I find myself thinking about this quite a lot lately. Actually for several years it's been on my mind and I find myself quite pissed off about the entire situation. I spent years trying to not think about it because as a young child I dealt with this issue. Being gay (even though for the longest time I didn't know what it was called) in a small rural town was not easy. I found myself being called names and picked on because I stood out in the crowd. When you are young you have no one you feel you can reach out to because, for me at least, I didn't want the people I loved to see me as weak or a "freak". But, as I got older I feel like a small part of me rebelled against it, dressing different than most, taking it just a little bit over the edge.
Don't get me wrong, I grew up with some amazing kids and amazing people in Braggs. It wasn't every person doing this, it was and usually is a small group, maybe even one or two. But just those one or two can do so much damage that sometimes it isn't repairable. I was one of the lucky ones. I had a family who loved me and even though I never really came out to them as gay until I was in my twenties, I think they knew.
My heart breaks every time I hear about a child of any age taking their life because they could no longer bear the burden of being bullied. People may think that it is just words and the children should be able to handle that, right? Wrong!!! It isn't just words and if you think it is, then you are one of the people I am trying to reach out to tonight. Words are a powerful weapon in themselves which can inflict harm beyond repair, but most times it does not stop there.
Please see the movie Bully. It is a very enlightening movie and will transform the way you view and think about bullies. They have a Facebook page as well, called The Bully Project and the address is https://www.facebook.com/bullymovie. I urge you if you do nothing else please watch this movie. It is a hard watch because it takes you into the lives of these kids being bullied, the torment they go through, their parents feeling helpless and then finally you see the schools being held responsible for what happens to these kids on the school buses. I know it isn't the schools total responsibility, but we have to get the parents involved. We have to get neighbors, brothers and sisters involved, aunts and uncles involved. We cannot allow another child to take their life because of another person's inability to cope with their own life so they take it out on another.
Please don't set idly by or be the cause; take a stand and help prevent this from happening to another child.
Have a peaceful night.
Johnny Bryan Ward
Don't get me wrong, I grew up with some amazing kids and amazing people in Braggs. It wasn't every person doing this, it was and usually is a small group, maybe even one or two. But just those one or two can do so much damage that sometimes it isn't repairable. I was one of the lucky ones. I had a family who loved me and even though I never really came out to them as gay until I was in my twenties, I think they knew.
My heart breaks every time I hear about a child of any age taking their life because they could no longer bear the burden of being bullied. People may think that it is just words and the children should be able to handle that, right? Wrong!!! It isn't just words and if you think it is, then you are one of the people I am trying to reach out to tonight. Words are a powerful weapon in themselves which can inflict harm beyond repair, but most times it does not stop there.
Please see the movie Bully. It is a very enlightening movie and will transform the way you view and think about bullies. They have a Facebook page as well, called The Bully Project and the address is https://www.facebook.com/bullymovie. I urge you if you do nothing else please watch this movie. It is a hard watch because it takes you into the lives of these kids being bullied, the torment they go through, their parents feeling helpless and then finally you see the schools being held responsible for what happens to these kids on the school buses. I know it isn't the schools total responsibility, but we have to get the parents involved. We have to get neighbors, brothers and sisters involved, aunts and uncles involved. We cannot allow another child to take their life because of another person's inability to cope with their own life so they take it out on another.
Please don't set idly by or be the cause; take a stand and help prevent this from happening to another child.
Have a peaceful night.
Johnny Bryan Ward
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