One dad’s response to teen suicide

This video was not scripted or well-edited, simply one dad's reactions to the recent heart-breaking teen suicides that have been on the forefront of the news cycle the past few weeks.  I did this because I was having a hard time writing a blog post, I figured . . . one take, in my kitchen sitting in front of my computer with my three daughters trying to stay quiet'ish in the background. Why not?  I have also included some links that might be helpful and then one of the best clips of the past year from Glee about youth and LGBTQ realities.

Please feel free share the vids as well as leave comments, additional resources and prayers.  This has also been cross posted on my SF Gate blog if you care to do the same there and as always, let's connect where I hang out most, @breyeschow on twitter.

Peace to you – Bruce

Links

• Here are just a few articles about bullying that I found that will give just a bit of context: Three Young Men, Three Suicides, Three Cases Of Anti-Gay Bullying,  5 student suicides put focus on bullying issue in Mentor, 3 Teens in Bullying-Suicide Case in Court and Black Teens, Especially Girls, at High Risk for Suicide Attempts.
• The main support organization, and the one that I am most familiar with is, seems to be The Trevor Project, but there are many others. You can follow them @trevorproject on twitter, like The Trevor Project Facebook Page or subscribe to the Trevor Project Channel on Youtube
• Ellen DeGeneres has put together a good list of resources at the end of her post, It's time with end teenage bullying.  I would also point you to The Human Rights Campaign, a group working towards LGBT equality and information on October 2010 as National Bullying Prevention Month.
• One of the more silent areas of this issue is probably children of color who face bullying because of sexuality.  From a 2007 report from Mental Health American on Latino Parents' Views on Bullying, Sexual Orientation and Prejudice America,

More prejudice about LGBT issues abounds in communities of color, and LGBT youth within these communities represent a "minority within a minority," putting them at even greater risk of being bullied.  In fact, LGBT students of color feel less safe at school than white LGBT students because of their race or ethnicity (16.6% versus 3.8%), according to the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network.  Almost a quarter of these students experience physical harassment due to their sexual orientation alone, and 13.2% due to both their sexual orientation and race or ethnicity.

• And finally, if you are a pop culture Glee fan, you will remember this clip from Season 2 of Glee when Kurt's Dad confronts Finn on his use of language and inherent beliefs about his gay son.  And while I love the currently hyped nature of the show as much as anyone else,  I hope Glee gets back to this story line, because they did it so well.