Mother of bully victim being recognized for her legislative efforts to protect kids.
Sirdeaner Walker, left, and Springfield Central High student Payton Shubrick at the recent awarding of scholarships in memory of Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover by the Springfield-based foundation established in his name.Springfield resident Sirdeaner Walker, who worked for the passage of antibully legislation in Massachusetts after her 11-year-old son, Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover, a victim of repeated bullying, took his life in 2009, has been named one of the honorees at the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention’s 23nd Annual Lifesavers Dinner on May 11 at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Legendary comedian Joan Rivers and daughter Melissa Rivers, stars of television “Joan & Melissa: Joan Knows Best?,” will serve as the evening’s emcees. In 1987, Edgar Rosenberg, Rivers’ husband and Melissa Rivers’ father, took his own life.
According to the foundation’s website, www.afsp.org, Walker, along with Mike and Mary Gonzales, will receive the foundation’s Survivor Award given to individuals for “advocating for policies and legislation to protect kids after they lost their children to suicide."
"Their work," the New York-based foundation said, "has brought national attention to bullying, Internet predators and the risk they carry for suicide.”
Walker, who had a brief private meeting at the White House on March 10 with President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama during the president’s all-day conference on bullying prevention, was instrumental in Gov. Deval L. Patrick signing antibully legislation into law in the state last May that prohibits online harassment and requires schools to notify parents when bullying occurs.
She has appeared on talk shows and has done speaking engagements across the country to educate people in anti-prevention measure.
Walker is advocating for passage of federal legislation that would require schools that receive specific federal funds to adopt prevention programs and report related abuses to the U.S. Department of Education.
According to the site, The Gonzales lost their 19-year-old daughter, Suzy, to suicide, while she was attending college, in 2003. They have been advocates for the Suzanne Gonzales Suicide Prevention Act or “Suzy’s Law,” a bill introduced into Congress in 2009 that would make it a crime to use the Internet to promote or encourage suicide.
The foundation’s 2011 Research Award will be presented to Dr. Yeates Conwell, whose studies area said to have had a major impact on understanding of late-life suicidal behavior.
Denver Post sports columnist Woody Paige will receive the Public Education Award for discussing his struggle with depression, thoughts of suicide and subsequent treatment and recovery.
The dinner, whose attendees include celebrities, politicians, and leaders in the world of business and medicine, is a fund-raiser for the foundation's research and education programs.