http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/09/20/jamey-rodemeyer-suicide-gay-bullying_n_972023.html
While glancing over the Huff Post home page, I came across a title that has become way to regular in the news. "Boy Commits Suicide After Gay Bullying".
Though the names differ, the basis of the story is all the same. In this case, it was a 14-year-old freshman in high school named Jamie Rodemeyer. His parents thought he was handling the issue well, but it turns out that was not the case. Friends claim he just wore a really good mask to cover it all up, and in the end, the slurs of other careless students were the base of his demise.
This is pertinent because it is the simple language of others in their own public sphere that offended and ended up taking this innocent boy's life.
I find these cases to be extremely sickening. We live in such a free society, almost too free. I guess it is too free if kids can slang words at one another and get away with it. But the essence of it is that within our free society, some are trapped by bullying, no matter how good they can try to hide it.
Through it all, Jamey tried to keep his head up. "Thats all you have to do. Just love yourself and you're set. And I promise you, it'll get better,” he said in the video.
Gay bullying has been gaining to much attention in the public sphere, and not for the right reasons. Some states are enforcing laws against such hate crimes, such as California and "Seth's Law". Though I am not really involved in this issue, I feel guilty just reading these stories and not doing anything about it. There needs to be a change.
RJ, This is a very important topic and i am glad you chose it. I completely agree with you that it is a horrible and extremely tragic thing every time incidents like this occur. I always try to imagine myself in these kid's shoes, wondering what it is like to be bullied for something you cant even control. I think we all wish that the people in this world would change and not make fun of these kids however i don't think it will, so it is important for these victims to know that there are other people behind them who will support them anytime they need.
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with this blog post, R.J. In one of my classes my senior spring in high school, we spent a lot of time discussing Tyler Clementi, a homosexual student at Rutgers who committed suicide. Most of us grew up with the saying, "sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me." It is so unfortunate that the language that is being used in our society is doing more damage than physical violence. This is truly a prime example of the power of language and the negative results that can come of it.
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