Join YA Authors in the Fight against Teen Bullying
), and Megan Kelley Hall (author of Sisters of Misery
) have joined together to help stop bullying. [Phoebe's story]Carrie says:
I never knew Phoebe Prince, the 15-year-old who took her life this year after being ruthlessly bullied by classmates and I never will and that makes me incredibly angry and incredibly sad. I’m focusing on bullying because our kids deserve to be the best freaking humans they can be and to be able to go to school or log onto their computer without being afraid. (more)
Megan says:
We are creating a culture of "mean people." The nastier you are, the more you get noticed. The bigger the bully, the bigger the following. The teen and pre-teen years are difficult enough to get through on their own. But when you add Facebook and blogs and MySpace and IMs and YouTube, you are turning one individual's personal battles into a voyeuristic, masochistic nightmare for the world to see. (more)
So Megan and Carrie have decided to stand up and use their influence to do something about bullying. They have been blogging about bullying all week and have started a Facebook page, here is the description:
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?v=wall&gid=105581906147904
Since it's beginning, just a couple of days ago, the fan page already has over 1000 members including other YA authors, readers, teachers, and those who have seen or experienced bullying in their lives. Reading the stories of the teens that have been bullied in their schools is heartbreaking, and needs to end.
If you are a parent of someone who is being bullied, take it seriously. If you are a parent of a child that bullies, stop him/her now. If you don't know how, seek help. Don't think it will go away, or it is no big deal. If you are a teacher or bus driver, please stand up for your students. You may be the only one who does. If you are a friend, tell someone. Tell your parents, tell a teacher, don't let it go unnoticed. You just might save a life, you will at least make a life better.
~Andye
Carrie posted about her personal bullying experience today, check it out here.
What a great blog! Thanks for sharing! Stopping by to say hi from SITS.
ReplyDeleteToni @ Hemp & High Heels
I have seen first had the effects of bullying...it must stop. We have a duty to treat others with respect!
ReplyDeleteThis is GREAT! I'm so glad to see celebritys taking up this cause. My daughter was a victim of teen bullying. My daughter survived being chased in front of a car by a group of girls in her class. One of the girls was angry because the boy she liked, was interested in my daughter. These girls were all 12-14. I'm a lucky mom. My daughters injurys were minor compared to what some parents have been though.
ReplyDeleteSo glad you're spotlighting bullying and its often tragic results. I used to be a school social worker. Had playground duty (elem. level) once a week. You don't know how many kids told me they didn't complain about the bullying I'd just broken up because all the teacher or person on duty would say is "So just stay away from him (or her)! No consequences. Schools should be more aware but this tragedy shows they often don't do enough even when they are aware!
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to see someone is doing something to help. This story was terrible. There has always been bullying but it seems to be getting worse and worse.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad to see some authors coming together on this - if for nothing else to help provide a voice for the bullied.
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking about this a lot lately after reading Swati Avasthi's book SPLIT - which is about domestic violence (bullying for grownups). Central to that book is an attempt to change the question from "why does she stay" to "why does he hit her?". Similarly, with the relationship between the bully and the bullied, the question is not, "why did she take it" or "why didn't she get help", but rather "why the f*** were those kids engaging in the behavior in the first place?"
And now, speaking as a "bullying survivor", here's the thing about bullying: It works. Bullying is about power: power through violence; power through shame; power through the careful application of misery. Bullying victims stay silent, first because of embarrassment, then because of fear. They stay silent because their personal power has been systematically removed.
The only solution that I can see is a community-wide zero tolerance policy for abusers (because that's what they are). They use shame; we will use shame right back. They make their victims feel ostracized; they themselves will be ostracized.
I really do believe that we can put an end to bullying, but only when each of us stands together and says, "this ends TODAY."