Embracing Individuality
Imagine walking into a room where everyone has on completely white outfits. Then imagine that you are wearing a red shirt in that sea of white. You may feel out of place and the repercussions of not wearing white may be hard to deal with. Bullying just because you are slightly different has become a hugely predominant problem in today’s society.
A big problem among school age children today is bullying due to sexual orientation. The sexual orientation of an individual may be real or even just thought of to be true. When someone walks differently, talks differently or even dresses differently they may be ridiculed. Being called derogatory sexually oriented terms is a form of bullying. This type of bullying has been seen more and more in schools and has started at a younger age as well. Children as early as grade school have been heard to call someone a gay derogatory, but do they even know what it means? Do they think it know what it means? Are they using it intentionally to hurt someone else?
The Gay Straight Alliance for Safe Schools is there to educate those children in the most sensitive way possible. Education on the detrimental effects of bullying should be known by each and every person that has the potential to bully. Those who are being bullied also need to know that they have a support system that they can turn to.
Just because someone is different does not mean that they are a bad person. It simply means that they have something different to offer. Everyone on this earth is unique in one way or another, some have brown hair, others have blonde, some are gay and some are straight. There is no reason to bully one another based on any fact, just embrace the individuality and learn from each other.