Foo - Required viewing.

It should be. Particularly in our schools.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ax96cghOnY4

Sorry Pete,could not watch the whole thing.
Yes,as a society we do have a ways to go,but I believe we'll get there.Understand these are teens and most of their bad actions they regret in future years.

Sorry Pete,could not watch the whole thing.

You should. It's worth it.

And no, I don't believe society will ever 'get there'. People are far too stupid, particularly teenagers. Hopefully things will improve somewhat.

pcad. I cried.

And I sent this off to the people that matter at college - we had a huge affair about bullying --- and after those classes ended a year or so ago, it seemed as though this topic ended with some clubs that evolved and other extraneous things for the gay, lesbian and transendgendenered (sorry SP), but it didn't seem to do much.

Time to keep it alive.

I cried. Soooo Sad. I will be getting some Student activities involved with this again. And involve this video. Thank you.

You should. It's worth it.

I watched it. It's worth it.

I watched it. It's worth it.

+1 Thanks Pcad

And no, I don't believe society will ever 'get there'. People are far too stupid, particularly teenagers. Hopefully things will improve somewhat.

You sure are a downer tonight.
It's Friday,I'm juiced,and it's hockey season.
For these few hours,all is right in the world.:thumb:

pcad. I cried.

And I sent this off to the people that matter at college - we had a huge affair about bullying --- and after those classes ended a year or so ago, it seemed as though this topic ended with some clubs that evolved and other extraneous things for the gay, lesbian and transendgendenered (sorry SP), but it didn't seem to do much.

Time to keep it alive.

I cried. Soooo Sad. I will be getting some Student activities involved with this again. And involve this video. Thank you.

Took me right back to 8th grade. Hard to watch, but inspiring at the same time. Very painful time for me. I remember feeling very trapped. Wanted to run away and never go back to school. But I hung in there and eventually it did get better. Kids can be amazingly cruel and most of them do grow out of it. But the young teens who kill themselves never learn that, do they?

It's fascinating having a teenage kid myself. Seeing how concerned they are with the opinions of their peers, with superficial appearances. You wish you could impart what you've learned over 50 years, but you can't, you were the same way, and at times it's painful to watch. When I say I don't care about what other people think of me, there's a large element of truth in that. I've learned that other people's opinions are none of my business, I can't control that, and I really do feel that 90% of the world is skull farked anyway, and their judgements are meaningless. When people judge you negatively it is often the result of erroneous impressions. Hell, I've had plenty of flame wars with people here on BF I later wind up quite friendly with. So I take it with a massive grain of salt. But I'm not 13 either. And I'm not struggling with confusing feelings about growing up, identity, sexuality, etc., all while hormones (a new feeling for 13 year olds) rage through my teenage brain.

Took me right back to 8th grade. Hard to watch, but inspiring at the same time. Very painful time for me. I remember feeling very trapped. Wanted to run away and never go back to school. But I hung in there and eventually it did get better. Kids can be amazingly cruel and most of them do grow out of it. But the young teens who kill themselves never learn that, do they?

It's fascinating having a teenage kid myself. Seeing how concerned they are with the opinions of their peers, with superficial appearances. You wish you could impart what you've learned over 50 years, but you can't, you were the same way, and at times it's painful to watch. When I say I don't care about what other people think of me, there's a large element of truth in that. I've learned that other people's opinions are none of my business, I can't control that, and I really do feel that 90% of the world is skull farked anyway, and their judgements are meaningless. When people judge you negatively it is often the result of erroneous impressions. Hell, I've had plenty of flame wars with people here on BF I later wind up quite friendly with. So I take it with a massive grain of salt. But I'm not 13 either. And I'm not struggling with confusing feelings about growing up, identity, sexuality, etc., all while hormones (a new feeling for 13 year olds) rage through my teenage brain.
People always seem to say 8th grade is the worst grade. I was fortunate enough to never go through 8th grade.

Sadly to say, I agree with x and pcad.

I just graduated from highschool about a year ago, and I've heard of the gays and lesbians in our school being picked on by others quite a few times. However, it was mostly the 9th graders that cause all these suffering and some of them gotten smarter when they reached the 10th grade. Fortunately, my school had a gay/lesbian club, where teachers and students were there to raise awareness to the parents/students...I don't know if the school is doing anything about the recent tragedies though.
It's like Paul's Case that Willa Cather wrote it all the way back in the 1900's and it is still happening today...quite sad.

As I have always told the kids that come to talk to me about things like this, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. Although society won't change over night, the kids DO have a choice about how they will handle it. Just hang on for one more day....

Thanks, Pcad. This video will be shared.

It'd be hard to play that in schools. Too much politics. People who feel alternative lifestyles are a sin, etc etc. would complain. Shame, as it is definitely worth hearing.

His advice is perfect - I got the same sort of speech when I wanted to quit HS, to hang in there from my older sister. It's a cruel time in life for many.

I agree that society probably won't change - bullying is how some people will always try to make themselves better about who they are, and the riot mob mentality just feeds into it. Having said that, schools could certainly send more of a strong message. But I think the main thing is for parents to be supportive of their kids and keep communication open.

Bringing awareness about bullying into schools is a first step towards things getting better for kids who are at that very fragile age. It's a very small step tho', because the kids who do the bullying mostly don't learn it at schools but in their homes, so the parents of these kids should be held responsible most of all. To most kids, parents are their god, and when they hear about how their parents talk about gay people, they soak it in and bring it outside. These kids just don't know any better.

There is a big problem in our society where anything a bit out of the ordinary is just not acceptable to the mainstream audience. In the adult world, not only gay people get bad rap, but those who dare to think differently in any way. This might cause you to loose jobs, friends, you name it. If you say something that's just a bit out of the general scope of the world we are living in, people just gang up on you like there is no tomorrow and god only knows we are far from having figured everything out. Just look at this society; We live on like a 3rd mall from the sun. Even highly educated people can exhibit a very high level of ignorance.

Bullying in schools is just a symptom of a much larger and deeply rooted problem that rules our society and it's not gonna go away unless people in general show some kind of a higher level of empathy and understanding. This means getting out of comfort zones, taking risks, and sticking the necks out. It's far from being easy tho'. This has come a long way since 50's, but since acts of ignorance still happen widely, there is much more room grow. Now-a-days it's a war zone of ideas and it's raging outside. It's a constant battle between fear and love, and it's only a choice. A very hard choice at times, but a very simple one.