MIDDLEBURG — Brandon Bitner's suicide has struck such a chord with folks that the Rev. Julia Beall is even fielding questions at the grocery store.
People don't hesitate "to catch up and share their thoughts and hurts, ask questions," said the pastor of First United Church of Christ, Middleburg. The teenager's funeral was Wednesday.
For instance, just on Tuesday "at the borough building, it was discussed with me, at the grocery store ... I can't seem to go anywhere where someone hasn't come up and expressed deep sorrow," she said.
The outpouring of shock and bewilderment is something that happens in these kinds of circumstances, Beall said.
"It's really hit everybody, from grandparents to school kids," she said. "Everybody just looks at how this could get to this place, and nobody knows enough about it to stop it."
"I think they're stunned," said the Rev. Denny Mallonee, pastor of Faith Baptist Church in Beaver Springs, referring to people's reactions.
"I think the whole community is stunned by it," he said. "It's such a tragic way that it happened."
Brandon, a 14-year-old freshman at Midd-West High School, took his life Friday, saying in his suicide note that he had been bullied for five years and as recently as two days before he died.
While officials work to find out what, if anything, was going on at the school, Valley residents from Middleburg and beyond are coming to terms with the tragedy, often seeking guidance from religious leaders.
Mallonee said he's not been asked why this happened, "though I am sure that question is in their minds," he said.
Beall said tragedies like this tend to stir up a sense of widespread guilt among people.
"I have families with kids who are in really different spots sometimes, and we do anything we can to pull them out of it," she said. "That's why this is so sad. Unfortunately, there weren't adults who realized how much suffering Brandon was doing."
Karl Polm-Faudre, director of education, research and outreach in the spiritual care division of the Geisinger Health System, has a different take on community reaction.
"I think the tragedy stems not from (Brandon's) decision to take his own life," he said. "The tragedy stems from a community and an environment in which he could not thrive."
Polm-Faudre said in his regular clergy study group — which encompasses Episcopal, Lutheran and United Church of Christ — everyone was aware of bullying that's present in there areas, "and these are people from Mazeppa to Lewisburg, Sunbury, Benton, Berwick ..." he said.
"I think the message we would want to give is that the community needs to take stock of the anti-gay rhetoric that's been going on, especially from some political and religious circles," Polm-Faudre said. "Because this is giving permission for bullying, harassment and name calling."
People will come to terms with their pain, Beall said, but to stay there, things will need to change.
"We need to embody that kindness that doesn't tolerate this kind of hurt, in every small way we live," Beall said, adding the culture of the church is that "we do affirm that God created us for a purpose, and respect that God created every person for an purpose because that is part of the Christian culture. ... We are all loved by God, and we should love one another."
Mallonee said a stronger bond between kids and their parents also will help.
"If the kids can get the message that nothing beats that close family relationship and that close communication with mom and dad ... we get busy with so many things that pull that family apart instead of binding it together," he said.
News
Related Photos
-
Tammy Simpson and her husband, Palmer Simpson Jr., leave the funeral for her son, Brandon Bitner, 14, on Wednesday afternoon in Liverpool. Liz Rohde/The Daily Item
Discussion
Pastors say teen's suicide struck chord
People from across Valley express shock, bewilderment
- News
-
- Valley wins 18 medals at state track
-
Cicadas: They’re crunchy
Seventeen years after a major swarm of bug-eyed cicadas staged one of nature’s weirdest — and loudest — mating rituals, their offspring are preparing to rise in Washington’s suburbs and the Mid-Atlantic.
-
Cicadas: They can’t hurt you
Have you heard the buzz? There’s a lot of buzz, or talk, about a certain insect that shows up once in a long while but in such big numbers that it’s impossible to ignore. But there’s also a sound, a buzzing or whirring that might remind you of a grass trimmer.
-
Eight fun facts about cicadas
Dan Babbitt of the National Museum of Natural History’s Insect Zoo came up with cool things about the bugs that some people — maybe your parents — think are just a bother:
-
Life’s too short to worry. Just ask the cicadas.
I was planting a fern the other day and unearthed a plump, brown creature that resembled a peanut hull, a wriggling hull.
-
A 17-year romance with no tomorrow
An imaginative essay from the point-of-view of the newly emerging cicadas.
-
Bug-phobic dreads looming cicada brood
WASHINGTON — The night started with one tiny click near the bedroom window.
Then came another, and another, until a great oak beside Lori Milani’s South Arlington, Va. apartment was alive with an almost deafening roar of cicadas. - Expert: Files gone, porn stays on laptop
-
$9G win ‘a happy experience’
Family and friends found out Friday how much money Carey Lutz won on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire.”
-
Prosecutors fight appeal in Northumberland County murder case
WILLIAMSPORT — The state attorney general’s office says the murder conviction of Kevin Marinelli should stand.
-
Selinsgrove area man charged with rape
SELINSGROVE — A 24-year-old Selinsgrove man is being held in the Snyder County jail on felony rape and related charges.
-
Federal appeals court upholds most 'kids for cash' convictions
HARRISBURG — A federal appeals court is upholding all but one of the convictions in the case of a county judge in the "kids for cash" juvenile justice scandal in northeastern Pennsylvania.
-
Toomey co-sponsors bill supporting military sexual assault victims
WASHINGTON — U.S. Senator Pat Toomey cosponsored legislation today to assist service members who are victims of sexual assault in the military and to hold their attackers accountable.
-
Jersey shore reopens for 1st post-Sandy summer
SEASIDE HEIGHTS, N.J. — New Jersey rolled out some of its big guns Friday to proclaim that the shore is back following Superstorm Sandy, using Gov. Chris Christie and the cast of MTV's "Jersey Shore" to tell a national audience the state is ready for summer fun.
-
Buffalo Valley Police search for hit-run driver
LEWISBURG — Police are reviewing surveillance video from nearby stores to try to identify the vehicle that struck and left a Lewisburg pedestrian in serious condition.
-
Northumberland County prison guard suspended
SUNBURY — A month that began with two Northumberland County Prison guards being fired, one quitting and a fourth suspended and under investigation is ending with another suspended without pay for allegedly distributing narcotics and delivering tobacco to inmates.
-
Today's Top Videos
-
Bridge collapse: Canadian trucking company says it had permits
MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — The trucking company involved in a Washington state bridge collapse says it received a state-issued permit to carry its oversized load across the bridge.
- More News Headlines
