Joel Mateo, the PCTI student, pronounced dead
By P.T.
Published: May 9, 2013
Joel Mateo, the teenager, who jumped from a tall, 7-story building, on 11th Avenue has been pronounced dead at the hospital.
Those who went to Passaic County Technical Institute with Mr Mateo, 16-year-old, have been posting grief-ridden messages on social media websites. One friend of the teen, Lynn Santiago wrote on his Twitter, “This hurts more than anything else I’ve ever experienced in my life.” Clearly, the friends are in a stage of grief.
Joshua Lopez, another friend of Mr Mateo wrote, “Every moment we’ve ever spent together is flowing through my mind. Now that you’re gone, we’ll never have another.”
Mr Mateo has been described as a shy teen, who in class, mostly kept to himself, which is likely one of the reason many have been asserting that the youth was bullied in school. Whether he was bullied or not has yet to be confirmed by police; however, in social media, many have been voicing rage against bullying, including one woman, who wrote, “This bullying has to STOP!”
From the teenager’s Twitter account it seems he was fond of Pokemon, skateboarding, and ostensibly, singing Disney songs. His last tweet, on May 6th, was about one of these subjects, he wrote: “I think Pokemon is very stressful,” maybe a reflection of his own state rather than that of the Japanese television show.
In another tweet, he wrote, “I failed because I didn’t try hard enough,” possibly referring to a high school exam of some sort, for he was a junior at the aforementioned school.
Passaic County Technical Institute, the school attended by deceased, will provide counseling to those who need it.