Jadin Robert Joseph Bell (June 4, 1997 – February 3, 2013) was an American teenager known for his suicide, which raised the national profile of youth

bullying Bullying is the use of force, coercion, Suffering, hurtful teasing, comments, or threats, in order to abuse, aggression, aggressively wikt:domination, dominate, or intimidate one or more others. The behavior is often repeated and habitual. On ...

and the targeted harassment of gay individuals. Bell, a 15-year-old gay youth, was intensely bullied both in person and on the

internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

because he was gay. He was a member of the

La Grande High School La Grande High School is a public high school in the Western United States, western United States, located in La Grande, Oregon. Academics In 2008, 81% of the school's seniors received a high school diploma. Of 197 students, 159 graduated, 29 dro ...

cheerleading team in

La Grande, Oregon La Grande () is a city in and the county seat of Union County, Oregon, Union County, Oregon, United States. La Grande is Union County's largest city, with a population of 13,082 at the time of the 2010 U.S. Census. The La Grande metro population ...

, where he was a sophomore. On January 19, 2013, Bell went to Central Elementary, a local elementary school and

hanged Hanging is killing a person by suspending them from the neck with a noose or ligature strangulation, ligature. Hanging has been a standard method of capital punishment since the Middle Ages, and has been the primary execution method in numerou ...

himself from the play structure. He did not immediately die from the strangulation and was rushed to the

emergency department An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the Acute (medicine), ...

, where he was kept on life support. The

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reported that a spokesman for the OHSU Hospital in

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

announced that after being taken off

life support Life support comprises the treatments and techniques performed in an emergency in order to support life after the failure of one or more vital organs. Healthcare providers and emergency medical technicians are generally certified to perform bas ...

, Bell died on February 3, 2013. Bell's death was widely reported in the media, starting discussions about bullying, the effect it has on youth and gay bullying. ''

The Huffington Post ''HuffPost'' (''The Huffington Post'' until 2017, itself often abbreviated as ''HPo'') is an American progressive news website, with localized and international editions. The site offers news, satire, blogs, and original content, and covers p ...

'', ''

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'',

Oregon Public Broadcasting Oregon Public Broadcasting (OPB) is the primary public broadcasting, public media organization for the U.S. state of Oregon as well as southern Washington (state), Washington. It provides news, information, and programming via television stati ...

, ''

The Raw Story ''Raw Story'' (also stylized as ''RawStory'') is an American progressive news website. Its reporting is a combination of syndicated articles, aggregated material, and its own independent reporting. With its focus on "news that's downplayed by m ...

'',

GLAAD GLAAD () is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since ...

, ''

PQ Monthly ''PQ Monthly'' was a free, advertising-supported, monthly LGBTQ newspaper and online publication for Oregon and southwest Washington and, briefly, Seattle, published in Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most po ...

'', ''

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'' and many other media outlets reported on Bell's death. The media reported his suicide stemmed from being bullied for being gay, which Bell's father fully believed, stating: "He was hurting so bad. Just the bullying at school. Yeah there were other issues, but ultimately it was all due to the bullying, for not being accepted for being gay."

Legacy

After Bell's death, his father, Joe Bell, planned a cross-country tribute to honor his son. He planned to walk across the entire continental United States within two years, spreading awareness about bullying and the effects that it can have. Bell resigned from his position at

Boise Cascade Boise Cascade Company is an American manufacturer of wood products and wholesale distributor of building materials, headquartered in Boise, Idaho. with sales over $7.9 billion in 2021, it is traded on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) under th ...

and helped launch Faces for Change, a non-profit anti-bullying foundation, to speak in high schools across the U.S. He stated: "Not doing anything is not acceptable. hose who watch and do nothingare just as guilty. They are saying that it is acceptable." Joe Bell began the walk on April 20, 2013, and was killed halfway through his journey after a

semi-truck A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called a ...

hit him in Colorado on October 9, 2013. He was pronounced dead at the scene on the shoulder of

US 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid- ...

when authorities arrived. The driver of the truck, Kenneth Raven, was charged with

reckless driving In United States law, reckless driving is a major moving violation related to aggressive driving that generally consists of driving a vehicle with willful or wanton disregard for the safety of persons or property. It is usually a more serious o ...

and may have fallen asleep at the wheel. The story was adapted for the 2020 film '' Joe Bell''.Kevin Slane
"Mark Wahlberg got ‘as thin as possible’ for new movie"
. '' Boston.com'', November 22, 2019. Jadin was portrayed by Texan actor Reid Miller. Faces for Change created a scholarship program in memory of Jadin Bell "to make awards to scholastic institutions on behalf of individuals who have demonstrated a commitment to diversity and the development of community tolerance in our area of service."

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Jadin 2013 in LGBTQ history 2013 in Oregon Bullying and suicide Suicides by hanging in Oregon Deaths by person in Oregon Bullying in the United States February 2013 in the United States LGBTQ people who died by suicide Discrimination against LGBTQ people in the United States 2013 suicides Male suicides Victims of cyberbullying Youth suicides History of gay men in the United States

Legacy

See also

References