My deepest sympathies and condolences to the friends and family of this boy.

From the article: School Board member Robin Smith-Martin stated, "This was a personal tragedy that has little to do with our schools ... . As indicated by authorities, including our chief of police, this tragedy had little to do with bullying. This is about a child's unfettered access to a firearm."

Well i'll be damned. Poor kid spooked the gun and it shot him.

Seriously though: obviously something was troubling the kid mentally whether he told someone or not. Robin Smith-Martin, you are wrong sir.

The community, including folks in the schools, needs to be cautious when using the term "bullying" because the term has become so commonplace that it borders on crying "wolf," minimizing the real impact that real bullies, perpetrators of repeated and targeted abuses of power against a single target, have on actual bullying victims. We need to teach young people the value of resilience and that just because someone has an unkind thought or word about us, that person is not a "bully." Age-appropriate conversations about how to independently navigate society are desperately important because without that independence, we will cultivate a generation of perpetual victims who has not learned to solve its own problems. The real tragedy is in ignoring the warning signs of mental illness and in not providing timely and adequate treatment.

1. File a police report against the person doing this to you. There are laws to protect you. Use them. Don't wait for the school system to investigate itself. 2. Tell an adult at the school. They are required by law to report it to authorities. 3. Follow up this conversation with an email to administrators at the school, school board members and the superintendent. This email will become a matter of public record and can be used in a court of law if, god forbid, someone is hurt in the future due to bullying. 4. Call the school district hotline and report the abuse. This can be done anonymously and they are required by law to investigate. 5. Use your cell phone to document the bullying. If you are the victim, you can turn on the video camera mode and put the phone on your desk or in your pocket or in your bagpack and it will record a high quality audio of the incident, then go file the police report. 6. If you are a witness to the bullying, use your cell phone to record it. Go to an adult immediately and show them the video. 7. If you see online bullying post on facebook or twitter, print out the posts and tell your parent. 8. If you are the victim of online bullying, print out posts and submit this with your police report. The most important thing with bullying is to document the bullying in anyway you can. Just pointing the finger at someone and accusing them isn't enough. If your bullying accusation can't be proven, then you have nothing to go on. That is how the judicial system works. Short of having witnesses or proof, then you have nothing. You can't convict on rumors and false accusations. In the case of this poor child, there is no proof of any bullying. The family didn't see any and the police didn't find any after investigating. Seems it's simply a very tragic case. Remember, be proactive and TELL SOMEONE & BRING THE BULLY OUT OF THE SHADOW WHERE HE/SHE THRIVE.

I told you Amber was on top of this. This story proves my point. Now, for all you naysayers out there, stop crying and talking about her and other conchs. As I stated earlier, 99.999% of you would run from your friends and family if they got in trouble, she doesn't. She moved in with Randy to help him keep his house and save it from foreclosure while all other so-called friends turned their backs on him. If it wasn't for Monique being a admitted thief and admitted drug addict, Amber would be either the superintendent or deputy superintendent and no one would have even heard of Porter. The conchs need to unite and put an elected superintedent back on the ballot. Amber would win just like the conchs defeated Dennis Ward. Bring back the good ole days.

They keep ignoring the truth because it is bad media. They need to listen to the students who say that bullying is a problem. There is an issue and it is still not being dealt with, the denial is sick. Wake up before it is too late for others.

Robin Smith Martin needs to keep his mouth shut. His comments are out of line and inappropriate for anyone much less a public servant representing the people and our schools. He apparently knows more about the entire situation than law enforcement and MCSD administration and feels compelled to voice his opinion even before services have been held for the young man. This display of callous grandstanding on a thin line of a national issue is indicative of his attitude during his tenure on the school board; an overly inflated ego, finally with a soapbox to spew his wise deductions. This situation deserves immediate compassion and a long-term thorough professional investigation with community-wide followup. We are too quick to come to conclusions and resolve matters during a very emotional period. Do not make this tragedy into a sensationalized Citizen story to run week after week pointing fingers, rather, make it about mental health and what we are going to do to prevent the next one. And watch what you say sir, you certainly just lost my vote in the next election. If thoughtfulness and understanding your role as a leader is not motivation to do the right thing, political motivation to remain in office should...

It's good to hear that the school district has cleared itself of any involvement and the anti-bullying club exists because there is no problem.

the principal doe not know what she is say , there is still bullying in the school. if you r not in the sports program or have fam. working for the school you or getting bullyed. when i was in the high school i got bulled ever day n the teachers n the prinicipal let it happen, even the prinipal made me bay for a football players trip .

I did not "back out" of being interviewed. Despite the handful of people cited in this article who have denied it, a number of others insist bullying was involved. But let's just cover it up until we have another suicide or even a Columbine incident. Then everyone will whinge and whine about "Why?"