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Bullying prompts suicide attempt
An eighth-grade Peak to Peak Charter School student tried to kill herself as a way to escape severe religious harassment by classmates, the girl’s mother said last week.

The incident comes on the heels of threatened legal action by a former Peak to Peak mother, Louise Benson, who said her son — who is no longer at the school — suffered intense religious bullying by fundamentalist Christian students.

Other families reportedly have claimed their children have been harassed in the halls of Peak to Peak for religious, sexual orientation and other reasons.

Benson’s lawyer, Michelle Mintzer Murphy, said that within the past week, several families contacted her about such harassment.

Evie Hudak, a member of the Colorado Board of Education, said she has received complaints of religious harassment from three Peak to Peak families in the past year.

Those families say school administrators have done little to confront what they contend is an ongoing problem.

Recently, one father said his eighth-grade daughter endured physical abuse that goes back at least two years.

Students who are part of a small group known as the “fundies” — fundamentalist Christians — call her a lesbian, he said....

... The mother of the girl who attempted suicide said her daughter will recover from her injuries. However, for now she requires 24-hour supervision.

She said her daughter was singled out for harassment because she is tall and openly rejected creationism. The girl endured shoulder checks, tripping in the hall and other physical abuse, the mother said. Some students called her ugly and said she was a lesbian, she added....

...“Non-Christian children are viciously bullied for their different beliefs, and the perpetrators are not disciplined at all,” Benson said....