[tgerhard]

Agreed. Still, as the parent of a 15-yr-old boy, I have firsthand experience with teachers behaving incredibly cruelly and unprofessionally. In these instances, combined with the normal pressures of high school, it is no wonder that a student on the receiving end of that behavior would choose such a drastic path.

[dazzawazza]

My dad taught me two things as a teenager:

- Don't be an arsehole and you will have friends

- You can retake exams but you can't retake life so chose life over exams.

High school doesn't need to be hard. So much pressure is put on kids to perform or they will suffer for the rest of their life. It's pathetic.

[lena]

Pressure to perform is not the biggest problem. Peer pressure is much worse. This child committed suicide after her classmates voted for her suspension.