Couldn't agree more Riri-kins. I suffered for years at the hands of bullies and my school couldn't have cared less until I started having serious issues. The sad part is most schools don't care until a kid hangs themselves, when they could have prevented the whole situation

Many of the teens who have taken their own lives recently after being viciously bullied have been LGBT, or perceived as such by the bullies.  I'm sure many people on the forum probably already know this, but Dan Savage -- sex columnist and fierce gay advocate -- has responded to the suicides with his It Gets Better Project.  It's a collection of YouTube videos aimed at the victims of this bullying.  High schoolers and adults who are LGBT assure the viewers that "it gets better" -- if they can just live long enough, they'll be able to get out of the asshole school or bigoted household or town that's making them miserable, and once they get to college they'll find a welcoming community of queer folk and straight allies who will value them for who they are.  It's gotten some coverage in the media and it seems to be really reaching people.  I think it's a great project, and I hope vIRGins with something to say on the subject will consider making videos of their own. 

Bullies aren't just at school either. One thing I'd like to see get more recognition is how devastating bullying/psychological abuse is when it's at the hands of the kids own caregivers. I know from first hand experience that the system doesn't take that shit seriously at all, especially if the mother is the abuser it seems like the first reaction of authority figures is blaming the kid for doing something to deserve it (not that it's more than a little fucked up for a mother to call her kid "retarded" and a host of other wonderful things on a daily basis).

Bullying is wrong no matter who the perpetrator is, and all bullies should be held accountable no matter what relation they have to their victim.

I can't understand how people let this happen. Looking back there was always someone who took the time to care, even if that someone was a complete stranger. There are so many people who are willing to spend time and energy on helping kids feel confident enough to take a stand against bullying. It angers me that these people exist but we somehow allow our children to experience life without those types of mentors around. That's not right. Through teachers, family, coaches, instructors and school, we widen the area of exposure for our kids. If your kid comes to you and you can't do anything, the school can't do anything, or the bullying party's parental units can't do anything, then maybe we should be looking into other alternatives for the victimized and the bullies themselves.

satyreyes wrote:

Many of the teens who have taken their own lives recently after being viciously bullied have been LGBT, or perceived as such by the bullies.  I'm sure many people on the forum probably already know this, but Dan Savage -- sex columnist and fierce gay advocate -- has responded to the suicides with his It Gets Better Project.  It's a collection of YouTube videos aimed at the victims of this bullying.  High schoolers and adults who are LGBT assure the viewers that "it gets better" -- if they can just live long enough, they'll be able to get out of the asshole school or bigoted household or town that's making them miserable, and once they get to college they'll find a welcoming community of queer folk and straight allies who will value them for who they are.  It's gotten some coverage in the media and it seems to be really reaching people.  I think it's a great project, and I hope vIRGins with something to say on the subject will consider making videos of their own. 

...actually, I read the article where it was placed and it was actually done by someone else (I need to find the article to get specific) but it was someone writing in, feeling that it suited Dan Savage's articles and sympathies.

I myself was teased. I was called about my hand-me-down clothes. According to my classmates, I lived in a dumpster. I was also called stupid and retarded. I was also ignored in high school utterly. None of them, however, knew what I was going through at home. I think, had I spoken, people would have had a very different opinion of me.

Or not.

I remembered that when I was being teased/bullied, it wasn't anything physical, but yeah, people thought I was retarded/stupid idiot. I was a bit more upset at the fact that my friends didn't support me much in all this, and a couple of them even went along when they're in public.

One of them told me at one time on aim, "You never stood up for yourself."

What... the... fuck... At least I had a dart board for target practice back in high school.

I HATE BULLYING. Yes, that deserves all caps. And I hate how a lot of these school districts care only about not offending any side in an "ideological debate."

News flash, school administrators. This is NOT about political agendas or ideology. This is about real students who are losing their lives because you care more about being "neutral" than helping them.

What kind of world is this when schools care more about politics than the lives of their own students?

UUUUURRGHHH.

God, when I become a teacher, fighting bullying will be one of my main projects.

Last edited by Like_Autumn (10-11-2010 08:13:42 AM)

Like many of you have said the thing that angers me the most is teachers RARELY do anything about bullying. Their job isn't only to teach, it's to protect their students from harm. Parents put their kids in the hands of a school to learn and kept safe, not be tortured.

Both my parents are teachers and I mentioned to them about the whole bullying thing, and they said one of the biggest problems they have as teachers when it comes to bullying is the kids who are being bullied RARELY say anything to the teachers. It's hard to do something when you don't know it's happening.

Last edited by Emiemipoemi (10-13-2010 11:24:17 AM)

I support this lawsuit 100%. I also support prosecution and jail time for these bullies, even though I know that won't happen. I think bullying is definitely a serious problem and schools really need to do more about it. I know that there are a lot of underlying causes to it too, and that most of it is done against people who do anything outside of what is perceived as normal, to try to make them conform.

I didn't have too many problems myself in high school and middle school, but I was made fun of a lot in elementary school because I didn't make eye contact with people and I had to take speech classes for a while. When I hit puberty, people also made fun of me for having giant boobs and because I was a little bit overweight. It was mostly immature boys who did the last part and of course once they hit puberty, suddenly I was awesome and hot.

While I didn't have that many problems in high school and neither did anyone I knew, I can't speak for everyone. I did come out as being mostly lesbian in high school (which means that nearly all of the people I like are girls, but I will make exceptions for certain girly or pretty boys.) However I didn't get bullied too much for that, probably because I had some friends who were bigger than me and could have easily beaten up anyone who made trouble with me. Not to mention, I used to be good at screwing with people's heads if they tried to mess with me and that usually made it so no one picked on me more than once.


I know that compared to other LBGT kids I got lucky, so I think we definitely need more anti-bullying laws. If you consider that bullying includes harassment and sometimes assault, I don't think that there should be any exception to those things being punished by law, just because they occur at school.

Like_Autumun: God, when I become a teacher, fighting bullying will be one of my main projects.

That is a very admirable goal, and often, the guidance of an authority figure can make all the difference. Everyone needs a role model they can identify with. There are lot of young people coming out that not only are tormented at school, but are told every day of their home life that there's something inherently evil about them. Compound the two and there's a sense of not having any safe haven at all. At my high school, we went around after school and asked teachers if they'd be willing to put rainbow stickers on their doors that would indicate that they would be willing to mentor their students, not only in terms of sexuality but also for race, disability, economic status, etc. A lot of people flat-out refused. But a couple were willing to even host the local gay advocacy club. Just finding those few can make all the difference.

Last edited by Katzenklavier (10-17-2010 12:09:25 AM)