A young boy gets beaten by two boys who end up breaking his arm. The boy is 11 years old. He was beaten after being taunted and bullied for joining a cheer leading squad for a local football team. The boys in his school called him a sissy and queer.
This really pisses me off. The boys who did this were not just being "boys". They purposely bullied their classmate. For all of those people out there that say we don't need strong and effective anti-bullying programs along with anti-homophobia instruction have a look at the video below.
This boy likely does not know if he is gay or not. His arm was broken because some boys thought it was okay to beat the crap out of another boy they assumed to be gay. Homophobia does not only affect queers, it affects all of us.
Due to many advancements in legal protections for gays, many people think its much easier in school today. This story says otherwise. Kids that appear different or do different things are cast out by those that feel its their right to do so.
These kids are not doing it on their own. They are being taught these behaviours. They may be modelling their parents, siblings, or their church preacher when they attack someone that does not appear to conform to the norm as they have learned it to be.
From grade 10 on I was the victim of bullying and homophobia, much before I learned myself that I was gay. It was okay then to beat the crap out of a homo, queer, or fag. Its still okay today as you can see. We have a long way to go before every child is afforded a safe healthy experience in a public school.
Link to Fox 8 News story - Findlay Ohio
8 comments:
I hope for the best for the young boy. I wish him a speedy recovery, and that he continue to participate in cheerleading.
In terms of anti-bullying programs in our schools, they are good for general bullying. However, schools are afraid to talk about gay issues with students below grade-seven. We can talk about racism, sexism, religious bigotry. However, discussing homophobia is still unofficially taboo.
I do encourage parents and other citizens to talk to their school officials and local union representatives about making sexual orientation permissive and acceptable in all grades. To the naysayers, class discussions about sexual orientation (like other issues related to equality) can be tailored to students in different grade levels. For example, kindergarten and grade-one students may discuss a story about two male penguins taking care of an egg.
I should have written "about making the discussion of sexual orientation permissible and acceptable in all grades."
hi Ricky...this kind of story makes me see red. Skinny Dipper has the rational response. But my reaction would be to pick up a baseball bat and break some arms and legs. Bullies are such cowards, that when they realize you are serious about hurting THEM, in my experience they usually run away...
P.S. Good for the kid, his mum and the football team. I hope the police charge the little thugs, and
their parents are sued.
It is not necessarily a gay thing, it is a pick on the weird, the different, the weak. I did it once when I was in public school, I pushed ridiculed and embarrassed a kid, a suck sack kid as we used to call them. I felt bad afterwards, and to this day 50 and bit years later I stll remember the incident with regret.
Four years later I was the weird kid in high school and went through three years of crap. Five years later I would of been the student president.
We should be teaching our kids to protect the weak and be open minded when they meet some one who appears different. However we now live in a society when mothers walk their children to school, even when they live within eyesight of the building.
Teach them about sexual orientation, we are lucky uncle Harry can let them sit on his lap.
I hope this kid is ok and that he won't be traumatized for too long. As well, I hope his parents sue as well.
Society, sadly, is going backwards, socially. Chilling is putting it mildly.
I should have stated that I have no idea what the sexual orientation of boy is. Straight or gay kids can be called the same derogatory names when bullied.
As for male cheerleaders, the few that I did know at university were straight.
@Willy I know its not just gay kids. It is however important to see that underlying the bullying is to make someone suffer because he/she feels, looks, acts or does this differently than others.
Homophobia is at the base of the bullying here.
@Simon These stories always make me sad and mad. I wouldn't return the favour though. Still, I think the parents and their school ought to be sent to class and or to volunteer at at gay community centre for awhile.
Our young people must live in a state of near psychotic cognitive-dissonance where in they are told not to bully and not to use violence while the governments are constantly resorting to violence and the man who is probably the most visible politician in the country is a gay man who is a profound bully. (We all know who we are talking about) I am constantly struggling to teach my kids about these things in an atmosphere in which the rich and powerful do nothing but abuse and bully people. Try watching The Dragon's Den.
Thanks for the posting.
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