Bullying Has To Stop
Sep. 29th, 2010 04:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
wwcitizenBullying today is reaching all time highs in this country. With churches, religious organizations, and communities coming out against gays, kids these days have greater exposure to blatant discrimination - from adults! From their adult "role models". They might not verbalize, "If my parents are treating these people like this, then I should do the same thing at school - to her or to him!"
We and our kids are listening to radio hosts or certain pastors saying that homosexuality is wrong. If kids keep hearing that homosexuality is wrong, we are allowing the perpetuation of discrimination. Anti-gay sentiment and bullying in schools is the fruit of bad teaching. The same is true about racism. Racism is a taught and learned thought process. Religious elitism is also a taught and learned thought process.
You can't talk a child into being gay by helping them understand that some kids are gay and other kids aren't or that some kids are straight and other kids aren't - it's not their fault for being the way they are - straight, bi, or gay. There is no "gay agenda" of teaching kids to be gay. Bullying and suicides must stop in this country and the gay community knows there is something we can do - teach parents, teachers, and kids how to treat each other - no matter their orientation, heritage, race, handicap, or religion.
There is the hope that gay kids will be accepted for who they are; there is no cure for "The Gay". For whatever reason a child is gay, other kids notice because parents, TV, radio, and other kids teach kids what gay is already.
I had never heard the term "gay" or "faggot" at home, but I certainly heard it enough at church and school. I heard it in elementary school, middle school, and high school. To the point that I changed middle school and high school four times before I graduated and escaped to happiness and freedom in college. I got ridiculed by peers, pastors, and adults at church because I was gay (but didn't accept myself because of society's hatred of gays - I hated myself). My mantra was, "I want to get out of here; it's gonna be so much better once I'm gone from here." This was true to the point that I told my father (who doesn't remember this), "I don't know what I'll do if I have to stay in this school one more day." My dad loved me so much that he pulled me out of school over the holidays - midyear - and I went to a different high school for 18 months. Then, eventually the bullying got so bad at the "new" school, that my father and I moved out of town, across the state, and into a completely new community.
People from my childhood had no idea why I left my home town and from my church why I wasn't going to church anymore. People from my high schools and middle schools had no idea why I changed schools. Why tell those bastards how they made me feel? They won enough by pushing me out and away.
Thank God, and truly, thank God, I didn't commit suicide. I wish that a similar situation had had a happier ending with the 8th grader in Houston. I understand, as do many gays and lesbians, what was on that kid's mind: "I want it to stop and I don't know how to make it stop other than killing myself." Even though his parents were supportive of him and he had love there, having to be around bullies for at least 8 hours a day was extreme.
Today, there is an evil agenda afoot to continue discrimination in schools and allow bullying to persist, under the guise of Christian values. Frankly, churches of any kind have no place in public schools. Public schools are supported by the government, which is separate from churches. People who want their kids brought up with certain religious biases and beliefs have every right to put their children in private schools to teach them what they want and further discrimination and hate. Public schools should not be their playgrounds.
If you haven't seen this, it's a short clip of an interview with Anne Rice about Christianity. Candi Cushman, from Focus on the Family, doesn't even realize that she's the blatant mouthpiece of hate, discrimination, and acceptable bullying. As a person who believes in Christ and prays to God, Focus on the Family and the likes of Candi Cushman disgust me in their deceit.
We and our kids are listening to radio hosts or certain pastors saying that homosexuality is wrong. If kids keep hearing that homosexuality is wrong, we are allowing the perpetuation of discrimination. Anti-gay sentiment and bullying in schools is the fruit of bad teaching. The same is true about racism. Racism is a taught and learned thought process. Religious elitism is also a taught and learned thought process.
You can't talk a child into being gay by helping them understand that some kids are gay and other kids aren't or that some kids are straight and other kids aren't - it's not their fault for being the way they are - straight, bi, or gay. There is no "gay agenda" of teaching kids to be gay. Bullying and suicides must stop in this country and the gay community knows there is something we can do - teach parents, teachers, and kids how to treat each other - no matter their orientation, heritage, race, handicap, or religion.
There is the hope that gay kids will be accepted for who they are; there is no cure for "The Gay". For whatever reason a child is gay, other kids notice because parents, TV, radio, and other kids teach kids what gay is already.
I had never heard the term "gay" or "faggot" at home, but I certainly heard it enough at church and school. I heard it in elementary school, middle school, and high school. To the point that I changed middle school and high school four times before I graduated and escaped to happiness and freedom in college. I got ridiculed by peers, pastors, and adults at church because I was gay (but didn't accept myself because of society's hatred of gays - I hated myself). My mantra was, "I want to get out of here; it's gonna be so much better once I'm gone from here." This was true to the point that I told my father (who doesn't remember this), "I don't know what I'll do if I have to stay in this school one more day." My dad loved me so much that he pulled me out of school over the holidays - midyear - and I went to a different high school for 18 months. Then, eventually the bullying got so bad at the "new" school, that my father and I moved out of town, across the state, and into a completely new community.
People from my childhood had no idea why I left my home town and from my church why I wasn't going to church anymore. People from my high schools and middle schools had no idea why I changed schools. Why tell those bastards how they made me feel? They won enough by pushing me out and away.
Thank God, and truly, thank God, I didn't commit suicide. I wish that a similar situation had had a happier ending with the 8th grader in Houston. I understand, as do many gays and lesbians, what was on that kid's mind: "I want it to stop and I don't know how to make it stop other than killing myself." Even though his parents were supportive of him and he had love there, having to be around bullies for at least 8 hours a day was extreme.
Today, there is an evil agenda afoot to continue discrimination in schools and allow bullying to persist, under the guise of Christian values. Frankly, churches of any kind have no place in public schools. Public schools are supported by the government, which is separate from churches. People who want their kids brought up with certain religious biases and beliefs have every right to put their children in private schools to teach them what they want and further discrimination and hate. Public schools should not be their playgrounds.
If you haven't seen this, it's a short clip of an interview with Anne Rice about Christianity. Candi Cushman, from Focus on the Family, doesn't even realize that she's the blatant mouthpiece of hate, discrimination, and acceptable bullying. As a person who believes in Christ and prays to God, Focus on the Family and the likes of Candi Cushman disgust me in their deceit.
