After this week's backlash of the Rutger's Student suicide/bullying tragedy, a whole bunch of celebrities have stepped forward to plead with distraught teenagers (and young adults) to not give in to the negativity of the bullies. I remember what high school was like, and frankly, it sucked! Teenagers (and pre-teens) can be some of the cruelest, most malicious people alive. I think I'd rather share a cell with Manson than have to go back to the hell of the "Mean Girls." Everyone's awkward; that's just life, but to then specifically single out LGBTQIA kids is about as fair a fight as Hellen Keller vs an Army Ranger.
How can we help? The weird dynamic of all parents (which I am not) is that one of the most common goals of a parent is to make their child's experience a little better than theirs was. How can we do that? In my experience, the US Army does something that I really like (I don't say that very often). There is mandatory suicide training three times a year to recognize signs and symptoms, know what to do, as well as suggest alternatives and other resources. They always conclude this training with passing out a "what to do" type card, about the size of a business card. It has a 24 hour toll-free hotline for those in crisis or just for people with questions.
After a little research, I found a few resources that I think might help. One is called the Trevor Project, named after the movie in the early '90's. (Which admittedly, I didn't research, a professor told us about it this past Wed.)
The website also has a 24 hour crisis line for crises or any LGBTQIA youth issues.
http://www.thetrevorproject.org/
1866-488-7386
Along with this resource, is the celebrity based "We Give A Damn" campaign, which is being sponsored by the other wonderful activist organization of Cyndi Lauper. There are seemingly endless celebrities who have endorsed this campaign to end the silence, end the indifference, and end this epidemic.
http://www.WeGiveADamn.org
I've bought one of the t-shirts from the website, as on a college student's salary, I couldn't really afford to just donate a million dollars, but I'll wear my shirt in a pic and change my FB status to it.
There are zillions of ways to get active. Do something. Check out a website, find organizations, and invest time and heart. We're all human beings, so let's start treating each other that way!
<3 Shayna
Couldn't agree more, Shayna. Life sucked for everyone in high school, especially if you weren't part of the "popular" crowd. No one should have to submit to bullying and certainly suicide is never an answer. It's a permanent solution to a temporary situation. Keep up the good work. Love ya!!
ReplyDelete