites where you are getting harrassed. If you are having a problem with a bully at school, go to the authorities. Its not that difficult, but since everyone has to be a bleeding heart about this and coddle children now-a-days, children are not resilient or strong enough to deal with or handle these situations.

[ArnoldIV]

12:05 AM on 01/24/2011

here's whats up "MR WONDERFUL". I agree somewhat with the words you're typing - and the message you're trying to convey - we need to be responsible for our actions. But the reason for the suicide manifested from the bullying THEY ENDURED in THEIR DAILY LIVES... unless you were golden boy in high school I highly doubt you understand what a report to the authorities accomplishes.. Im gay, from the midwest and currently 22. I reported bullying since 7th grade and NOTHING was ever done.

[Kalie]

05:09 PM on 01/24/2011

More than weak and stupid, people today are mean like you.

[Sable Lawson]

06:53 PM on 01/21/2011

I'm so sorry these kids took thier own lifes.It's so sad high school is already hard enough to deal with,all those different personalities. All children straight or gay should not be bullied the message should go out loud and clear.I know quite a few kids that were bullied at school they each tried switching schools but,met with the same problem .Some survived while the others chose another terrible route.To Lance Lunsten and Tiffani Maxwell, May The Lord grant them eternal rest and peace, that they did'nt recieve in life.God bless thier families that are left behind to miss them.

[Holly Rayl]

10:20 PM on 01/20/2011

No! It gets better, kids! So terrible. Just a sign that the 'It Gets Better' campaign needs to continue and be more widely spread.

[TjB6478]

04:45 PM on 01/20/2011

It's easier to change yourself than change other people. I wish there weren't bullies as much as anyone else, but I think a more productive goal would be to help children deal with bullying. We need to let kids know where to go for help. They need dialogue to deal with bullies and knowledge of how to deal with confrontations or how to avoid confrontations.
We need to study children that aren't bullied and see if we can find out why. Maybe there's something those children do that bullied children could do.
That seems more practical because bullies don't know that they are bullies or don't care. Hard to get through to a person like that and help them change.

[Myron007]

02:20 AM on 01/20/2011

Hi All,
Check out this video that my fiancee and me did. It's on school and cyber bullying the cause and effect. A must see video! Would love to hear some feedback.. =)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wQPUVEMn2Qs

Kind Regards,
Paola & Myron

[Katlin Kortie]

11:25 PM on 01/19/2011

Excuse me, but I am a senior at Jefferson High School. I knew Lance Lundsten. He did not commit suicide. Nor was he bullied for his sexuality. The media screwed up and I hope everyone stops talking about this. HE WAS NOT OPENLY GAY! He diclosed that information in his private facebook account. This has got to stop. Please send an apology to his family, or to our local newspaper for wrongly stating your opinions.

[pammiethekid]

09:24 AM on 01/21/2011

How did he die?

[Minion]

03:09 PM on 01/19/2011

It is still sad to say that in our country, even tho this kid, Lance, was brave enough to be openly gay at 18, it probably did nothing more than throw gasoline on the fires of hate and intolerance.

[lookinside]

01:44 AM on 01/19/2011

People that bully are everywhere and come in all sexes, shapes and sizes, both mentally and physically. They can be your friends friend, peers at school or co-workers and in all phases of the work force. A victim can be any age as well. At my age, it is understandable that co-workers holding positions as secretaries to chief of police or captains bully co-workers and get away with it. It most work environments, everyone is looking out for their job - so no one is going to support you. In school, the peer pressure to select "sides" exists certainly, but I don't understand how none of their family members or friends could see how distraught both teens were. No person should loose their lives because of "bulliers" and something really needs to be done to help victims and those who feel they are victims, to stand up for themselves. Support groups in school, at church - anything to help these children avoid these mean people that will grow up to continue their distructive mission.

[Godheard SentU]

11:36 AM on 01/19/2011

"but I don't understand how none of their family members or friends could see how distraught both teens were"
Parents and friends DO see it! The problem is, where can they go for help?

"At my age, it is understand­able that co-workers holding positions as secretarie­s to chief of police or captains bully co-workers and get away with it. It most work environmen­ts, everyone is looking out for their job - so no one is going to support you."

The big difference here; Employees that are being bullied have a choice, they can quit.
By law children MUST attend school or risk jail time for both the child and/or parents.
Neither has a choice, not matter what environment is like for the child.

If the parent complains to much they run the risk of their child runs the risk of being black balled.
Which by the way is the main reason parents don't confront schools on my issues, let alone rally church members to complain.

[phantoma]

02:20 PM on 01/20/2011

Well put.

[Godheard SentU]

04:48 PM on 01/20/2011

"many issues"

[DerekWilliams]

12:52 AM on 01/19/2011

It's really disturbing that this is still going on, but what I find more disturbing is that a kid who had the self-awareness and confidence to be able to be openly gay still failled to diminish the wall of hatred from his peers for what he was, a real discouragement to other LGBT kids to come out.

Even more disquieting is the general reaction of bullies after they succeed in getting their victims to suicide, high fiving each other and posting hate messages on the victims' social networking pages. Even right wing fundamentalist religions surely can't condone this behaviour by bullies.

Whatever the attitude of the public might be to a young person's intense discovery of their inbuilt sexual orientation, LGBT suicides have moved the White House to issue statements deploring bullying, so bad it leads LGBT children to end their short lives. There are powerful speeches from President Obama and Vice-President Biden that implore those thinking of suiciding to think again. Although trolls continue to post hate, the public response (thumbs-ups) hugely supports the White House statements, as has also been the case with DADT repeal.

I'd encourage LGBT youth to report bullying, sit at the front of the classroom to expose it, yell out bad language in response to jibes to draw attention to the problem, look people in the eye, use their name, put yourself in harm's way - you might get beaten up but at least you'll still be alive.

[Dani09]

08:38 PM on 01/24/2011

Well said. F&F.

[buddy boy]

11:40 PM on 01/18/2011

Actually, if you read up on education, professionals agree that squeezing middle school and high school students into larger schools is less productive than keeping them in smaller schools for many reasons. Bullying is one of them.

[Sable Lawson]

07:05 PM on 01/21/2011

So true my daughter's old school was small then when she went to high school she was tormented by all the grades so bad she cried everyday said,''she wanted to kill herself ''.I as a parent went to the school talk with the teachers and the principle they said they have zero tolerance for bullying but that was a lie.My daughter dropped out as a direct result of continued bullying by the guys and the girls.

[buddy boy]

11:33 PM on 01/18/2011

As a teacher I see bullying happening every day. My school district has adopted program after program for the last 17 years that I've worked here and nothing seems to work. Finally, I've simply been blunt with these 5th graders about the recent suicides and they are now listening. Isn't it sad that young people had to take their own lives to make someone listen to them.

[Godheard SentU]

07:17 AM on 01/19/2011

Thank you for the comment! Here is a link you may find helpful:
http://www.bullyonline.org/schoolbully/index.htm