Another BIG Thanks to Mark for opening up and sharing his story. I can’t say I remember the Franklin thing, but yes I do think it would have been awesome if you’d done that. As long as I’ve known Mark, he’s been exceptional, I remember seeing him in the Elementry School Christmas concert sing his heart out, giving it his all, much like he did with most things he took on. This is a quality that should be admired, not discouraged. A sad trend I’ve noticed with MANY of the blog posts is if a kid was GOOD in school, they got bullied? How can that possibly be right? I know it’s accurate, but not right. I recently had a talk with my own father who told me I play dumber than I am, and that I am smarter than I give myself credit for. When I was little I was an EXCELLENT student, and that’s mostly when I got bullied. So I wonder, did I “dumb it down” as a defense mechanism? Scary to think, but is it possible kids today do the same thing? Sad to think that a child would NEED to act stupid to be socially accepted…Today as an adult I consider myself pretty intelligent, and am proud of it. As a matter of fact, the man I’m about to Marry (11 days thanks very much) is a very smart man, and it’s one of his qualities I LOVE! On that note I BEG kids, don’t dumb it down for them. Karma comes around, I promise, I’ve seen it more than once as a grown up.
You may or may not have noticed when I posted yesterday’s edition, I was excited because there was a topic I’ve been waiting for that came up in this post. Bullying in relation to one’s sexual orientation. I REALLY try and live my life with a live and let live mentality. No one person is better than another, and WHO some one is is FAR more important than what they are. I also believe in fighting for your rights, and the rights of others. I think this blog series gets that point across pretty well, but when I was in High School I was HEAVILY involved in the Gay Straight Alliance at my School, as a matter of fact in my last year of High School I was the Vice President. I was going to go into GREAT detail on the Alliance I was involved with but I think I could probably do an entire edition devoted to it and I think I will. Discrimination is right up there with bullying as far as a hot button goes with me, and are often hand in hand. Now I don’t remember when Mark came out, but I DO remember when another male friend of mine did, and the ABUSE he was faced with. His BEST friend stood by him, and he DID have a lot of friends who were there, but the fact that this factor of his life being exposed changed his world, and suddenly made him weird, its so beyond sad, and pathetic on the part of those who did it as well. I’m looking forward to doing a piece on MY experiences with the Gay Straight Alliance in High School. For now I will mention that like Mark mentioned there are resources out there, for both the LBGT, and the straight kids who are being bullied. Because of the blog series I've come into contact with Bullying Canada, which is based out of NB, check out their site here http://www.bullyingcanada.ca/index.php . The other is Kids Help Phone, which can also lead you to further resources. These people are professionals and can help you find what you’re looking for. Here is their Page http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/teens/home/splash.aspx and of course they still have the phone # 1-800-668-6868, a number I myself have used. Thanks again to Mark :)
Logo Credit To Nate
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