Sometimes it has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with evil.
I live in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. The same school district where Asher Brown attended Hamilton Middle School. Asher shot himself last week after being constantly bullied for two years.
My DH and I pulled our son from Lee Elementary last year because of persistant bullying. The problem with the bullying is that it isn't just the kids. The adults can be just as culpable. In fact, one administrator threatened to report me for child abuse when I refused to back down from her bullying.
In our case, I'm very sure that our decision to homeschool probably saved my son's life and his sanity.
I don't have a surefire answer for solving the problem, but I do know it's going to take the parents, the school adminstrators, and the teachers working together to stop the horrible abuse these kids are suffering at the hands of their peers.
Being a teenager is hard enough. Struggling with your own sexual identity is difficult at any age. I have had two close friends deal with this. It is such a fragile time and not a thing to find humor in. I am so glad to hear that Ellen discussed this on her show. Thank you for sharing the link.
As a teacher, I think it's important that the adults step in long before it gets to the older grades. "You're gay" and "That's so gay" should not be phrases that are left unchallenged, ever. We need to become much more pro-active as a society and not let this last bastion of prejudice continue.
Janet - one of the comments left at that page pointed to http://www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject
I think everyone should spread that link as far and as wide as they possibly can. Give these kids something to look forward to, something to hope for. Tell them it's not too late and IT GETS BETTER.
Thank for for this post. Even though I did not know this kid, this story is very depressing. It should be said that teen suicide is not a "gay" as opposed to straight issue the way Degeneres is trying to make it appear to be. Teens and seniors are two demographic groups at elevated risk for suicide. Nor was it caused by a video, even though it may have been precipitated by it. Teen suicide is caused by love pain, the fear that no one will ever love them, that they will spend their lives alone, that their yearning for love will be forever unrequited. For many people that is their lot, so this fear is not at all unrealistic. That fear could reasonably be exacerbated by constant ridicule and put downs. The problem is that either Tyler did not display any of the known warning signs so that others could see, or else that the school officials were too busy grading papers to notice. The solution is for people to be vigilant. If a student is headed down the road to destruction and others spot that in time to intervene, this need not happen again. If the school starts some sort of awareness training for their staff Tyler need not have died in vain.
As writers, I think the best way to deal with the issue is by getting stories out there and humanizing gays and lesbians for people who don't have much contact with us otherwise.
I think having Kurt on Glee has probably done a lot more for helping people understand and empathize than a thousand marches could have ever done. Luke, Noah and Reid on my dearly departed As the World Turns reached out to 3 million people a day.
Fiction can be used to build a better world, not just provide an escape from the world as it now is.
10 comments:
I work as a school psychologist...thank you for posting this.
Thanks so much for posting this. People who are stirring up hate for political purposes have a lot to answer for.
thanks for posting this. I'm linking to it as well. Its an important message for any/every country to hear
@Anne
Sometimes it has nothing to do with politics, and everything to do with evil.
I live in the Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District. The same school district where Asher Brown attended Hamilton Middle School. Asher shot himself last week after being constantly bullied for two years.
My DH and I pulled our son from Lee Elementary last year because of persistant bullying. The problem with the bullying is that it isn't just the kids. The adults can be just as culpable. In fact, one administrator threatened to report me for child abuse when I refused to back down from her bullying.
In our case, I'm very sure that our decision to homeschool probably saved my son's life and his sanity.
I don't have a surefire answer for solving the problem, but I do know it's going to take the parents, the school adminstrators, and the teachers working together to stop the horrible abuse these kids are suffering at the hands of their peers.
Being a teenager is hard enough. Struggling with your own sexual identity is difficult at any age. I have had two close friends deal with this. It is such a fragile time and not a thing to find humor in. I am so glad to hear that Ellen discussed this on her show. Thank you for sharing the link.
As a teacher, I think it's important that the adults step in long before it gets to the older grades. "You're gay" and "That's so gay" should not be phrases that are left unchallenged, ever. We need to become much more pro-active as a society and not let this last bastion of prejudice continue.
Thank you, thank you for posting this.
Janet - one of the comments left at that page pointed to http://www.youtube.com/itgetsbetterproject
I think everyone should spread that link as far and as wide as they possibly can. Give these kids something to look forward to, something to hope for. Tell them it's not too late and IT GETS BETTER.
Thank for for this post. Even though I did not know this kid, this story is very depressing. It should be said that teen suicide is not a "gay" as opposed to straight issue the way Degeneres is trying to make it appear to be. Teens and seniors are two demographic groups at elevated risk for suicide. Nor was it caused by a video, even though it may have been precipitated by it. Teen suicide is caused by love pain, the fear that no one will ever love them, that they will spend their lives alone, that their yearning for love will be forever unrequited. For many people that is their lot, so this fear is not at all unrealistic. That fear could reasonably be exacerbated by constant ridicule and put downs. The problem is that either Tyler did not display any of the known warning signs so that others could see, or else that the school officials were too busy grading papers to notice. The solution is for people to be vigilant. If a student is headed down the road to destruction and others spot that in time to intervene, this need not happen again. If the school starts some sort of awareness training for their staff Tyler need not have died in vain.
As writers, I think the best way to deal with the issue is by getting stories out there and humanizing gays and lesbians for people who don't have much contact with us otherwise.
I think having Kurt on Glee has probably done a lot more for helping people understand and empathize than a thousand marches could have ever done. Luke, Noah and Reid on my dearly departed As the World Turns reached out to 3 million people a day.
Fiction can be used to build a better world, not just provide an escape from the world as it now is.
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