On Wednesday, October 5th, there is a film screening of Bullied: A Student, A School, and a Case that Made History followed by a community dialogue on the same topic. This event is an opportunity for you to support local youth. The Bullied event is being coordinated by Spencer Pride, Inc. and White River Valley PFLAG in partnership with Middle Way House and Spencer Presbyterian Church. It is part of a series of local events in October associated with LGBT History Month. October is also Bullying Awareness Month making this subject all the more relevant.
This event is intended to start a constructive community conversation about bullying and the negative effects that it has on our youth. Although the film focuses on a self-identified gay teenager in Minnesota, it could just as easily have been about anything for which people are isolated and harassed. Other reasons that people are bullied include the victim’s weight, socio-economic status, and religious affiliation (or lack thereof), and many more.
Starting a healthy conversation about bullying is as important in our local community as it is in any other community throughout the nation, contrary to what some local church leaders have suggested in Spencer over the past week. A couple of these leaders have been on a quest to pressure the Spencer Presbyterian Church and its members from supporting this worthwhile event. Thankfully, the leaders of the Spencer Presbyterian Church have taken a stand to not be 'bullied' and to maintain their support.
Bullying is not something that should be tolerated in our community. Our children have the right to an education free of physical, emotional, and verbal abuse. Adolescence is a challenging time for our youth, as it has always been. It marks the time when our youth "comes of age" and there is increasing pressure to establish one's identity. Often, this identity is tied to various social groups and other similar social networks. Traits and characteristics that fall outside of the common ones found within these groups often lead to teasing or more serious behaviors. For example, teenage girls are often under a tremendous amount of pressure to fit the 'Barbie' body shape idealized by modern popular culture.
One of the most common reasons for being bullied is for being perceived as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender (LGBT). It doesn't matter whether the victim has actually self-identified as LGBT or not - the perception is what results in the bullying. Unfortunately, bullying that occurs toward youth who are perceived as LGBT can also be some of the most violent forms. It is quite common to hear about the brutal beatings of these teenagers. It is also not uncommon to hear about violence that results in the death of a LGBT-perceived teen.
The most significant effect of bullying on a child or teen is often an emotional one. The physical and psychological abuse directed at victims of bullying has a very negative impact on self-esteem and overall happiness. This can lead to a desire to "end the suffering of bullying" by attempting to commit suicide. Suicide is the third leading causing of death among 15-20 year olds (National Adolescent Health Information 2006) in the United States.
LGBT youth are four times more likely to attempt suicide than their heterosexual peers. Although these suicides can be attributed to the impact of physical and psychological abuse by family member or peers within faith communities, it can also be attributed to the tremendous amount of bullying that occurs within our schools. According to the GLSEN National School Climate Survey in 2009, nine out of ten LGBT students have experienced harassment at school, three-fifths felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and about one-third had skipped a day of school in the last month because of feeling unsafe. According to the Journal of Youth and Adolescence (2009), LGBT youth in rural communities face particularly hostile school climates.
Is this what we want for our children?
Last year, bullying towards LGBT teenagers received a significant amount of national press due to a wave of teenage suicides throughout the United States in September. These suicides were a painful reminder of the effects of bullying. The nine known cases of gay teen suicides last September were geographically diverse – from California to Texas, Colorado to Rhode Island.
Indiana was not spared from these September casualties of LGBT-associated bullying. Billy Lucas (15 years old) and Caleb Nolt (14 years old) both killed themselves that month to put an end to the abuse they were suffering from their Hoosier bullies.
Although there have been attempts over the past year to provide further education about the harmful effects of bullying, the violence continues today.
Last week, we became aware of another sad event - the suicide of Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14 year old New Jersey student who self-identified as gay. Jeremy underwent a significant amount of bullying in school. In May, Jamey had recorded a video for the much-lauded “It Gets Better” project where he said, "People would just keep sending me hate, telling me that gay people go to hell...Just love yourself and you're set. And I promise you, it'll get better."
Unfortunately, it didn’t get better for Jamey. On a popular social networking site that Jamey used, people posted abusive comments to Jamey such as, “I wouldn't care if you died. No one would. So just do it :) It would make everyone WAY more happier!"
Earlier this month, Jamey posted the following online: “"I always say how bullied I am, but no one listens. What do I have to do so people will listen to me?"
Jamey chose to end his life rather than to continue dealing with the threats and abuse from his tormentors. This is absolutely heartbreaking.
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| Jamey's "It Gets Better" video. Click the link in the blog to watch it online. |
If Jamey had been your son, grandson, or neighbor, would you have had the courage to listen to him and take action?
I applaud the Presbyterian Church for its commitment to this event. It's an act of courage that is a testament to their commitment to the health and well-being of our youth. It is sad that not all faith-based organizations seem to be pursuing this same commitment.
The fact that there are community leaders aggressively attempting to thwart our educational event, to 'bully' individuals and leaders in the Presbyterian Church into not participating, illustrates that content about bullying is sorely needed in Owen County. To inhibit organizations from speaking about bullying or LGBT-related issues only results in the support of bullying and intolerance among our youth.
We need to stand together, united in support of our youth and their rights to an education free from physical and psychological abuse. One way to do that which provides visible support to the victims of bullying is to attend our upcoming film screening and community dialogue. It's an opportunity to learn about this issue, share your thoughts and ideas, and brainstorm methods for discouraging bullying in our schools.
Now is the right time for you to take action in support of local youth. Help us to stand against those who want to promote intolerance in our schools. Community inaction only gives a green light to continued bullying within our schools.
Don’t pass up this opportunity to prevent further violence. Don't let your child or your teenage neighbor be the next Jamey Rodemeyer or Billy Lucas. That would be a tragic way to react to a serious - but preventable - issue in our community.
Join us on October 5th from 6:30 – 8:00 PM at the Spencer Presbyterian Church Cornerstone Hall to support the health and well-being of our local youth. Please, bring your friends.
For more information about the upcoming film screening and other local LGBT History Month events, please visit www.SpencerPride.org.
