Bullies

I gotta get serious again. The topic of bullying is catching on like wildfire and I have to say, its about f*cking time! The September suicides of Seth Walsh, 13 years old, of California, who hanged himself; Billy Lucas, 15, of Indiana, who hanged himself; Asher Brown, 13, of Houston, who shot himself in the head; and Rutgers student, Tyler Clementi, who jumped off the George Washington Bridge, have finally brought bullying to national attention.

It’s all over network and cable news. People Magazine's next issue will feature teen bullying. Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network and MTV are all airing ad campaigns and specials aimed at speaking up about it. Tomorrow night, Anderson Cooper will host a one-hour special on CNN at 10:00 PM, called “Bullying: No Escape.” Ellen DeGeneres, Neil Patrick Harris, Sarah Silverman, and Lance Bass have all spoken out about the topic. In his new book, Tim Gunn discussed his suicide attempt and has also created this PSA for The Trevor Project:

Fortunately I was never bullied or picked on in school. I wasn’t the most popular, but I also wasn’t a loner. I didn’t belong to a particular clique. I was friends with people in band, cheer, football and leadership as well as the stoners and skaters. I didn’t even really see any bullying first hand, but if I did, I don’t know that I would have stepped in or said anything. How sad is that? We have to teach our children to stand up for what is right and to be respectful and nice to everyone. And we MUST practice what we preach.

The scariest thing is that now there are so many more ways to hurt each other. It’s not just at school anymore. Most if it is online, by text, twitter, facebook, etc. The target doesn’t get to go home to escape it. I can’t even imagine what that feels like. A friend showed me this blog post by Single Laughing Dad. It’s long, but it’s worth it. It’ll make you cry and hopefully open your eyes.