Please read this.
4 bullying-related suicides in as many weeks? My heart aches. I don’t care if it is a media-created epidemic, there are still people dying because of bullying. And we only know of few of them.
I work with teens and cannot help but cry when I think of losing one of them to the effects of bullying.
When I counsel youth, I often rely on a quote from George O’Malley from Grey’s Anatomy:
O’Malley: You just have to get through high school. Because high school sucks for anyone who is the least bit different.
There is more than your little sliver of the world where terror reigns. There is more out there. Find the friends around you that can trust, find the adults you can trust, and survive. And keep reading:
Please watch this.
I’ve never ever seen a video reposted 27 times around my facebook friends. But this video by Ellen has been. She says “you should be alive to see it.”
Please watch it.
Please do this.
If you are struggling with bullying because of your identity, please call the Trevor Project. 1-866-4-U-TREVOR. It is safe and confidential.
Please know this.
You are a beloved child of God.
There’s more out there.
You are a beloved child of God.
Even if you think the whole world calls you the worst of names, it’s my experience that even the worst people want you to live long enough to either change your life or accept who you are.
And the ones who don’t are the ones who need to be cut out of your life, not cause the life to be cut out of yours.
You are a beloved child of God.
Please.
Two things to mention here, one is that bullying is not a series of solo acts. Social science research indicates that bullies tend to pick on those it is socially acceptable to pick on. This is why it is “invisible” until something tragic occurs because the society that bullies function in validates their behavior either actively or passively. Bullies pick on those society deems fit to bully. Those who are different. Those who deviate from the “norm.”
Second, groups like Focus on the Family perpetuate these kinds of social norms with their opposition to anti-bullying campaigns because the allege some programs pro-Gay. Like many ideologues, rigid adherence to dogma is seen as more important than the actual, real-life welfare of human beings. Who cares how many die as long as public enforcement of my morality is intact?
There is also the IT GETS BETTER PROJECT that Dan Savage has launched on Youtube.
Josh,
This goes a little deeper than just a disagreement by open-minded social scientists and narrow-minded Christian organizations. You might want to check out a book by Thomas Sowell called “Conflict of Visions.” He writes from a non-religious view point and traces this disagreement back to before the founding of this country. On one side you have the ones who believe that man should not be constrained, that society is the problem. On the other were those who believe that man is the problem and he must be constrained by law and social pressure. I have read it twice.
I know it is easy for someone to tell another person to read a book. If you are like me, your reading shelf is long. Maybe there is a review somewhere?
Grace and peace
I’d also like to mention the It Gets Better Project that’s been created by Dan Savage. There are already hundreds of videos on YouTube. As a teen who was once suicidal, I can say that, at least for me, it was because I couldn’t see an end to the six year long tunnel of middle and high school. These kids need to know that, yes, it does get better.
The sound on my computer is really poor; can someone summarize what Ellen says here, pleeeeeze?