A Few Good Links...and It Gets Better

[gehayi]

In the wake of the Tyler Clementi tragedy--what the hell IS it with cyberbullies harassing college kids this September?--my friend Ani_bester points out that you can make a difference by doing any, some or all of these things

Comments

[gehayi]

I'm sorry that you've lived any of this. I'm sorry for anyone who does. I've been bullied too, albeit not for orientation; just being a short intelligent girl was dangerous for me.

I honestly don't recall it ending until I left high school. I do remember believing throughout grammar school that the bullies, who ran in a pack of twenty or so and who were frequently armed with baseball bats and hockey sticks when they ran after me, would kill me and then claim, "It was an accident. Goshers, Gehayi's mom, we didn't know that she was that badly hurt, and we were just playing. We didn't mean any harm. We're sorry."

And the adults in my life would have believed it. Because adults, be they parents or teachers, like to lie to themselves and pretend that children are innocent and incapable of hatred or brutality. Also, teachers and administrators--whether they are in grammar school, in junior high or in high school--tend to be lickspittle cowards who would rather side with the bullies rather than the bullied.

I can't imagine how horrible it would be to endure twelve years of this shit and then to find the bullying continuing in college. You'd feel like it was never going to end. There are murderers who don't serve twelve years to sixteen years of hard time.

[gehayi]

You are goofy, smart, funny, and extremely kind. And emotional abuse sucketh mightily.

It doesn't really help to know that others have it worse. At least, it's never helped me. I'm not sure how that's supposed to help, even. "I'm in a shitty situation, but I can still be happy because there are people who are infinitely more miserable than I am?" It sounds very Bella, doesn't it?

I am glad that you've got some good things in your life, however. Because damn it, you deserve them.

[shaolina]

Oh, heavens no. I don't want to be Bella Swan. Still, it's hard to break with ideas cemented to you as a kid. It has taken a lot to like and accept myself, but I still can't help feeling ashamed of crying. So whenever I express it I feel like an inconsiderate self-absorbed bitch. I can't help feeling like that.