These two students never once thought "What is Tyler going through? How would this effect his life?" They knew what they did was wrong. They may have not known he would end his life but they were well aware of the negative intent they had.
Tyler is not the only one to end their life because of malice. Seth Walsh, 13, Asher Brown, 13, and Billy Lucas, 15, also took their lives recently because of others bullying them. We have got to do something about this.
I understand that many people do not agree with the homosexual way of life. But tell me "How does someone else's orientation effect you directly?" Calling someone a "faggot", "dyke" or any other callous names is JUST WRONG!
The next time you open your mouth to call someone a demeaning name, think about Tyler, think about Billy, Asher, and Seth. Your vile words could destroy someones spirit and end their life!!!
My Sincerest Apologies On Behalf Of Humanity To Those Boys And Their Families
I am of two minds whenever I hear a story like this.
ReplyDeleteI condemn the actions of people who willfully and knowingly set out to make another person's life hell, regardless of gender, race, orientation, or whatever. There isn't an iota of me that supports these people. And they should be punished under existing laws (Harassment, defamation of character, etc.), but I don't agree with making laws to police how people think, as some people want to do.
Yet while I sympathize with the families of the victims, and wish them peace in their time of mourning, I can't bring myself to be sad for the people who take their own lives.
The world is not a nice place, and regardless of who you are, and what you do, there is going to be someone who wants to tear you down. That is the simple, terrible truth. The world will hurt you if you let it, it will break you if it can. If you're going to succeed in life, you have to find a way to deal with the people that want to hurt you.
What to do, then? Find ways to toughen kids up. Teach them the confidence and the self-discipline to take the crap the world slings your way, and let it roll off them like water off a duck's back. Train them, body and mind, to withstand the world, rather than breaking under it.
This isn't a homosexual issue, but an issue that is affecting all kids. It seems like whenever a story like this comes out, people talk about doing more to protect kids. But what happens when they grow up, and haven't learned how to protect themselves? We need to focus less on sheltering them, and more on arming them to deal with the people that want to hurt them.