Missing The Mark?

Let's talk for a moment about bullying and the messages sent out this month.

A lot the messages out there have been about things getting better. The message has consistently been, 'Move past this. Look beyond this. Your life will get better.' That is phenomenal, and probably true.

Except for the fact that when you are in that place, that dark place, no one can reach you. Even if they could you wouldn't know how to let them help you- that is when there is no future. It becomes incredibly hard to look past where you are, to see what you could have. Because all you see at that point is the loneliness. You feel the world caving in around you and nothing else feels real or tangible. So the future? The better parts? They don't exist at that point.

So who are we reaching with these messages? Well, plenty of people, legions of people really. But the people that aren't getting the message are the ones that need it most.

What about the bullies? What about the people that are making lives unbearable? Who is making YouTube videos telling them to fuck off and grow up?

Who is out there finding the lost ones, the ones at the bottom of the dark hole, saving them? Those people, they aren't watching viral videos or shooting the breeze on Coco Perez, they are sleeping the day away. They are curled up on their couch, crying as they watch a Campbell's soup commercial because they can no longer cry for everything they are sick of feeling.

What are we doing for them? What are we doing to stop this?

I don't know.

I do know that I can't reach everyone, and I would never claim to be helping more than anyone else. But, I just can't help but think we are reaching the important ones here.

Maybe I'm wrong. That happens more often than not. Either way, shouldn't we be talking to everyone else too? What about the people that have the ability to stand up and say something? The people that can stand up against the word 'fag' or 'fatty' or 'retard' or anything. The people that should stand up against attacks on Facebook, or any internet interaction. Where are the hundreds of celebrity videos talking to them, to us?

I am so happy that bullying and depression have this light right now, really I am. I just hope it is making a true difference.

1 comment

  1. I agree relay. I so appreciate the effort, but with every new video made by a celebrity it gets less and less helpful because there is no longer a connection to individuals.
    That being said- I loved Dan Savage's original video.

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