So I was giving my
in the
gay marriage thread earlier today, and also read
this CNN story about an 11 year old boy that committed suicide because he was being bullied at school. They kept calling him gay.
In the thread, some people also think that calling others gay is some kind of attack that will hurt them. While I don't see how 'gay' is an attack, obviously it does hurt some people.
This poor kid was bullied so bad for so long that he felt the only way out was death. The other kids did everything they could to push him over the edge, calling him names and saying anything they could...
This brings me to my son. He's close to turning 4 and will be going to school in the fall. But today, he's standing here with an elephant hat and an elephant tail attached to his pant loop. He imagines it's real and would love nothing more than to have a real tail actually stuck back there.... despite the fact that no one else has one.
And I can't help but think how great it is... he doesn't care that no one else has one. Or what others would think or say... because he doesn't know that kids/people can be cruel. He doesn't know how much it would hurt to go to school if he really did have a tail.
A part of me cherishes this, a part of me is sad that he'll have to put those things aside or be bullied... I don't know, this stuff just seems so much more real now that I have children of my own. That news story makes me sad, but more so it troubles me knowing that my kids will be walking out the door one day to have to deal with that themselves. Even more than that, it troubles me that he'll lose the innocence of wishing for things, like having a tail.... because of what the other kids will say.