The 'It Gets Better' anti-bullying campaign.

JM130ELM wrote:I think it's a joke and basically a phony PSA/PR opportunity for celebrities. I don't know why a bullied kid is supposed to take a millionaire seriously when they say that it gets better. Exactly when does that happen, when your first starring role tops the box office?

Shale wrote:
No, it gets better when you graduate and get away from all the bullying assholes who get away with assault/battery in the schools because the officials there just shrug it off as 'boys will be boys.'

So, some kids are so terrorized by being helpless and victimized that they opt to kill themselves. This is what the whole campaign is about - trying to convince kids not to kill themselves, that 'it gets better.'

IDK who started it, but Dan Savage is a big supporter and has his own tale of survival.

CeCe wrote:

Thank goodness for Dan & Terry who founded It Gets Better. If a difference is made in the life one child or even a struggling adult it is worth it. Of course some opportunistic people are going to hop on the bandwagon. So fucking what? That doesn't diminish the work the organization is attempting to accomplish. You will find some of these same celebs on the fight against breast cancer. Does it make that organization or cause bullshit too? It's about time somebody stepped up for these kids.

Supernova wrote: ... I say make it legal for the kids to punch each other's lights out again. Something I've noticed though nobody ever has much comment about this, back when it wasn't assault and battery and worthy of jail time to punch another kid out if he was bugging you, back then you didn't see a lot of kids taking guns to school and blowing everybody away and then blowing their brains out.

Supernova wrote:
The best way to step up for them is to actually DO something about the bullies instead of just letting them walk all over the lower levels of the public school food chain and tell the victims 'oh never mind them, it'll get better SOME day'. When an adult is assaulted do we pat their hand and say 'oh there there it'll be alright SOME day'? No, we have a system in which that person is charged with assault and battery and anything else they might've done to the victim, we don't tell adults who are jumped 'oh you're just being too sensitive, ignore them and it'll go away'. We take an actual step up and put the batterers in jail.

Shale wrote:


The 'it gets better' campaign is for all those kids who don't have activist parents who sue the school board and principals for doing nothing to prevent bullying in schools. Also for those gay kids not out to their parents or effeminate but possibly not gay boys who take the beatings as well. It is often difficult for gay kids to see an out to their suffering other than just killing themselves. The incidence of teen suicide is quite high and higher amongst gay teens. That is why there is a support/pep talk campaign to entreat the kids to stick around, that it gets better if they survive it.

Forgiveness Man wrote:I think "it gets better" is a weak message. It doesn't get better on it's own unless something is done to MAKE it better. That's not to say we do something crazy like go on a shooting spree. But we need to encourage kids to not sit around waiting for it to get better. We need to encourage kids to MAKE it better.

Supernova wrote:

That should start though with ADULTS making an example, after all on school property the adults are in charge, so why shouldn't they be the ones issuing out actual punishments to the pos bullies?

Impact wrote:

Because that would be too much like claiming responsibility.

Nystyle709 wrote:It can't hurt. I don't put a lot of stock in how effective it is, and I don't know how sincere celebrities are by lending their name to a cause they prob. don't give two shits about, but whatever. At least it's being talked about.

RobbieFTW wrote:Its raising awareness and every little bit helps.

Shale wrote:Here is my donation to It Gets Better, made last October.