All around the world Sunday has traditionally become known as a day that people set aside to reflect on their reverence to God, some unidentified force or higher power or just their own internal ideology about life.....and for the most part for those that have these moments of reflection.....LIFE.....is generally at the heart of it all.
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| Paris Jackson - 2012 Photo Credit: People |
This morning in the midst of reflecting on life it was interesting to read different takes on the recent suicide attempt of 15 year old Paris Jackson, the daughter of the late pop sensation Michael Jackson. The mention that young Jackson may have attempted to take her life as a result of relentless cyber bullying was of interest.
Jackson's story is accompanied in the news by story after story of lives being lost to what has been coined as bullycide......bullying induced suicide. First, it's mind blowing that it became necessary to create such a word to encapsulate what has become such a regular and massively disturbing occurrence. Our thoughts this morning though are this....is too much coverage being given to the occurrences of bullycide? Do the benefits of media coverage of the end result of a person being victimized to the point of despair outweigh the potential harm? Is the idea that "suicide is the way out" being planted in the minds of young people with so much attention being given to that aspect of the bullying scenario causing a perpetuation in the instances of bullyicde? Does that idea translate into a way out for handling other emotionally burdensome issues that young people face in today's society?
So much to think about! Without a doubt attention needs to be given to the criminal act of bullying.....and yes we do consider it a HATE crime to bully someone for any reason. But, wouldn't it be more beneficial to regularly reinforce the idea that there are other alternatives to suicide? Maybe even to begin to campaign that suicide isn't even an option in dealing with bullying?
It will continue to be the case that young minds are impressionable......yes, young minds today are more advanced in their thinking and are exposed to a gazillion times more information than previous generations but the fact remains that they are still young and their minds are still impressionable. Toss in the fact that social media has shrank the world considerably and you have a recipe for disaster.....which appears to manifest itself in bullying induced suicides worldwide. It isn't a coincidence!
I wonder if all of the impressionable minds out there would begin to see that LIFE is too precious to end it in suicide as a result of being bullied......if the idea that life is to precious to end it in suicide as a result of being bullied is repeatedly put before them as much as articles on bullying and bullycide are being put before them?
A big HMMMMMMMM to that one!
Why not promote LIFE instead!
Life should be trending!
MOB is life!
Great post! I agree with the idea that glorifying the negative results of bullying (suicide), has the reverse effects on the minds of those being bullied. It becomes trend almost, to end your life, because it’s all you see. I applaud the efforts of the MOB organization, to promote a better way to deal with bullying. Kudos!
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