Councilman spoke out for gay teens

[beer]

This video is getting international media attention - I hope it continues to reach out and be seen by those who need the suppprt.

Joel Burns tells gay teens "it gets better"

[KingIsaacLinksr]

Bullying in general is a problem, but I do wish it had not taken kid's lives to make everyone wake up and smell the foul stench of it.  Gays are not the only ones who have this problem, anyone who is not of the normal standard is bullyed and little to no support is there for them. 

I'm pretty sure if I didn't have my tall and daunting stature, it would have been worse for me in school.  But we have seemingly allowed it with no repercussions for those involved. 

King

[Blackride]

Bullying in general is a problem, but I do wish it had not taken kid's lives to make everyone wake up and smell the foul stench of it.  Gays are not the only ones who have this problem, anyone who is not of the normal standard is bullyed and little to no support is there for them. 

I'm pretty sure if I didn't have my tall and daunting stature, it would have been worse for me in school.  But we have seemingly allowed it with no repercussions for those involved. 

King

Well said!

[Bryancd]

Where is the Like button?....

For sure, I was never bullied but I was picked on, especially being a sic-fi fan, which I wore loud and proud!

[beer]

If I had the means to erraticate bullying, I don't think I would. I would rather see the bullied empowered to survive it and emerge a stronger individual.

[Blackride]

If I had the means to erraticate bullying, I don't think I would. I would rather see the bullied empowered to survive it and emerge a stronger individual.

That is beyond backwards to me. Why encourage people to be mean? Just because people get through someone bullying them does not make them stronger......ever hear of Columbine? I think I spelled that right...

[KingIsaacLinksr]

If I had the means to erraticate bullying, I don't think I would. I would rather see the bullied empowered to survive it and emerge a stronger individual.

There is a certain logical reasoning to this...but I dislike it either way.

King

[beer]

I didn't mean to suggest encouraging bullying to strengthen children - I was looking at it, bullying, as spmething that exists in various forms throughout life and that learning to deal with such individuals and situations young would prove quite beneficial going forward. I do see the problems with such an arguement - it would be the same as suggesting a good round of physical and sexual abuse would be good for toughening up kids. That's an extreme and would be assinign <sp> to suggest; still I can't ignore the voice telling me it's more important for kids to learn how to deal with problematic peers then to remove the experience entirely.

[X]

I don't know how I feel about this whole bullying thing. The problem isn't bullying. The problem is people. It's not like the way people act changes when they become adults. They are still the same jerks they were when they were kids.

I personally think that the problem lies not in the bullying, but how we teach our children to cope with it. I don't think that there has been any generation that hasn't been picked on by their peers, but suddenly there is a huge problem. If the cause has always existed and the effect has changed, then it has to be something in how we're raising our kids.

Maybe it's just me, but I was told that words can't hurt me. It was drummed in my head and even the worst things that were said about me or the most difficult fights that I was in didn't break me. My parents made me feel empowered to fight my own battles. With wit, words, and sometimes it came to fists, but I didn't break.

I hate to admit this, but maybe our PC world is the cause. Everyone is more about avoiding the problems than confronting them. We are teaching generations of kids that it's okay to think things, but not say them out loud. We are teaching avoidance instead of acceptance.

When I was a kid, we dealt with bullies a different way and we took that power from them.

Humanity is a race of selfish jerks by nature. We strive to overcome this, but we should stop pretending that it's not true. We should stop pretending everyone is a good person inside and teach our kids to be stronger than we have been.

I remember how hazing was the big problem and now it's bullying. Maybe the problem is that people suck and we need to get back to the core of things and teach our kids to be comfortable in their own skin and to have the inner strength to where text on a screen doesn't drive them to kill themselves.

[davekill]

I don't know how I feel about this whole bullying thing. The problem isn't bullying. The problem is people. It's not like the way people act changes when they become adults. They are still the same jerks they were when they were kids.

Amen.
As we grow older, I think we learn to grow a thicker skin and fight each battle as it comes.
Think about it - do you ever get through one week without some sort of confrontation? And then; do a slow burn, Take it in stride, or laugh it off?

It's terrible that any child should feel so helpless and alone.

[Geekyfanboy]

Wow.. how did I miss this thread...

14 suicides of young gay people because of bullying in the month of September alone.

I agree with King Bullying isn't effecting only gay youth but can you imagine being young and gay and knowing that if you accept who are truly are that half the world will HATE you, that you will never be able to marry, never be able to hold hands with the one you love in public without getting stares or called names. In some countries they would hang you for being gay and in many states you are not allowed to adopt a child. How would you feel having the religious right people constantly telling you that you're an abomination to this world and are going to hell.

It's one thing being bullied because your fat, or short, or a geek or nerd.. it's a totally different thing when you're gay. I know as I lived with it all my life. I wasn't out of the closet when I was in High School I couldn't imagine the bullying that would have taken place, I knew of kids who were gay in HS and I remember them being absent from classes for weeks at a time because of some stupid rumor that would go around school about them. I was so afraid of what society thought of gay people that I didn't accept who I truly was until my late 20's. I wasted so much of my young life being scare, lonely and confused.

I don't know who's to blame for this.. it might be like X said.. it's just part of human nature..but I do think some of the blame starts with the parents of the bullies. You are NOT born to HATE.. it's taught though intolerance, ignorance and racism. Parents pass on their beliefs to their kids (and I don't mean of offend any religious person) but most of the "HATE" towards gay people come from the religious institution. Will it ever stop and get to the ideal Star Trek future that we all love.. I doubt it.

[Blackride]

I dont know where this idea that the most of the hate comes from religious institutions....Christians are supposed to love everyone and help them. Just because we think something is a sin has nothing to do with hate. Sin does not equate to hate, simple as that. It easy to to point the finger at religious institutions because there are always the small examples of some churchs doing something silly. Just because some churhes are doing something silly does not mean that its the entire institution.

If you let me know where the main line Christian or Jewish leaders preach hate to gays I would like to see it. You also have to be careful because just because someone goes to chruch, does NOT make them a Christian. Unless you practice what Jesus preached you are NOT a Christian. Yes wearing the Cross does NOT make you a Christian!

Let me point out that just because Kenny is gay and I am Christian does not mean we can not be friends or anything. I am supposed to love everyone and also try to communicate the Gospel and if possible make follower of Christ. I am not supposed to sit in the basement with fellow Christians and only communicate with them.

[X]

I dont know where this idea that the most of the hate comes from religious institutions....Christians are supposed to love everyone and help them. Just because we think something is a sin has nothing to do with hate. Sin does not equate to hate, simple as that. It easy to to point the finger at religious institutions because there are always the small examples of some churchs doing something silly. Just because some churhes are doing something silly does not mean that its the entire institution.

If you let me know where the main line Christian or Jewish leaders preach hate to gays I would like to see it. You also have to be careful because just because someone goes to chruch, does NOT make them a Christian. Unless you practice what Jesus preached you are NOT a Christian. Yes wearing the Cross does NOT make you a Christian!

Let me point out that just because Kenny is gay and I am Christian does not mean we can not be friends or anything. I am supposed to love everyone and also try to communicate the Gospel and if possible make follower of Christ. I am not supposed to sit in the basement with fellow Christians and only communicate with them.

I get where you're coming from, but I think that you're missing that it's more than small examples. There are a lot of people that call themselves Christian and go to Christian churches, but are well away from what those ideals might be.

My thought is that if being gay was such a big sin, Jesus would have mentioned it. He didn't. He did mention several times on how rich people were pretty screwed in their chances in going to heaven.

I think that there are a lot of assumption associated with Christianity, like Mary being a prostitute when that's not in the bible. It was corrected a long time ago, but people still have that impression. Because like to interpret the words in the bible instead of just reading them, there can be hundreds of interpretations and none of them are any less valid that the others. Allowing for interpretation is what allows for all the Christian sects and for people to be Christian without being the same type of Christian as the guy down the road.

It's also filled with assumptions. There is nothing at all in the bible that says what the sins of Sodam and Gammora were, but as most Christians and they are sure that they know.

I agree not all sects and all religions persecute gays, but when most of them says your immortal souls is damned for being born different ... it doesn't do well for helping to develop the self-esteem of a child growing up in that tradition.

As I've said before, I find it odd that Christians that speak out about being gay being so bad still violate some of the big ten commandments without realizing the irony. IF being gay was really that big of a sin, it should have been placed within the ten. Yet lying is there and it still happens daily. If all the sins are equal, every time you lie, it's a good as killing someone in God's eyes. Yet it still happens.

It seems to me that many faiths would rather point fingers at others than look to themselves and see their own sins.

This is why I don't teach my child a faith. I'm not going to indoctrinate into any traditions what so ever, but when she decides to explore her faith, I'll support that.  She knows that Daddy has his own beliefs as does the rest of the family, but I'm not going to force her to follow my path. My path is right for me and that's as far as I go with it.

I think that's one of the core problems with organized religion. It started off as individuals on their paths then became one size fits all and splintered to many sizes fit most as the sects formed. I don't believe that my creator wasn't silly enough to create me without an instruction book on what he expects of me. That instruction book is the little voice in my head trying to teach me right from wrong. I'm not perfect and I stumble, but I've never needed an external source to tell me what God wanted me to do. I don't think anyone does. I think that organized religion becomes a case where too many cooks ruin the broth.

So, yeah I can see where Kenny is coming from. Sure they might not be your type of Christians, but they are still Christians because they play by the rules that allow for all these sects to exist.

[Blackride]

Christ did speak on it. He said to follow God who said it. Christ and God are one not to be seperated either.

[Blackride]

I still wish someone would point me to one of the mains stream religion's postion that they should hate gays.