Truly,

midwest-monster:

cryingtotheocean:

I’m sure it does…I’m sure it gets a whole lot better in time…and blah blah blah. But, does the fact that it “gets better” stop (hypothetical) you from being bullied, harassed, assaulted, and made to feel absolutely worthless? Does it make you sit at home at night and not want to kill yourself, or hurt yourself, or just disappear? The answer is no, it does not. The hope of it getting better does nothing for people going through anything. What about Jamey Rodemeyer…he made the “it gets better video,” and what happened to that innocent boy? He ended up killing himself. Telling young lgbtq….(etc) youth that it gets better is not proactive, it’s complacent…. and it’s not enough. 

^^^ I understand what you’re saying, but there is only so much you can do to try and stop bullying.  Unfortunately, it is impossible to MAKE teenagers stop bullying.  I’m sure that the rules and regulations and awareness campaigns many schools have started have made some kids realize that bullying isn’t right and isn’t a joke.  But as a certified school social worker, I can tell you—some kids just SUCK.  Some kids will bully gay students no matter what you threaten them with, no matter what you tell them in right or wrong.  I am absolutely not defending bullying or saying that we should turn a blind eye—but I’m saying that because of today’s Internet, iPhones, etc., no matter how much a school staff tries to control what happens to their students, it is impossible to control everything.  I like the “It Gets Better” Project, because it attempts to give those students hope.  They aren’t telling them that the bullying will stop.  Because that would be unfair, and a lie.  They are telling them that no matter what people say to you, YOU are okay.  You have control over whether or not you let those assholes get to you, over whether or not they push you into killing yourself.  No matter how much bullying a student endures, in the end, no one killed them except them.  It’s a flawed concept—some kids, kids living in poverty, for example, may not really have that much to look forward too!—but I think it can be really beneficial, especially considering the skyrocketing rates of suicides among teenagers these days.  I’m not really sure what cryingtotheocean thinks should be done instead of this.

(Source: poly-tone)