Ray of Hope: Students Fight Back Bullying!!!

THIS IS THE KIND OF RESPONSE WE NEED TO SEE MORE OF!!  Fifteen year old Cole Peterson, openly bisexual, was attacked by two of his classmates because of his sexuality.  Here's the twist:  300 students from his high school staged a sit-in in protest of his attack, in specific, and against bullying in general.  That is exactly the kind of response we need to see every single day in every single incident of bullying!  Bravo to you, Cole, and definitely BRAVO to you, the students who supported him!!!

R.I.P. Jasmine McClain (ANOTHER 10 YEAR OLD!!!)

Her name was Jasmine McClain.  She was just 10 years old.  She was being bullied.  And, now, she's gone.  There's a tribute page set up for her on facebook.  Go, leave your condolences for the family.  As you can imagine, their grief right now is overwhelming.  When I read this article last night, all I could do was sit in a stunned silence.  We need more and more people getting involved with this cause.  As you see, it's reached epidemic proportions.  We need more people sharing this blog with their friends (or, any other similar information outlet!!  As long as the job gets done!!!!)  But, right now, we all need to pause and go to Samantha West's aid.  Her beautiful 10 year old daughter isn't coming home any more.  Rest in Peace, Jasmine McClain.

Know the Signs

I awakened this morning to the following post on facebook:  "I want to die".  Needless to say, every alarm in my head went off .  I checked my text messages, and the same person had texted me:  "Well, things are worst than ever.  suicide seems like the best way to go now".   Let me first say that he's alive and well.  Secondly, this is a young man I've known a few years.  And, it's been a struggle for him the entire time I've known him.  He doesn't want to die.  He wants the pain, suffering, and struggling to go away.  Sound familiar?  I do know that he suffers from depression, so I contacted him right away.  Depression, however, is just one of the warning signs to look for.  Can you name 4 more?  Most people can't.  In order to bring this sad chapter in our history to an end, we need to educate and re-educate ourselves. LEARN THE WARNING SIGNS!!!! (lives depend on it)

Give Them Hope; Give Them Life

Since getting involved in this mission to help save some young lives, I've come to recognize a  very clear and discernible constant:  a pervasive sense of hopelessness.  And, in many-to-most cases, I could understand where their sense of hopelessness comes from.  In addition to the normal angst and anxiety that comes with being a teenager, and with the added weight of dealing with their sexuality internally and externally, they are bombarded with negativity as it pertains directly to them.  In many, but certainly not all, cases, they are made to feel less than whole, "defective", unwanted, unloved, and add your own adjective.  There's, unfortunately, too many to add them all here.  So, in my ongoing, and never ending, effort to help bring this culture of intolerance to an end, I want to pass along this information.  Someone's life will be saved by your efforts.

Today is International Survivors of Suicide Day

This is the 13th Annual International Survivors of Suicide Day. It's a day of healing. From my experience, I will tell you that EVERYDAY, for the rest of your life!, will be a day of healing. I'm posting this early enough for any of you who wants or needs to can get involved, either in person or via Internet. And, it's available is Spanish and French, as well.  For you who want to attend...

Hating In The Name of God

So, you've seen the videos over the past few days of school administrators bullying students, unaware that their actions were about to be broadcasted worldwide.  It's well documented how, in some cases, the parents, themselves, are as responsible for their children's low self-esteem, and in some cases suicides, because of their intolerance and lack of acceptance.  But, to have a pastor, A MAN OF GOD, spew hatred towards, intolerance of, and utter lies about gays is absolutely unacceptable.
When you start to look at the bigger picture of what today's youth have to deal with as the struggle to find their place in this crazy world, it's quite easy indeed to see why we have so many emotionally damaged young people taking their own lives.  When they see and hear so many adults, people they look to for leadership and affirmation, from the homes to the schools to the churches, instead give them just the opposite.  Then, when the end result is another tragic loss, we shake our collective heads and wonder "why".

And You Thought It Was Just a Kid's Thing!

It's horrific enough that you have to be concerned about your son or daughter being bullied at school by their classmates.  We've already seen the damage that causes, and we are very well aware that it oft times is the major contributor to teen suicides.  And, we as adults have been preaching that they should report these bullying instances to their teachers and/or school administrators immediately.  Well, as I'm sure many of you saw just yesterday, it isn't JUST the kids who are doing the bullying as a teacher in New Jersey was caught on video verbally abusing (bullying) a special needs student.  That's unacceptable, right?  Of course it is, and we should be outraged.  But, if you think this is an isolated case...an anomoly, THINK AGAIN!!  See, this atmosphere of intolerance isn't a kid's thing; it's handed down to them from the very people who are entrusted to mold them into upstanding citizens.  It's taught in churches, in the homes and, as is evident here, in the schools.  If it's true that the young minds are like sponges, and it is, then why are we so careless as to what they're "soaking up"?