Pretty fucking heartbreaking, isn't it?
A poor kid, near the end of his rope, hanging on by a thread but determined to struggle forward. It's brutal, raw, thought-provoking and heart-wrenching to watch, but ends with a hopeful message for any one else in this situation.
Later on, he did post another video, one where he appears much happier. So immediately, the Internet embraced his success story... right?
Um, no.
Instead, Jonah Mowry has become a target of harsh comments and accusations that he lied to gain attention and fame on the Internet. You can debate whether or not this is real or fake. You can doubt his pain if you want. But can you doubt his impact?
You see, his one video has become a rallying point for so many who have been bullied in the past, and are being bullied now. If his "lie" saved one life, then it's beyond worth any price. So far, Jonah defends his video, and states that it was made during a dark time in his life, and that it's 100% genuine.
For me, I don't care.
All I care about is that instead of reacting to yet another senseless suicide of a teenager due to their soul being crushed under the weight of bullying, we're talking about how a video is providing hope to others, and getting the discussion of bullying in schools to the forefront without some accompanying tragedy.
You see, we need to stop bullying, plain and simple. The old days where words could not hurt are gone. The relentlessness of today's Internet-addicted teenage culture leads them to take much more drastic steps to vent hate onto someone. And mob mentality rules at that point. Look at the comments on the video above. Really look at them. If even 1% of what he said was true, look at all the hate he now would endure for daring to speak up, even if at some point his life got better.
You know, honestly, I was never one of those people who said that TV, games, or the Internet is desensitizing people. But seeing things like this is changing my mind. Rapidly.
The suicide rate in teens is horrific globally (over 300,000 per this article). Now, keeping in mind that, as of right now, the #2 cause of death in Canada is for teens is suicide. 13 of every 100,000 teens have taken their own lives. So how much of that over 300,000 deaths globally are the problem that lives in your back yard.
Something horrible has grown in our own country. Something has been left to fester and now rots the morals and sympathies of today's youth. Be it absentee or poor parenting, a constant barrage of death and destruction on TV, the Internet or in games, or some other cause altogether, I can tell you this: Of all these things, the Internet is the one that glorifies bullying beyond any other media.
Trolling people is considered normal now. Spewing hate you would never say to someone's face is accepted in text. Websites base their entire being around harassed and attacking others, both online and in real life. Society needs to change. We need to relearn respect for one another, the value of one another's lives. This needs to end, and soon.
This is why I did all I could to stop bulling online. People seem to see it as harmless. But it teaches behavior to the young and impressionable. It rewards them for hating others, and leads them to perform bigger and grander acts of hatred. This is scarring our nation, our world. We need to put an end to it once and for all, to stand up against bullying, anywhere it happens, and punish those who think they are justified to act as though others are their personal punching bags.
Do your part, and I'll do mine. We can change the world, we just have to be willing to try.
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