Thom Hunter unknowingly coached “Victim one,” who recently dropped out. Hunter lost his job before the scandal broke. Why? He encouraged the boy not to give up on running. School officials decided this entered the friend zone.
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awful A number of reported victims of alleged child molester Jerry Sandusky were reported to have dealt with various unspeakable things in a grand jury report released a while back.
awfuler The first victim on the report, referred to as “Victim One,” has dealt with brutal harassment at his high school due to Penn State coach Joe Paterno’s firing, a result of Sandusky’s arrest.
awfulest The student — a senior with just half a year left — had to withdraw from school as a result of the bullying. Protip, teens: It’s not a victim’s fault when a someone gets fired in a cover-up. source
I didn’t realize how many people he touched. He was the sweetest, kindest kid you’d ever know. He would give all his heart to you before he gave any to himself.
Tracy Rodemeyer • Discussing her 14-year-old son Jamey, who took his own life this week. He was bullied in school for many years for his perceived homosexuality; he recorded his own “It Gets Better” video and was called “outwardly upbeat and extroverted” by his peers. But clearly, this wasn’t enough. Buffalo News writer Sandra Tan asks aloud the one question that needed to be asked: “Given Jamey’s prolific writings and raw commentaries online, could someone have intervened sooner and saved him?” source
If you thought this was the last time you’d get to see United States lawmakers in an “It Gets Better” video, think again! John Kerry, who was absent from the previous effort, has made up for it by posting an IGB clip of his own, where he appears alongside a bunch of other Massachusetts politicians to help comfort LGBT youth. The gang’s all here—and by “gang,” we mean “Massachusetts congressional delegation”—except for Scott Brown, who’s afraid of getting primaried from the right in his re-election campaign busy focusing on jobs and the economy. Regardless, it’s nice to see more lawmakers stepping up to the plate here. source
A wonderful step: The San Francisco Giants have become the first professional sports team to join the “It Gets Better” campaign, with the release of this video. With this, the Giants are leading a charge in baseball similar to the Phoenix Suns in the NBA, meaning LGBT fans everywhere can now ask why their team hasn’t followed suit — likely the absolute best way to get more franchises on board with this message, and affect positive change. Incidentally, this isn’t the first time the Giants have set the example on a progressive social issue; back in 1993, they were the first team to give proceeds to AIDS research with “Until There’s a Cure” day. Enormous thanks to Barry Zito, Matt Cain, Sergio Romo, Andres Torres, and Hensley Meulens for doing this. source
Clip of the day: We mentioned on Tumblr that we were saddened by the story of a 29-year-old Gloucester, Massachusetts man so broken down by high school bullying that he never went to college and lives in fear of conflict. We made the suggestion that there needs to be a more general “It Gets Better” campaign for guys like him, but it appears Washington Post super-blogging policy wonk Ezra Klein beat us to the punch with this well-thought-out piece on how growing older gives you control over your own destiny. Some good debate has come from Klein’s video, too. Good thing he did it, because we don’t have an animation budget to create a clip of Julius talking about how he got bullied when he was in the factory. (Hat tip fuckyeahcoolquotes)source
People don’t appreciate how much the First Amendment protects not only political and ideological speech, but also personal nastiness and chatter. … If all cruel teasing led to suicide, the human race would be extinct.
UCLA law professor and First Amendment scholar Eugene Volokh • On his criticism of cyber-bullying laws. It was an issue that reared its ugly head in a court case involving a YouTube video that made fun of a middle-school aged girl. The court ruled in favor of the girl that posted it, saying that the school violated her First Amendment rights by suspending her. We totally support the First Amendment, Eugene, but you’ve apparently never dealt with 14-year-old girls. Just sayin’ dude. source
