I Understand

   
stopthehate.net

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Thank you for visiting my web site. It has been over 10 years since I originally posted this site. I had initially intended it to be a temporary site, but after seeing all the responses I had received, I thought if I kept it up and it helped even ONE person then it was worth it.

I'm sad to say that I've realized that nothing much has changed over the years. I'm now 43 years old and when I look around me, I see people being meaner and less respectful to each other as the years go by. Among other things, so-called "reality" TV has turned our culture into one where ridiculing someone (e.g., Survivor, American Idol, etc.) is acceptable behavior, and the internet, and social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace, make it sooo easy to hide behind anonymity. I'm "guilty" of that myself here, but in my case, I prefer anonymity to disclosing who I really am because it doesn't really matter who I am. I could be anyone. I could even be someone YOU know and/or love.

What made me think about this site again were two recent news stories - both involving young girls who committed suicide. One is the case of Phoebe Prince, who was harrassed for approximately three months before she committed suicide. The other is the case of Alexis Pilkington. In the latter instance, the girl's family doesn't believe the harrassment led to her suicide, but even so, the messages sent to her before her suicide and the messages posted after her death to a memorial page posted in her honor are horrific. And let's not forget Megan Meier, who was harrassed on MySpace by a woman in her 40's posing as a teenager...

Also, I recently read a 2007 news story about Athena Andrikopoulos, a woman scarred by childhood burns who was torn down on the air on a radio show. She won a $1 million lawsuit against the DJ's.

What is WRONG with us that we allow behavior like this to continue?? How many children have to die before we decide that it is unacceptable to allow bullying to continue in our schools? How many people have to suffer humiliation and embarrassment caused by public personalities who think they are being "funny" before we say enough is enough? How many of these cases do there have to be before we realize how vulnerable we ALL are online?

Nobody is perfect. I'm the first to admit I'm not. But we are all human and there's no reason why we should not all be treated with some level of dignity and respect. Today's attitudes are becoming shameful.

I don't visit this site as often as I probably should, maybe once or twice a year...more often when events in the news bring back my own memories. Reading through the comments always brings tears to my eyes, and I wonder sometimes what's become of some of the commenters, wonder how the younger people who posted comments, who would now be in their 20's, have fared in their own lives...if they've been able to overcome their difficulties and the bullying they suffered.

I re-read the About Me page and thought I'd copy and paste a part of it here that I think should have been on this first page anyway:

This page will remain "anonymous." It doesn't matter who I am or where I live; doesn't matter what I do for a living or how much money I make. All that matters is that I am a human being and that I care. I could be anyone.

I don't want to see kids growing up being afraid to be different for fear that they'll be outcasts. I don't want anyone else to have to "walk in my shoes" and then have to deal with all the insecurities, lack of esteem, and poor self-value that go along with that walk. I don't want anyone else to feel that they have to carry a razorblade in their pocket just so they have the option of "taking themself out" when they just can't deal anymore. I don't want another kid to spend their time crying because people who in reality don't even DESERVE to have them for a friend will not take the time to get to know them just because they're different.

I don't want another kid to think that the words they say to a peer in ignorance don't have an effect, that hatred and intolerance are things to be proud of.

We need to stop the hatred because all it does is breed more of the same. Bigotry, intolerance, discrimination - these are not things that affect only some of us - they affect us all.

I will continue to leave this site where it is. I hope that someday things might change and that we start to treat one another like human beings. It's sad to think that nothing has changed...and may have even gotten worse:(

"Jazmyn"
March 31, 2010

PS-I should mention that most of the outside links on the site are no longer in existence. I seem to have outlasted Stop the Hate and the "I Will" Pledge Campaign...sad.

The Purpose of This Site
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The following pages are contained on this site:

I Understand

Another View
A visitor's submission with a very powerful message.

Making Sarah Cry

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 "I Will" Pledge Campaign  In The News
Responsive Classrooms  Bullying: What Can You Do?
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HATRED BREEDS HATRED
WHY ARE WE TEACHING OUR CHILDREN TO HATE?!