In our nation today, more gay teens are finding it very hard to live with the bullying put on them by fellow classmates. Bullies attack teens both in school settings and online by discriminating them personally. Parents and teachers see this problem happening, but tend to not take the action necessary to stop gay teens from feeling so horrible about themselves. It has gotten to the point in our society that some teens decide to go as far as committing suicide because the amount of bashing they get each and every day.
In September 2011, Jamey Rodemeyer, an innocent 14 year old boy from Buffalo, NY, killed himself after being bullied online for over a year. He had posted videos to other gay teens stating that things would get better soon. Him posting such personal videos caused his fellow classmates to post horrible things to him across the internet. The most hurtful words were posted on his formspring account stating that "he should go die and no one would even care." So one day, after being tormented long enough, Jamey posted a farewell message and committed suicide. Further action should have been taken into account when these words were posted to an innocent 14 year old boy, who was trying to stick up for what he believes in. An innocent life was lost because of hurtful words spoken. Even though these postings were reported to counselors and his parents, they believed that he had grown stronger than this. The first thing that comes to mind when I read this, are you serious? No teenager is strong enough to manage being bullied and having no one to stand up for them.
Even if his parents thought that he was strong enough to handle these harsh words, someone should've been watching over his shoulder to see if everything was okay. Someone can say that they are okay, when they're really just putting up a strong front for those watching. That's exactly what Jamey, and a number of other gay teens are doing today. Stand up for what you believe in, even though others may think its wrong. Gay teens should not be the only ones sticking up for themselves, we as a nation should stand up against the bullying that occurs every single day to these teens. No one in their right mind could think that this is okay in the world, because it is not.
James, Susan Donaldson. Gay Buffalo Teen Suicide on Eve of National Bullying Summit. Written: 21 September 2012.
James informs us about a 14 year old boy, who committed suicide after being cyber bullied on his formspring account and videos he posted about bullying, for about a year. He encouraged others it would turn out to be okay, but he couldn't put up a strong front anymore and decided to kill himself over harsh words that someone decided to say.
His parents and teachers thought that he was strong enough to stand up for himself, but no one can do that by themselves. He did not have the complete support of his parents behind him, and I think that contributed the most to his choice of suicide. Someone can't just ignore the fact of someone stating they want you dead or that you don't deserve to live on this planet anymore. No one has to the right to say that to someone else. The nation as a whole really needs to look for the signs of bullying, and have a chance to stop it before its too late.
I recommend revising your first sentence. It is phrased in a way that doesn't make a lot of sense. Your last sentence in the first paragraph should be split into several sentences. I think it was a great idea to put a real life example in your post. It lets your audience connect with your topic on a better level.
ReplyDeleteIn the second paragraph at the end, I recommend that you tell who can do something to change how gay teens are being treated. Otherwise, your post is very well written and it definitely grabbed my attention. I can't wait to read more of your blog posts!