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Sirdeaner Lynn Walker, Congressional Hearing Transcript Database. Washington, DC: Federal News Service, 2009. Copyright © 2009 Federal News Service. Reproduced by permission.

Bullying Is a Life-Threatening Problem for American Children

Sirdeaner Lynn Walker

Sirdeaner Lynn Walker is the mother of Carl Walker-Hoover, an eleven-year-old boy who committed suicide after being bullied at school. Walker argues that relentless teasing, bullying, and mean-spiritedness drove her son to hang himself with an extension cord in his room. Walker says her son is not the only one who has been a serious target for bullies—bullying is a problem faced by count-less children in American schools. Walker urges lawmak-ers and educators to adopt anti-bullying policies so that future children will not be bullied to death as was her son.

Consider the following questions:1. What day did Carl Walker-Hoover commit

suicide?2. What steps does Walker say she took to pro-

tect her son from being bullied?3. What is the National Day of Silence, according

to Walker?

My name is Sirdeaner Lynn Walker, and four months ago I would not have dreamed that one day I would

be testifying on Capitol Hill. I was an ordinary working mom, looking after my family and doing the best I could as a parent. But my life changed forever on April 6th, 2009. That night I was cooking dinner when my son, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, went to his room, where

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I imagined he’d be doing his homework or playing his video games. Instead, I found him hanging by an exten-sion cord tied around his neck. He was 11 years old.

Bullied to DeathCarl liked football and basketball and playing video games with his little brother. He loved the Lord, and he loved his family. What could make a child his age despair so much that he would take his own life? That question haunts me to this day, and I will probably never know the answer.

What we do know is that Carl was being bullied relent-lessly at school. He had just started secondary school in September, and we had high hopes. But I knew some-thing was wrong almost from the start. He didn’t want to tell me what was bothering him, but I kept at him, and he finally told me.

Bullying can have devastating physical and emotional effects on its victims and can lead to suicide.

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