The suicide of a high school quarterback from Ohio last week is drawing new attention on social media after a fellow student started a petition blaming school officials for his friend's death.

Hayden Long from the Geneva city school district committed suicide last week, and in an open letter posted on social media, his friend Hank Sigel blames school officials for reprimanding Long, himself and others at their Homecoming dance for smelling like marijuana.

In the letter, Sigel writes:

"A group of kids were accused of smelling like marijuana at the dance. This group of kids was made up of six honor students, who were all involved in sports, and great members of our community. What followed was a two week suspension from school, possible criminal charges, suspension from all sports, and a loss of driver's license...[Hayden] was directly told that he had ruined his life...The students were told they would fail their classes, has ruined their academic careers, and made the biggest mistake of their life."

He also started a petition on change.org to have the school officials he blames for the suicide removed from their jobs, and it has already garnered 5,113 supporters of a needed 7,500.

In a statement, Long's family says they do not blame the school system for their son's death.

The petition and the claims that school officials are responsible have become a divisive topic in both the community and on social media, with many taking to Twitter to both denounce and support what has happened.

Tags: Hayden Long Suicide