This article by Nitedruid originally appeared in the Mabon 2002 issue of
The Willow's Way, a publication of the Federation of Circles and Solitaries.

As I was welcomed into Denessa's home, I first noticed a room off to the left side of the living room. The yellow walls seemed to stress the emptiness of the room. No door hung to close it off from the rest of the house. The room looked abandoned as if someone had left in a hurry, taking everything with them. I was to learn later that this was Tempest Smith's bedroom.

Here she had escaped the torment of her bullies. Here she had written her innermost thoughts in a small diary kept under her bed. Here she had studied and practiced her newfound path of Wicca. Here she had felt safe with her family. Here, on February 20, she had looked herself in the mirror one last time, tied a leopard print scarf around her neck and hung herself from the top rail of her bunk bed, ending her life. Tempest was twelve years old.

February 20, 2000 started as any normal school day for the household. But what every school day brought for Tempest is something her mother, Denessa Smith, is still coming to terms with. Repeated acts of bullying, mental and sometimes physical abuse were everyday occurrences at Lincoln Park Middle school where Tempest was a student.

The bullying had started simply enough. Random teasing throughout Elementary school. The average "kids will be kids" stuff. However this went unmonitored and as Tempest entered Middle school the taunts became more abusive, more hurtful, more dangerous. Everything became ammunition for the students, from having a bisexual mother to the recent choice Tempest had made to study the Wiccan path. The latter proved to be the hardest to bear.

Daily, students surrounded Tempest singing "Jesus Loves You" and other hymns in a mocking gesture. Her choice of clothing was scrutinized as being "Goth" though, according to Denessa, Tempest seldom wore black. Even taunts such as "Wiccan whore" and "Satan worshipper" were regular occurrences.

Everyone has been teased in school at one time or another, but where is the line drawn on acceptable behavior? Surely such jeers as "How was f___ing Satan last night?" or physical abuse from fellow students is beyond the realms of acceptability. Even the act of focused bullying on one student due to religious practice should be curtailed by those in authority. Not so according to the findings in Tempest's school records and witnessed accounts from students and staff.

No immediate conclusions were made as to the cause for Tempest's suicide. However within forty-eight hours after her death, Denessa was given a plain brown bag filled with poster board cards made by students expressing "sorrow for picking on her, sorrow for having bullied her, sorrow for her not being there". This was followed by a notebook presented at casket side stating "These are the final notes of apologies and letter of sorrow." signed by Lincoln Park students and staff. Denessa listened to the children at the funeral service tell how they had been part of the bullying and had been bullied themselves but had not spoken up on Tempest's behalf for fear that they would be the next target. The students felt responsible though no judgment had been made that they were the reason behind Tempest's suicide. Denessa realized that those attending the final services, so many that they were lined up outside of the funeral home, needed closure. Denessa decided to hire an attorney.

Charges were filed for the violation of Tempest's 1st and 14th amendment rights, discrimination against Tempest for failing to enforce school policies intended to protect her and gross neglect and indifference with respect to her school environment. These three counts were intended to open the eyes of the school staff and administration as to the harassment one student and possibly others endure and to put proper codes in place to protect against it. Instead it only served to close the mouths of these officials as Denessa was cut off from any communication with the staff of Lincoln Park.

The open door policy with her children, which included Tempest and her younger brother, was something that Denessa is proud of. All too often parents are the ones in the dark as to the goings-on of their children. Not so with the Smith family. Denessa went to her daughters ballet recitals, coaxed her into girl scouts and other activities and was sure to know what was going on in Tempest's life. An agnostic, Denessa did not bat an eye when Tempest voiced her interest in the Wiccan path. Instead Denessa took her daughter to the only place she knew to find more information, Borders Books. There her and Tempest looked through every book pertaining to the Wiccan religion, reading the inside flaps and the backs of books to find those most suitable. They chose "Witchcraft" and "Century of Spells". Tempest started a Book of Shadows and a Book of Dreams and even wore a pentacle and witch's eye medallion on a regular basis. "I would not let my daughter walk in a path that I was not fully aware of - I helped her set up her altar, I bought the colored candles with her - there was a lot of things that we did together, it wasn't as though I said OK - you go read what you want but do it in a closed closet. She had a very open and understanding relationship with me because I wanted her to be able to feel comfortable..."

These items should have been familiar to the Lincoln Park school district. It was only a year prior that Crystal Seifferly, a student at Lincoln Park High school had won a suit pertaining to the pentacle she had worn and had been suspended for. The suit resulted in the consent decree that eliminated witches and their religious totems from the groups considered inappropriate for school according to the Gang/Cult Policy. During the funeral service, students placed Pagan totems in Tempest's coffin, a further sign of their knowledge that she was openly Pagan. The school officials still deny having this knowledge.

The matter of the cluster system used by Lincoln Park Middle school leaves many questions open as to why the bullying was never noticed and stopped. Tempest was in Cluster D, one of several clusters used to put children into smaller groups of 125 - 150 students. This was to make the groups easier to manage with students having lockers and rooms together and foster a sense of community between them. This "school within a school environment" demands that staff officials assigned to that group are to stand in hallways and lunch areas to ensure the student safety. All officials are also required to enact upon school policy when they see trouble. None of this was offered for Tempest. Though testimonies from several school officials assigned to Cluster D state that they could hear everything that goes on within the hallways during class changes, in the girls bathroom and even the lunchroom, ignorance as to the repeated offenses enacted upon Tempest was reported.

Many times Tempest had called her mother from class asking for advice during some of the more painful taunting sessions. "She would call me from the classrooms. 'What to do?' - walk out of the class, they can't deny it when you walk out of the class. Get in the teacher's face, they can't deny it. Go to the principal, get in their face, they can't deny it. I'll back you up." Deny it they have. According to school records there are a number of unsigned entries rife with information that Tempest complained of teasing from various peers. Denessa herself personally notified members of the school staff about the physical and psychological abuse her daughter was suffering. Nothing was done. One result was that Tempest was in danger of flunking the seventh grade. She never finished out that year. A written report from Forensic Psychologist Michael Abramsky states in his opinion "that the harassment endured by Tempest Smith was the direct and proximate cause of her death."

Though a blind eye was turned upon Tempest's suffering, Denessa has made it her goal to ensure that such indiscretion is not allowed in Lincoln Park or any other school district. The court case is only a small point. Denessa has started building ideas for a non-profit organization in her daughter's honor appropriately named T.E.M.P.E.S.T. (Train, Educate and Motivate Parents, Educators and Students in Tolerance). Also Denessa has started healing some of those hit the hardest by Tempest's death, the children of Lincoln Park Middle school.

During the funeral service Denessa passed out pieces of her daughters most prized possession, a large collection of stuffed cats numbering into the hundreds. All attendees were invited to take one as a reminder. "I didn't want my daughter to walk away with her death only being a card and a thought. These children needed something tangible to understand that her death was not in vain, that her death was for a particular reason and it truly is one that could have been avoided." Since the funeral Denessa has invited some of the students into her home and gifted them pieces of cobalt blue glass ornaments from her personal collection to remind them that they are not alone. She even donated her daughter's organs in hopes that Tempest's life will reach everyone possible. "If she truly has magickal energies then this energy is spread as wide and as far as it can get then it will spring forth flowers from the ashes. - If she is meant to be as it has unfolded then there was a reason and maybe this reason is now to push and allow her to go as far as she can."

Tempest, meaning stormy or turbulent, ended her life quickly leaving behind an altered landscape. Her life means as much to those who have used her as an example of strength. Hundreds have come forward to encompass Denessa and her family. Memorials stand out on many Pagan sites even now. Children of Pagan and Christian faiths empathize with the hardships Tempest faced and the emotions she endured. The Quilters coven gifted a quilt made in memorial of Tempest that now hangs on the wall outside of her bedroom, the last thing she saw in life.

Called a martyr by some, a cruel twist of fate by others and an indecency of justice, Tempest will stand in her own place among the few that have paved the way for the Pagan community and how their views are to be respected. Her death will not be in vain. Her life, though short, has more meaning, not because she died, but for what she lived for.

A special note of thanks to Denessa Smith and the Smith family for inviting me into their home and sharing this story.

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