Summary

Jocelynn Rojo Carranza, an 11-year-old girl from Gainesville, Texas, died by suicide after enduring months of bullying over her family’s immigration status.

Classmates allegedly mocked her and threatened to report her family to ICE. The school was aware of the bullying but failed to notify Carranza’s family.

Her mother, Marbella Carranza, only learned of the harassment after her daughter’s death and is now working with investigators and the school to understand what happened and why she was not notified.

  • ZK686@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    This is horrible, but I can’t help but read all these comments generalizing the situation. There are millions and millions of Mexicans/Hispanics all over this country, no one cares, no one is making it an issue. I remember when all of Lemmy, and Reddit was quick to say that not all illegals are murderers after the Lakien Riley incident… but now, apparently, it’s okay to say the entire country is filled with bullies and idiots like these kids at this school. This article is fear mongering, nothing else. It’s equivalent to what the Right does about illegals, and yes, I say that as a person who votes primarily Right.

    • spujb@lemmy.cafe
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      3 days ago

      but now, apparently, it’s okay to say the entire country is filled with bullies and idiots like these kids at this school.

      i mean… yeah cuz it’s kinda true. 22% of US students report being bullied—that’s 1 in 5, and those are 3 times as likely to show suicidal behaviors, which is the second leading cause of death in high schoolers.

      compare that to criminal convictions for murder by illegal migrants in FY24: 29. not 29 hundred, not thousand. twenty-nine.

      bullying is a huge problem. don’t get me wrong, i’m friends with former self-admitted bullies. it doesn’t mean a person is irredeemable. but bullying is a big deal that’s worth talking about.

    • grue@lemmy.world
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      3 days ago

      I’m willing to bet that’s exactly what happened. Dollars to doughnuts these were MAGA bullies at a MAGA school with MAGA teachers/“leadership” and the adults either tacitly endorsed the bullying or participated in it themselves. They’re probably glad that she’s dead and (privately, if not publicly) laughing about it because it’s one less “illegal [pejorative]” polluting their white community. I genuinely think we’re at that level of near-genocidal dehumanization at this point.

  • Wren@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    Those kids should be forced to hear her name every morning they wake up for the rest of their lives.

    • prongs@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      Removing her from their lives was probably their intent with the bullying. Whether or not they considered death over deportation, they got what they wanted.

      Maybe I’m too cynical as an outsider looking on to the US but I don’t think these kids will even remember her name in 5 years. Only that they succeeded in preventing whatever DEI /woke word vomit their parents and the media warned them about.

    • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      3 days ago

      Yeah I’m kinda speechless. It doesn’t bear thinking about but I kinda wonder how aware she was of the consequences of what she was doing.

          • odd@feddit.org
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            3 days ago

            Okay hear me out. I give this one single try. If you do not take your time to think about this and double down on your ignorance I will not further engage.

            A little girl has been bullied to a point where she saw no other option than ending her own life. This is huge. It’s one of our must fundamental instincts.

            She was murdered. By her bullies, by the system, by everyone who enabled this to happen. She was murdered.

            Questioning whether she was fully aware of the consequences shifts the blame from the offenders to her. You imply an overreaction. You imply that the griev, drama, and negative emotions are in no relation to what she has been through. You question whether she has reached out for help enough. You question whether she tried.

            Rest assured: she did. https://iris.who.int/bitstream/handle/10665/341671/9789290228578-eng.pdf?sequence=1

            • techt@lemmy.world
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              2 days ago

              In defense of nuance, I think this take is pretty unreasonable. I understand if you want to call people out for victim-blaming, but it’s very clear the commenter had no malicious intent by wondering about details about the tragedy. Why are we so eager for villains?

            • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              3 days ago

              I don’t really care whether you engage.

              It’s an absurdity to suggest that my comment shifts blame to an 11 year old victim.

              Sure ok maybe some asshole Alex Jones type might try to say she over reacted, and they might do that by undermining her agency.

              That doesn’t mean that someone wondering about what an 11 year old’s understanding of suicide might be, is doing anything other than grieving for our collective loss of innocence.

              It’s a perfectly reasonable thing to wonder in trying to process the death of someone so young.

        • saltesc@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          Blame?

          I kinda wonder how aware she was of the consequences of what she was doing.

          That’s not blame.

          That’s a perfectly normal thing to wonder.

          1. Was the bullying so bad it caused 12 year old suicide?
          2. Or being 11, did they have a fully comprehensive understanding of what suicide is?

          These are both very plausible and terrible things.

          No 'blame" in there. Get off that soapbox and back onto earth.

          • pyre@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago
            1. yes, it was? because it did? i don’t understand what part of this you’re still wondering about. it already happened.
            2. no one does. what is “fully comprehensive” anyway? like how far does it go? no one can tell what the full ramifications of a suicide can be. doesn’t matter the age. if the question is about whether or not they know about what death is, then yes they know. an 11 year old isn’t a baby.
            3. soap boxes aren’t that tall. no matter where you find them, you can be sure they’re squarely on earth.
            • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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              3 days ago

              if the question is about whether or not they know about what death is, then yes they know

              It’s not that simple though is it.

              An 11 year old can probably explain what death means, but not really understand the permanence or significance of the event especially in the context of the transience of bullying.

              • pyre@lemmy.world
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                3 days ago

                I don’t think you’ve met an 11 year old or maybe even been one. they understand it as much as anyone in that situation would. point being no one in that situation fully does. that’s not the state of mind that typically leads to suicide.

                • saltesc@lemmy.world
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                  3 days ago

                  I don’t think you’ve met an 11-year old. They’re typically incapable of doing things so traumatic that a person with an comprehensive understanding of life and suicide would take the suicide option. The stats are so insignificant they can barely be acknowledged.

                  I find it quite crass that you’re so staunchly opposed to other people.contemplating multiple explanations for such an ordeal. First you throw in the word “blame” out of context, but I think it’s worse that you’re putting this much energy into keeping the narrative in such a black and white manner for what can only be assumed is that it best suits your political views.

                  As said before—and whether you fit into it or mot—its normal human behaviour to contemplate and consider such things, especially with death. You can’t lash out at people for being normal just because you don’t like it.

      • Kalysta@lemm.ee
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        3 days ago

        I promise you, at 11 you know what death is. And it’s the ADULTS responsibility to protect you anyway. Why are you blaming the victim?

        • techt@lemmy.world
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          2 days ago

          How can you promise that? I’ll admit I didn’t fully understand it then, I didn’t have any deaths in my close family until much later, so I never had to reconcile with it.

        • null_dot@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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          3 days ago

          Sorry I don’t really understand what’s so dumb about this question.

          If she actually intended suicide (which we don’t know), then to what extent did she understand the permanence of death in the context of the transience of feelings.

          • Goodmorningsunshine@lemmy.world
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            3 days ago

            What you’re failing to understand is that you’re being an insufferable twat. Do you ask this about adults, too? There are very few people pushed to suicide who consider how transient feelings are, and that’s hardly the point here. You don’t have to face tragedy with obnoxiousness.

      • Resonosity@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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        3 days ago

        Oh you’re asking if she could relatively conceive of what life would be like without her in it, especially to her family and friends. If she had that level of mindfulness and could pre-meditate the consequences.

        I mean, she was 11. And even fully grown adults can barely know what the consequences of their actions will be, so I doubt this was ever something considered.

        It was probably a combination of short-term pain felt by herself and shame felt towards her family that led to the breaking point. Makes me dissociate just thinking about this story

        • Kalysta@lemm.ee
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          3 days ago

          What the OP doesn’t realize is that if one is at the point of suicide, the loss to their family and friends doesn’t even cross their minds no matter the age.

          All they can think of is ending the pain. Doesn’t matter if you’re 11 or 30.

          The comment is stupid and clearly OP has never spoken with a suicidal person before. All they’re doing is victim blaming.

          • Reyali@lemm.ee
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            3 days ago

            Alternatively, they do think of their loved ones but through the lens of, “their lives would be better without me.”

            I can’t help but wonder if her bullies may have made this poor girl think she might be responsible if her parents faced repercussions from immigration policies. Regardless, it’s a tragedy that a life was lost so young and it’s inconceivable that the school took no action that may have prevented it.

  • kava@lemmy.world
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    3 days ago

    I grew up illegal in the US. I was brought on a travel visa at the age of 5 and it wasn’t until my mid 20s that I became a citizen.

    I vividly remember being in elementary school, around her age, in music class where we were learning the national anthem. The entire class would stand up and we should sing “I’m proud to be an American” and I remember silently crying as I stood up and sang the song.

    I cried because I understood even at that age that I was not an American. I was part of everything while simultaneously always being detached from everything. Never fitting in, but pretending to. I think long-term it created a strange sense of detachment from society. This shit fucks you up and it’s heavy stuff for a child to process. It wasn’t until my adulthood that I really started to understand and internalize a positive narrative from my upbringing. An 11 year old child does not have the capacity to process this.

    And I’m in my 30s now- I grew up illegal before social media and before this xenophobic outburst started circa 2016. I’d imagine it’s so much worse today.

    I feel for this little girl. I feel for all the children in the country who’s only crime was existing. Obama, while famously being the deporter-in-chief (both Obama terms aw more deported than Trump’s first term), at least did offer DACA as an executive order for these children.

    Really, I think you can tell the state of a society by how they treat the vulnerable. And the US is getting increasingly brutal and cruel. We’re in for a wild fascist ride, comrades. It’s only just begun.

    • Malfeasant@lemm.ee
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      2 days ago

      Never fitting in, but pretending to

      Not trying to deny your experience or anything like that, but a lot of people feel that way, especially around that age, are you sure it was because of your lack of citizenship? I know I have always felt like that, and I was born in Boston, Mayflower descendant too…

      Not the point, I know.

      • kava@lemmy.world
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        2 days ago

        you’re correct it’s not a unique experience to feel isolated from the rest of your peers. i feel like it’s an experience that might actually be increasing. i think social media ironically adds to this in the youth. many biracial people also experience something like this (ie, too white for the blacks, too black for the whites)

        when i got here initially i moved to a place where nobody spoke my native language. so when i went to school, i would get put in a class all by myself with a nice lady who would hold flash cards with pictures on them. she would show me a card, it would say something like “cat” or “ball” and then she would repeat them over and over.

        so the first year or so of primary school I was alone in a room because I didn’t speak english yet. really what eventually taught me english was cable TV

        another element in the experience is being afraid of authority. the police were dangerous because at any moment if they caught us the family could get separated and we could get deported. one time my parents were cleaning an office late at night (they worked in cleaning when they first arrived in US) and they brought me with.

        i didn’t understand what a fire alarm was so i pulled it. my parents, scared that the authorities would arrive and see a young child, took me and put me in the backseat of the car where people’s feet usually go and they put a blanket on me. they told me to be very quiet and not make a sound otherwise we could all be deported. so i hid in that car for an hour or so until the emergency services left


        i share these things not to say i had a hard life or anything like that. I think I had a good upbringing. and I understand many Americans have had much worse experiences and also feel alienated as well.

        But I share these things just because the story in the OP touched me because I was that 11 year old child once. It’s a life and a set of experiences a lot of Americans don’t really think about very much. Or at least historically has been more or less ignored.

        Nowadays illegals have attention but unfortunately an overwhelmingly peaceful people become “rapists and murderers”. if you look up statistics, illegals are 2-4x less likely to commit crime than native born americans (if you get any charge at all, you can get deported… even if you get acquitted or the charges dropped!). so naturally they tend to be more careful breaking laws

    • NotLemming@lemm.ee
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      3 days ago

      At least you had a little defense from the indoctrination… You do understand that’s what it was? Countries don’t usually do that to kids.

      • kava@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        exactly this. later on as an adult I realized I had my own path and that path was always going to be different from the average. got me thinking differently, opened my mind, etc. I think also knowing 3 languages helps

        ideology gets impressed upon you at an early age already, especially here in the US.

      • kava@lemmy.world
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        3 days ago

        Thank you. I feel like one these days. Especially after the naturalization ceremony. This is a country of immigrants and I’m part of it. I’m not ashamed of it anymore. I was when I was younger.

    • bitwolf@sh.itjust.works
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      3 days ago

      Wanting to reaffirm that no matter what anyone says you’re just as valued and important as anyone else in this country.

      I hope that one day our society and law will accurately reflect reality.

      Wishing the same for my family and friends who bear the same burdens. It’s very depressing our world is still caught up in racial problems and not important problems like food and shelter.

      • kava@lemmy.world
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        thank you, i appreciate the kind words. like i said, after processing and coming to terms with my upbringing, I see it as a positive these days. I got a unique outlook on life that most people don’t have the privilege to see.

        I know things about this country Americans don’t have any clue about. By being sort of “in between” cultures, it lets you zoom out more easily. the world which was once small gets bigger.

        It’s very depressing our world is still caught up in racial problems and not important problems like food and shelter.

        I think people are scared. Americans are insecure about their future. Financially, emotionally, and societally.

        I think we have to go through this painful phase but we will come out the other side with a new 21st century ideology. Once that fixes the contradictions of the 20th century one we still have.

  • DimlyLitFlutteringMoth@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    3 days ago

    The US regime believes in notifying parents, irrespective of the possible harm, if their child might be gay or trans but won’t bother with bullying so severe it leads to suicide. The US is fucked.