Americas
Great Problem
Everyday
there are students, children and even adults that have to worry about being
harassed in their environment that they approach every single day. If it’s not at school than it’s at a public
area or even through the internet were many problems start now a days. When students see a student or a child that
appears to act or look differently than everyone else, than they automatically
jump to the conclusion that they are” gay”.
Assumptions are made about particular student’s sexuality by the sports that
they like, the way they walk and talk, the way they dress, and even by the
crowd of people that they associate with on a typical basis. The students that make the decision to bully Lesbian,
Gay, Bisexual and transsexual (LGBT) students and make their lives not worth
living for are usually the ones that are not comfortable with their own
sexuality and try to punish innocent students. A powerful statement that exists
in the military is the “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy that changed due to the
federal law. Many people have their own opinions on the subject, but people
should never look to negatively alter a person’s life because that individual
sees the world differently than everyone else.
Parents can also have an extraordinary
effect on their Childs impression of different sexualities. If a parent doesn’t like homosexuals and
calls them “Gay” in the house by their own child , than the child will think
that it is acceptable to call another student “Gay” straight to their face
without any consequences the next time they see a homosexual. There have been many incidents like this in
the past years and it seems that the schools are not doing anything in their
power to severely punish the students that mistreat another student for his or hers
preference in gender. If there is a
confrontation and it is seen by a teacher or recorded by the students than the
school will usually suspend the student for a couple of days. There should be a
more severe punishment because if these are the punishments that the students
will receive than you can count on it that there will be more confrontations in
public areas about a person’s sexuality. Remarks towards these people are seen
as a negative influence for all over the world. There
will never be a permanent solution to stop bullying and sexual harassment, but
there are things that people can do to help the percentage of these horrible
actions decrease and it takes only one person to stand up for the movement. There are four types of texts that I have
found that cover exactly how much bullying affects the world and the severe
cases of LGBT.
One major point that goes through
one of the articles is that no one is doing anything to help stop the outbreak
of bullying. There are many different
ways that anyone on this planet can do to stop bullying even if it is by just a
little amount. There is a statement in
the article that states “think before you speak”. This is an outstanding statement which should
hit everyone in the heart because more than half of the world never actually
takes the time to think of how that person’s remark will affect the other
person that the comment was actually aimed at.
It has been reported that nine out of ten students that are LGBT
members, have been harassed during their time at school. With this incident happening worldwide, it is
causing students that are homosexual to start skipping class, failing, and even
having the thoughts of not attending any type of education after their high
school years. It should be addressed by
all of the school boards across the nation that it is strongly recommended to
lock down on a more aggressive approach on bullying other students. The Educational Department is taking a
dramatic stance because all of the schools that are not doing anything to
punish the bully’s for there remarks, are actually violating the civil-rights
and the anti-bullying policies. In one text O’Donnell said “Every student
deserves an environment free of harassment, an environment that allows every
child to reach his or her full potential”. Everyday there are students that
stand outside of their school’s due to the fact that they are not sure if they
want to attend school because they fell like an outsider and don’t want to get
confronted about their sexuality. The feeling that they get cannot be
explained, and if any of the bully’s had a chance to actually feel what they
were feeling then maybe bullying could come to a closer conclusion of
extinction. A reported statistic has come out that more than half of all LGBT
students have been harassed in school.
Michael A. Jones states that “In the past years children at the young
age of 11 have even taken their own lives because of bulling”. Almost all
students that have a problem with Homosexuality don’t see that all LGBT
students are regular people just like everyone else in the world except for a
preference in the same gender. Jones
stated that “Suicide rates for LGBT are four times as high as they are for
heterosexual classmates”. When students
get bullied for the first time, they will always be afraid to go to school
because they will always look back to the first day that they were harassed.
The Ney York teachers mainly argue that schools should have a safe environment
where every student should feel safe. The
tone and the language were very overwhelming for the audience through this
article. The last inspiring statement that was mention was by Wicklund. He
stated that “If we don’t take a step in the right direction and help those that
most desperately need it now, then who will?” Bullying is beginning to slowly
decrease but we always need that “one” person to step into a different path and
change the game.
Political cartoons are always
highlighting the subject of bullying and LGBT. They either make skits about the
subject that some viewers might find outrageous or some other viewers that
might find it as typical humor. This one for example, shows the typical
response that a bully would have if he or she was in the particular situation
that is in the cartoon. Based on the political cartoon, people that see another
person that is in the LGBT group or different than they automatically assume
that they do not belong on this planet. Representative Dick Armey gives out the
most common response that a bully would say “Who cares what they’re like, I
just call them FAGS”. Everyone has different view on the subject and that’s the
problem. There are people that it doesn’t bother and they let them be and than
there’s the people that overreact and try to punish a person that they do not
even know. People need to start realizing that people that are homosexual are
the same people as everyone else in the nation. The skit uses some harsh
language through the cartoon to explain in their minds what it is. The cartoon
allows a person to see how people that are against LGBT react when they are
asked a simple question as “What are gays like”. The creator of this cartoon Barry Deutsch
tries to visually explain throughout his skit what most people on the planet
think of LGBT and the power of the words that it creates. These strips can hurt
people that are involved in LGBT due to the fact that they are all over the
internet and show negative responses.
Overweight TV anchor Jennifer
Livingston responds to viewer ‘Bully’ written by ABC News is a heartbreaking
and inspiring situation that will change thousands of people’s lives. In a
shocking email by a viewer, the email contained a form of bullying in it. The
email said “Surely you don’t consider yourself a suitable example for this community’s
young people, girls in particular. Obesity is one of the worst choices a person
can make and one of the most dangerous habits to maintain”. Jennifer responded
to this email by saying on air “That these attacks are not okay, The truth is I
am overweight ,yes you can call me fat and even obese on a doctors chart, But
you think I don’t know that, you’re cruel words are pointing out something that
I don’t see”. This is coming from the inside of her heart and she is letting people
know that it is not alright for anyone to attack anyone that they do now know
or anyone of the matter of fact. Jennifer also says that “You are not a friend
of mine; you are not a part of my family, so you know nothing about me”. These
are powerful worlds that show how often people will choose to speak before they
think. No one has really addressed the
issue live on TV before. Jennifer showed
great courage to bring up the issue and confront it on national TV. She is an inspiration for many people that
have been worried about their own weight.
Towards the end of the show her husband speaks out by telling the
audience that she exercises two to three times a week and that she has a
thyroid condition. People have always wanted to speak out about bullying
through some kind of a media and now it has finally happened where thousands of
viewers have embraced the movement. Jennifer’s
tone was very direct and not overdramatic towards the situation. She made the
most out of the situation and to let the world know that weight is only a
number. Jennifer stated that “I wanted to call him out on it”. I appreciated the fact that she stood strong
on the stage and didn’t try to come back with a vicious attack towards the man
that had written the email to her. People all over the world will look at this
story as an inspiration and hope for people that are or believe to be over the
weight of a person. Jennifer’s approach
to the audience made you feel the pain that the email had caused her and that
she Is a strong women.
In the third type of text, an
astonishing achievement has happened were Tammy S. Smith was promoted to
brigadier general. This was extremely important because it was the first time
LGBT member was ranked that high in the military. After a long battle with the
“don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, it finally dropped after a change in the
federal law. Tammy is an inspiration to a lot of people because for years the
military and army has been a strong place against LGBT. Ms. Fulton was discharged as a captain in the
year of 1986 and he had left the army because she was maintaining a lesbian
relationship. The news came out that when Tammy was being promoted, her
superiors knew of her sexual preference. People wound have never guessed that a
Person that was a homosexual would actually get promoted to the ranks of a
brigadier. This inspired tons of people that always got discouraged by the fact
that only straight people were awarded those ranks and allowed in the military.
Tammy got married to Tracey Hepner on March 2012. Sue Fulton called smith’s public
acknowledgment “significant”. No one thought that it was possible to do what
Tammy has accomplished throughout her years in the military. As a colonel,
Tammy was deployed to Afghanistan from December 2010 to October 2011. She was
bullied as a younger child but she turned her head when anyone would say
anything to her about the subject. She always kept a positive mind so that no
one can tell her what she can’t accomplish in life. This article goes into a
more historical look because the military has always had a strict policy of
having homosexuals in their military.
Tammy’s tone seemed to be positive
and very intelligent from the little that she spoke on the matter. Some people
believe that LGBT members should never get as high of a position as Tammy has
received. People basically discriminate against people in the military if they
are not straight because it was a focal point a while ago that being straight
was a requirement. She has opened the door for many young faces around the
world that want to end up and serving our country.
All four of these texts use the
rhetorical tools to show the emotions and tone that all the authors have used. There
will never actually be a permanent stop to bullying but if we all start we can
lessen the amount in our future. The amount of bullying and physical harassment
has decreased over the years due to the fact that more people are now getting
comfortable being around LGBT people. Bullying was a problem through the entire
piece. Jennifer’s inspiring speech
opened everyone’s ears and made you really think of the power behind the
words. I thought that the New York
Teacher article was the best because it had the most information in it about
what students think when they attend school.
All the text imported there thesis to grab the reader right into the
dialogue of the text. The strongest text was about Jennifer Livingston
weight. The impact that it had was
indescribable and should make people start thinking before they actually speak.
This great outbreak that we call
“bullying” will keep on decreasing if we just keep getting people to share
their personal stories with the public.
Work Cited:
Army General- http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/10/army-general-becomes-first-gay-flag-officer/
Political Cartoon- http://leftycartoons.com/category/lgbt-cartoons/
NY Teachers taking action for a
better world- http://nyteachers.wordpress.com/2010/11/02/creativeteacher83/
ABC: Jennifer Livingston Response- http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/entertainment/2012/10/overweight-tv-anchor-jennifer-livingston-responds-to-bully/
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