Bullying - The Jamie Hubley incident

1 - Should, as Rick Mercer suggests, all well-known homosexuals openly admit to the public that they are gay?

            Not necessarily. If one wishes to keep his private life and hobbies private, there’s no shame in that. The bigger problem is born of discrimination from sexual orientation, or rather, the fear of said judgment: it has been clearly shown that men and women of all ages display discomfort, rudeness or even flat-out (albeit camouflaged) forms of segregation to keep people with a different sexual orientation at bay. Isn’t it somewhat shameful to say that, in this age of so-called technological advancement and progress, humans are unable to relinquish the out-dated taboo of sexual preference? The only reason public figures and celebrities do not always openly reveal their sexuality is due to the fear of being judged, intimidated or stoned solely due to the fact that they are gay…Ridiculous, no? So, I’m sorry to say so Mr. Mercer, but I don’t think you have the right idea: rather, what should be done is abolish this unspoken, global epidemic of crippling homophobia so that children and adults who have aren’t heterosexuals can live their lives unhampered by moronic preconceptions and the blasphemy of imbeciles who consistently spew a noxious slur of anti-gay slurs. Now, I don’t mean suck it up and be a total hard-ass about everything (I mean, even I find some of those “trouser pilot” jokes pretty funny myself), but the least that can be done is to do away with this unjustified, slanderous hate cries. After all, even our old buddy Rick (who, surprisingly, did not mention he was he himself a “trouser pilot” during his speech, an odd fact considering he already openly revealed his homosexuality a few years back to the people of Canada) said that homosexuals don’t need to strut their stuff around town bearing the conventional rainbow-patterned flag, lulling every human being to sleep with their redundant bitching: the only thing that truly needs to be accomplished is an abolition of discrimination and intimidation towards homosexuals. Because, like it or not, what happened to Mr. Hubley will happen again if nothing is done to put a stop to this sickening, inhumane display of cruelty.

2 - Who is responsible for helping bullied students? (Are we all responsible – this is what a journalist claims in response to Rick Mercer’s blog  - read the article I linked  - No, Rick Mercer…)

            -IMPORTANT FOREWORD- I got REALLY pissed writing this: please just dismiss the threats in the post-scriptum as a rueful man’s ramblings…-

Well, while I’m don’t agree one-hundred percent with this short article (excuse me if I sound a little crude here, but judging by the way this man was writing his text, it almost seems like he himself is a homosexual who doesn’t want people to learn about his sexual orientation…I’m just saying), I support his main thesis: EVERYONE (notice the big, underlined, capital letters) needs to stand up and help bullied students, but also bullied coworkers, acquaintances and family. How people can turn a blind eye to another’s abuse by the hands of a fellow man or woman (don’t deny it ladies: you can be unconventionally cruel or hurtful) is almost brain-numbingly deplorable. Abandoning, ignoring or causing the suffering of another person is, in itself, a crime towards humanity. Sugar-coat it all you want, contradict me all you want, but you cannot sway me: bullying is nothing less than a form of torture. Physical, mental and social torture. Look the other way if you want to: all you’ll see is more abuse. What’s that? You won’t stand up or help someone being bullied because you’re scared or intimidated by someone, dismissing it as “none of my business”? If so, I say to you, in all honesty, and from the bottom of my heart, the following words: Fuck you, you pathetic excuse of a living being. This is the absolute lowest form of cowardice that can exist: someone is slowly dying (no, I am not exaggerating – dying is indeed the correct word to employ in this particular situation) before you, and you just blow it off as nothing at all? Please, slit your wrists in repentance immediately…unless you’re all too terrified to do THAT too, and need me to do it for you, you spineless, gutless, soulless, dehumanized pieces of beast dung. However, what downright appals me is the fact that nobody did something to help Jamie Hubley. Really? Nobody noticed? The boy was pushed to suicide thanks to wallops of bludgeonings and insults, and absolutely no one noticed? Bullshit. Nobody gave a damn to help, that’s what happened. Not a classmate, not a teacher, not even one of the bullies (who could have surprised somebody and shown a shred of human decency) did anything. And you know why? Probably because nobody wanted to be associated with the reject, the wimp, or, most likely, the homo. Give me a god damn break. Everyone and anyone MUST (as in you’re obliged to) help people who are being bullied, or more calamities such as the death of Mr. Hubley will begin anew. This isn’t a suggestion. It is an order. Abandoning someone in dire need is a crime, punishable by law. Why a boy ravaged by endless bullying is not considered someone “in dire need of assistance” blows my mind. So be human, and help humanity.

            -P.S. – Sure it sounds kind of laughable to hear me say this stuff, but I know the people who will be reading this. That said, if I ever catch any of you brutalizing somebody, physically or verbally, or ignoring someone’s suffering, allow me to promise you that I will personally shove an icepick through your lower jaw…And believe me, it isn’t that hard to do – bones and flesh in that area are particularly easy to pierce. (And to all of you who have gall to resort to cyber bullying (AKA: hiding like a timid little bitch in your bunker, to craven to even insult someone directly), I will not hesitate to stomp your skull till nothing but a filthy, gore-ridden mass of crushed bone, flesh, blood and splattered brain matter remains…And hey, maybe I’ll give you a little taste of your won medicine and post a picture of your eviscerated cranium on Facebook or something…)

3 - Should kids just be tougher and accept bullying or should the bullies be punished (in other words are kids just being kids and will the bullies eventually grow up and regret their actions)

            Bullies are to be punished. By torture. Why? As I said earlier, bullying is nothing less than torture (it may be, perhaps, something more though), and, while I’m not that much of a believer when it comes to the traditional “an eye for an eye” philosophy, I do believe this is the only appropriate course of action to take: kids that bully other kids ruin lives. The only proper way to repay the suffering they cause is to have them become aware of the endless blights they spread, through pain. I’m hardly exaggerating: Hubley had batteries shoved down his throat, was endlessly harassed, and eventually killed himself in desperation (as in a complete loss of hope). The bullies who did this to him (and, actually all bullies) should have their stomachs torn open whilst they still live so that they bathe in their own filth, the skin of their faces and their eyelids torn off, and their genitals lacerated till they become nothing more than ground meat…Then, they should be asked to apologize, and beg to be released. And, for the final touch, they should be expelled from their school, and possibly, exiled from the province, state, country, and/or continent. Please notice that I am dead serious. Bullies should be tortured. Sounds fair, doesn’t it? Of course it does.

Lack of volunteering (It didn't appear when I first posted it, so here it is again...)

-Why is there a lack of participation?: Most likely, it is due to a lack of time and/or interest. There aren’t that many people who have enough free time to dedicate a couple hours a week to volunteer work or assistance to community services, let alone students, who usually have their hands full with classes and homework. In addition, schedule discrepancies between those of students and those of benevolent organizations can render otherwise willing volunteers incapable of lending a helping hand to their society. Unfortunately, even if service learning programs can be helpful and educational (not to mention extremely useful to have on your resume), students are either unexcited at the prospect, or simply have too many other duties and hobbies they need to keep track of. The second element is probably more significant and, unfortunately, universal: people just don’t feel like helping. If you have only two hours of time off from work and responsibilities (chores, children, cooking, cleaning and such) a day, something tells me you wouldn’t spend them all volunteering at your local community center, but rather do something for yourself, like exercise or watch television…Everyone wants “me” time, and everyone wants to make time for it. Volunteer work, one way or another, is impressively time-consuming, and some people don’t have very much time to consume. Also, many students need to support themselves, if only partially: why in the world would they go and do unpaid labour while they could be working and making money to support themselves and their basic needs? After all, it is good to volunteer and help your fellow man or whatnot, but I think many students desire a roof above their heads first and foremost.

-Which is better, volunteering or service learning?: In my opinion, neither one outweighs the other, though I do believe Service learning is better for students, since it can offer somewhat real-world experiences to students. After all, if you were studying to be a teacher, wouldn’t it be practical to get a little hands-on practice? And doesn’t the same go for pilots, blacksmiths, policemen or doctors? Experience is useful, and service learning (in most cases) can result in a big payoff when it comes down to it. Although, service learning is sometimes more difficult to find, and does not always appeal to students who desire experience in one specific domain (I for example, would like to be a professional writer, but I doubt I’d get much experience watching somebody slave away at their keyboard for hours on end).

-What is the best way to encourage people to get involved?: Honestly, I don’t exactly know how to answer that question…Sure you can go around preaching that community service looks good on a resume or that it is morally just to help people in need, but there will always be those that want to help others at all costs and those who just don’t give a damn, as well as the majority, which fall in between these two poles. Of course, offering a monetary recompense in exchange of services would attract the greedier or needier folks, but if that were the case, it wouldn’t be called volunteer work anymore, now would it? Also, many people (students especially) are convinced that somebody else will take care of it, or that it doesn’t concern them either (and in some cases, it doesn’t). In my opinion, the best way to get people involved is to give people what they want: more flexible hours, money, fame, and help in return…That’s all I can think of. Humans are greedy, egocentric animals, even if they are socially advanced: nobody does anything without a reason. Students simply have things more important to them than assuring immigrants receive proper support or that the homeless are served soup. It’s sad and crass really, but it’s the truth.