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Saturday, May 7, 2011

SPIRITUAL SUNDAY: STOP THE BULLYING!


I am sending you to view a video, a brand spanking new video by Taylor Swfit. She is such a blessing to the young kids out there. You can't write the stuff she writes unless you have been there and done that! I just viewed her newly debuted video "Mean" and it sends a strong message  showing bullies in action but the consequences for kids who have something to believe in! Yesterday I read that three teens involved in the bullying that ended in the hanging of a beautiful young teen Phoebe Prince in Hadley, Mass. I was outrageous that they were sentenced to probation! I usually don't get too political or too serious here but...we need to stop the bullying. I wish I had a list of every child that ended their life because of this misery. But here I can only hope and pray that many of these teens know the Lord personally and He guided them to Heaven pain free. Perhaps you think I am silly but many years ago a Catholic priest I knew who suffered from mental illness committed suicide after he had made repeated attempts. An elderly priest told me he thought God must have some special plan for these lost souls because he could not help but believe that somehow in those last moments of life, God personally ushered him and many suicide victims into His care for eternity.
My youngest son was bullied all through middle school. As an 8th grader he had enough and punched that boy end in his face! The teacher told us had she not been fired from her job she would have given Nick a standing ovation with the rest of her class! A wheelchair bound girl approached Nick later and thanked him as her hero! That boy had repeatedly tired to overturn her wheelchair and nothing was ever done! I do not condone violence but the school systems need to take a stand. The Columbine killer Eric Harris had written bone chilling details of his plan of attack in a writing class and the teacher claimed she was helpless in doing anything about it. Eric acted out his fantasy in every gruesome detail gunning down 13 innocent people including a teacher who died a hero! His parent claimed the shrink he was seeing told them they had no right to invade his privacy!  I am not condoning Eric's behavior but he was also a victim of bullying his entire life! The Arizona shooter who had instructors so frightened of him that they had an armed guard in the room with them while teaching him at community college! The bully football hero at Notre Dame University, the tormenters of the young gay music prodigy . The list is endless. Let's stop today for a moment and pray for the parents of these lost children. I wish for one moment I could have spoken to each one of them. To let them know how important they really were and how if no one seemed to care the Lord would always love them! But we know God is not allowed the public school system. Broken homes, broken dreams, broken lives. I think we all need to pray. Let's make bullying a top priority to dissolve it. I think the problem starts in the home where a parent or some relative has bullied that child! Let's pray for all of the bullies too and let us watch God work in lives. He is busy and we need to remind Him of what  we think is important. The Taylor Swifts and Bill Gates and Derek Jeters had wonderful support systems to outsmart the bully. I wonder how many children feel hopeless today. It bothers me on this beautiful weekend.
2Timothy 1:7 "God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self control."
Please stop by Charlotte and Ginger and wish them a wonderful Mother's Day and thank them for offering us encouragement each week with this meme of uplifting, encouraging, beautiful, spiritual posts. I  have watched this grow form a handful of followers to hundreds. I know God is watching and He likes it!

16 comments:

  1. First off....I grew UP in Colorado...in the foothills just north of Denver. Ohhhhh, how many times did I go shopping in the Northglenn mall...is it still there?

    Loved your post...and must admit your tribute for Mother's Day and your aunt was soooooooo, so sweet.

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  2. Hi Anne, thanks for posting the video. She sends a good message to children. My little granddaughter, will be 7 next month, loves Taylor Swift. I am sure lots of girls do and I hope they listen to this song. Bullying seems to have become so cruel and relentless with children now. I think it begins at home and parents need to parent their children. Sad to say, that is lacking in most homes today. But off my soapbox..Happy Mother's Day to you. I think your husband and children are blessed to have you as wife and mother.

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  3. When I was little I was bullied by a big ol' girl by the name of J. She was scary and loud and picked on everyone around her. She was constantly getting into trouble and at 12 she looked 18. I looked like I was 8...

    Anyway...I saw her at my HS's 20th Reunion. She was SHOCKED that no one would talk to her... Her comment was "We were JUST KIDS!"

    "JUST KIDS?"

    You've gotta be kidding me. She was the reason I faked being sick at least a half a dozen times...

    Old wounds die slow. I see her online a lot and although I'm sure she has some regrets (at least I hope she does)and possibly has 'changed', unless she sets things right with those of us in her past everything she touches in her future is going to fail.

    Life is like that!

    GREAT POST! May God help us all.

    Love you girly~

    Rebecca

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  4. What a great video and subject. Bullying is cruel..when I worked for that year at the Jr. Hi. library we used to have several kids who would spend their lunchtime in the library..it was their SAFE place, I am sure..I was happy to give them some shelter, kids can be really cruel to others and even when we were young there were bullies..

    Have a wonderful mother's day!

    hugs xo
    Barb

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  5. Thanks for brooching a subject that needs to ring out louder and louder. I see young teens in my practice who are devasted by the cruel treatment of their peers. Thank the Lord for people like Taylor Swift who speak out in song about this. Great post. God bless, and Happy Mother's Day.

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  6. great post! Happy Mother's Day!

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  7. I was readin' about Taylor Swifts concert just yesterday. It's great that she's drawin' attention to this horrific problem.

    God bless ya sweetie and have a marvelous Mother's Day weekend!!! :o)

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  8. Hi Anne,
    Oh wow, thanks for sharing this. Your words and the Taylor Swift video, especially. I love the vintage look of it. however, I love the message in her song even more!!! Very good. Happy Mother's Day to you. Love and hugs from Oregon, Heather :)

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  9. A wonderful post Anne! I am sorry to hear you and you family are dealing with all the icky sinus and allergies that kick up around this time of the year. I can completely relate. I have to take Zyrtek everyday otherwise, I am of no use at this time of the year! I hope you have a beautiful Mother's Day!

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  10. I don't know why people are so mean to each other, but I see it in adults all the time too...good post and I enjoyed the video too.

    Happy Mother's Day :-)

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  11. Your post reminded me of Frank Peretti's "The Wounded Spirit." I wish teachers every where would read it and begin to stand up to the bullies in our school.

    Great post.
    Blessings,
    Pamela

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  12. It is disturbing isn't it....and so hard to understand. Thanks for sharing this today. This verse in Timothy is one I cling to myself. God bless and Happy Mom's Day!

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  13. This was a wonderful post Ann about a problem that occurs way too often! Bullying is even a bigger problem these days because of the ease of doing it through social media. All children need the love and supoort of parents and teachers to help them defend themselves and their self esteem against this type of abuse.

    On a happier note I hope you had a very Happy Mother's Day! Thank you for all the sweet and helpful e-mails you've sent my way recently --I appreciate them very much!

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  14. It saddens my heart when I read about kids that have been bullied. This is a great video,I love it. I'm glad your son did what he had to do at that point.
    God Bless,
    Ginger

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  15. I remember two girls in my class who picked on and bullied people. Both of them passed away in recent years (much younger than the average life expectancy). Although neither of them finished high school, I wonder what their adult lives were like - if they had any true friends, if they went through life still bullying others.

    Words can hurt and damage and once said cannot be taken back. Even if the offender apologies, it still leaves a scar.

    Thanks for bringing an important message.

    I hope you had a happy Mother's day.

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  16. Great share, Anne. There are lots of naughty bully's in this world ... many from my era have their marks forever.

    But may I say this, just pray for those from our pasts that have hurt so many terribly ... it is not a matter of setting things right, it is correcting ones actions & words & changing within ones self. I know some gals on the internet that have caused great pain & they just flip right on not giving a tinker's ... yet they criticize those from their own pasts. They should hve learned from their own life experiences. Do not do as has been done unto you.

    Great piece, Ann. We see so much of this in this day & age ... truly heart breaking.

    Hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day, sweetie.

    Hugs & love, Marydon

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