Speak Loudly
A couple months back I blogged about my friend Logan. If you happen to know her too, you know how cool it is to be her friend. In fact, I’ve noticed that a couple of my friends who I introduced to Logan have been writing to her on Twitter more often than they write to me. But it's okay; I’m down with being cool by association.
In July, Logan appeared on Fox News to debate a man named Peter Sprigg. Mr. Sprigg is affiliated with an organization called the Family Research Council. Among other things, he argued that kids in Montana should NOT be taught about different kinds of families and should NOT be taught that using certain words to taunt their peers is unacceptable and tantamount to sexual harassment. He said, and I quote, “teasing and taunting are part of the facts of life in fourth grade.” There was a split screen a la Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on The View, and I think Logan’s message got lost in the drama of it. But of course she disagreed; as she said, “vehemently.”
Today my twitter feed was full of stories about kids killing themselves because they’d been bullied.
I have a self-imposed rule for this blog, and the same goes for my Facebook page and my Twitter timeline: I won’t ever say anything negative. I don’t think I’ve even ever posted that I didn’t like a movie or a TV show. I’d rather pass on information about the stuff I like to watch, the books I read and loved, the people who I admire. Besides, once you put something online, it’s published, and I’m not into publishing things that put down other people.
But there is one thing I’m not afraid to rail against, in person and in print and online. I’ll write it in all-caps so you know I’m really screaming: I HATE BULLIES. I HATE PEOPLE WHO THINK IT IS OKAY TO BE INTOLERANT, WHO USE DEROGATORY WORDS AND MAKE DISPARAGING REMARKS THAT THEY THINK ARE FUNNY, WHO HURT OTHER PEOPLE ON PURPOSE AND WITHOUT REMORSE. AND I HATE THOSE WHO TEACH THEIR CHILDREN THAT ALL OF THAT IS OKAY.
This is the thing, Mr. Sprigg: Yes, teasing and taunting are part of the facts of life. The teenagers who took their own lives this week knew that all too well. But isn’t it up to us to teach kids that it shouldn’t be?
The fact that this is happening this week, Banned Books Week, makes it seem even worse - as if it could be any worse. A few days ago, Laurie Halse Anderson’s beautiful, haunting, important book SPEAK was challenged in Missouri. If you haven’t read it (and if you haven’t you should), I’ll tell you that the book is about a high school girl named Melinda who is raped. A man named Wesley Scroggins called it “pornography” because of two rape scenes.
Of course Laurie’s book is not pornography. There’s nothing exciting or titillating about rape. But it’s more than that, too. SPEAK has helped countless teens to find their own voices, to communicate about things that were done to them, so that they could begin to heal. We’re not protecting anyone by taking it off shelves. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration at all to say the world would be a better place if we handed it out to every high schooler, to every college student, to every person. This week I bought copies for my fifteen-year-old stepbrother and my fifteen-year-old niece. My copy is beside my bed to be read again, so I can discuss it with them.
And here’s my real question: Why are some people so intent on taking books away from teens that make them feel less alone, and all the while teaching them that being cruel is an okay thing to do?
This week, at least four families are planning memorial services for teenagers.
I don’t know how to wrap this post up, because I don’t have any final words. Or maybe the hashtag that was created in response to Mr. Scroggins should be the final words: Speak Loudly.
In July, Logan appeared on Fox News to debate a man named Peter Sprigg. Mr. Sprigg is affiliated with an organization called the Family Research Council. Among other things, he argued that kids in Montana should NOT be taught about different kinds of families and should NOT be taught that using certain words to taunt their peers is unacceptable and tantamount to sexual harassment. He said, and I quote, “teasing and taunting are part of the facts of life in fourth grade.” There was a split screen a la Rosie O’Donnell and Elisabeth Hasselbeck on The View, and I think Logan’s message got lost in the drama of it. But of course she disagreed; as she said, “vehemently.”
Today my twitter feed was full of stories about kids killing themselves because they’d been bullied.
I have a self-imposed rule for this blog, and the same goes for my Facebook page and my Twitter timeline: I won’t ever say anything negative. I don’t think I’ve even ever posted that I didn’t like a movie or a TV show. I’d rather pass on information about the stuff I like to watch, the books I read and loved, the people who I admire. Besides, once you put something online, it’s published, and I’m not into publishing things that put down other people.
But there is one thing I’m not afraid to rail against, in person and in print and online. I’ll write it in all-caps so you know I’m really screaming: I HATE BULLIES. I HATE PEOPLE WHO THINK IT IS OKAY TO BE INTOLERANT, WHO USE DEROGATORY WORDS AND MAKE DISPARAGING REMARKS THAT THEY THINK ARE FUNNY, WHO HURT OTHER PEOPLE ON PURPOSE AND WITHOUT REMORSE. AND I HATE THOSE WHO TEACH THEIR CHILDREN THAT ALL OF THAT IS OKAY.
This is the thing, Mr. Sprigg: Yes, teasing and taunting are part of the facts of life. The teenagers who took their own lives this week knew that all too well. But isn’t it up to us to teach kids that it shouldn’t be?
The fact that this is happening this week, Banned Books Week, makes it seem even worse - as if it could be any worse. A few days ago, Laurie Halse Anderson’s beautiful, haunting, important book SPEAK was challenged in Missouri. If you haven’t read it (and if you haven’t you should), I’ll tell you that the book is about a high school girl named Melinda who is raped. A man named Wesley Scroggins called it “pornography” because of two rape scenes.
Of course Laurie’s book is not pornography. There’s nothing exciting or titillating about rape. But it’s more than that, too. SPEAK has helped countless teens to find their own voices, to communicate about things that were done to them, so that they could begin to heal. We’re not protecting anyone by taking it off shelves. I don’t think it’s an exaggeration at all to say the world would be a better place if we handed it out to every high schooler, to every college student, to every person. This week I bought copies for my fifteen-year-old stepbrother and my fifteen-year-old niece. My copy is beside my bed to be read again, so I can discuss it with them.
And here’s my real question: Why are some people so intent on taking books away from teens that make them feel less alone, and all the while teaching them that being cruel is an okay thing to do?
This week, at least four families are planning memorial services for teenagers.
I don’t know how to wrap this post up, because I don’t have any final words. Or maybe the hashtag that was created in response to Mr. Scroggins should be the final words: Speak Loudly.