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Just like the family of the woman who leaped from the 26th floor of the building I work in, her family was distraught.
It's still no reason to use this kid as an example to make a point about bullying gay teens.
Kids get bullied for all sorts of reasons and they felt the same sense of hopelessness the gay boy did.
That's life. Some can take the lumps and others look for an easy way out.
And this kind of thinking is exactly why bullying happens in the first place. It's considered to be some kind of toughening process in which weeds out the weak. Glad that humanity continues to be boiled down into a pack of wild animals incapable of making better choices for the sake of those who may not be as strong as we are.
Last edited by CaseyB; 07-11-2011 at 10:42 AM..
Reason: language
I was bullied at school. I had my head held under water at a school pool party when I was in the sixth grade. I was terrified at the time but I got over it. I never told any adult, including my parents, about the incident. I never had poor self esteem. I recognized these bullies for what they were...jerks. People really need to develop coping skills.
Why is everyone projecting their own experiences and strength onto children that obviously haven't had it the same way? And sorry, having one incident is not the same as constant harrassment over years, which does happen. There aren't many people out there who could endure that and remain unscathed. It's not even about personal strength and weakness, it's about not allowing it to get to the point where suicide is even a consideration.
There were a few teenagers when I was in HS that committed suicide--they were not gay either. The letters were very similar to the one this teenager wrote. Let's face it teenagers are morbid creatures. They are hormonal, delusional, and often times have a very short-sighted view of life(they believe that the temporary--HS--is forever and that life will be horrible forever). Once they grow up, this view minimizes. I know for me and several others it did. I was very demented in HS, went through bouts of severe depression, felt like crap about who I was, and felt like the world was against me. Now I look back at how crazy I was and laugh.
I feel very bad for this teen. I truly feel for anyone who feels the only way out is by suicide. But still I wonder if this is about homosexuality or moreso about a depressed teenager(which thesedays is far too common).
Either way I do have to agree that thesedays kids have no backbone. And this is not to poke fun of this situation, because it is horrible, but rather a way of examining the fact that society has a bred a generation of teenagers, and children that don't seem to be able to handle life--and everything that comes with it. The inability to handle "life" leads to what we are seeing now--the numerous amount of children and teens that are depressed, on anti-depressants, committing suicide, or engaging in destructive behavior. What's worse is that people are so sensitive these days that they are unable to handle even the "smallest" bumps in the road. I can't even count on both hands the number of stories I've read about teenagers, and children being bullied, and therefore resort to plastic surgery of some sort, suicide, moving to different schools, going on talk shows to lament about how horrible life is for them, going to counselors, having their parents fight their battles and so on. I say this not to make light of this situation, but as a way to say that this situation is far too common and IMO goes beyond sexuality.
I think most people in some shape or form have been bullied, teased, excluded, or felt as though people were against them. I don't think this is solely a "homosexual" thing. Still, I can see how the discrimination and feelings of being "abnormal" for being homosexual could lead one to feel very badly about their sexuality to the point of killing themselves.
I'm pretty sure that suicide is not a recent phenomenon, so this idea that kids are somehow weaker than in the past holds no logic or evidence. I don't actually think kids have changed... but their parents? Yeah, they've gotten worse.
bullying has happend for centuries, and will always happen
braceface
freckleface
four eyes
big ears
how many polish, italian, greek, white, black, gay, jokes are out there??
etc
its just name calling
if the kid off'd himself, then the kid had an emotional problem
Are there laws against people with braces? Was there a court injunction to allow freckled people into the military? Are people with glasses allowed to marry other people with glasses? Are there churches that are against people with big ears?
How many Blacks, Whites, Italians, Greeks, are banned from their prom?
Since we have threads on this board both dehumanizing gay people and trivializing gay teen suicide by posters with an obvious anti-gay agenda; I thought it only appropriate to bring the human element into the equation.
Nobody knows you are gay unless you tell them.
Nobody knows you are a devil worshiper until you tell them. Nobody knows you have had an abortion unless you tell them. Nobody knows that your sister is married to a black man unless you tell them. Nobody knows you beat your children unless you tell them.
If homosexual people don't want to be ostracized, criticized, and traumatized by their lifestyle choices, then they need to keep their mouth shut.
Obviously the teen didn't take the approach of the OP and just label anyone who gave him grief as a homophobe. Seems to be lots of hatred, self-loathing, and projection of same connected with that lifestyle as well as substance abuse. Sometimes, that's called a "clue".
A clue that homophobia runs deep in our society? Deep enough to make an insecure teenager kill himself?
I agree, it's the same for everyone who commites suicide, Homosexuals are no differant than the guy who does it because he thinks his co-workers are picking on him, it's a mental state of mind.
It's not really because someone is Bullying them it's because they don't know how to cope with it, we all get Bullied in life.
If someone can't cope with bullying, does that not indicate that it's a serious issue that goes beyond what you or others may have personally experienced?
Whether or not most people get bullied at some point is not really relevant. The fact is that sometimes, it clearly becomes a serious enough issue and needs to be addressed. The overwhelming attitude here seems to be that because it happens to everyone, the people who eventually choose suicide are just weak and "oh well." I'd kinda rather see the bullying stop and those kids get the kind of help they need to gain the ability to be strong in the face of adversity.
Nobody knows you are a devil worshiper until you tell them. Nobody knows you have had an abortion unless you tell them. Nobody knows that your sister is married to a black man unless you tell them. Nobody knows you beat your children unless you tell them.
If homosexual people don't want to be ostracized, criticized, and traumatized by their lifestyle choices, then they need to keep their mouth shut.
20yrsinBranson
That's pretty bad considering the first amendment.
Beating your children is something that people can easily see, btw.
I'm sorry, I find it disgusting and hypocritical that people are against Westboro Baptist Church, but are not tolerant of people wanting equal rights. I find it really odd that people are bashing a teen who committed suicide, but then denounce Westboro Church.
Homophobia runs deep in the national psyche. So deep that people do mental somersaults in order to bash both gays and Westboro Church.
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If someone can't cope with bullying, does that not indicate that it's a serious issue that goes beyond what you or others may have personally experienced?