There is a simple reason why the video confessional of a bully victim goes viral overnight. The amount of children bullied around the world is horrifying. Clips like the one made by Jonah Mowry certainly cuts at a raw nerve.
A bullied 14-year-old has stood up for himself in an online video – and has become a national icon.
Jonah Mowry’s heart wrenching video was made at 4 a.m. It starts out simply as a teenage boy telling us his name, but it quickly turns into an emotional confession.
With tears in his eyes, Mowry tells people watching that he’s been bullied since the first grade because he is gay.
The video was made in August before Jonah started school and in the video he says he’s not ready to go back because he’s scared the bullying will continue.
The video might have remained buried on YouTube, but last week, Perez Hilton blogged about it and then it went viral.
The video has now been viewed more than 7.4 million times.
Jonah got tweets of support from celebrities like Nick Jonas, Rosie O’Donnell, Jane Lynch and anti-bullying crusader Lady Gaga.
On Friday, Jonah appeared on ABC’s “Good Morning America”. He told those watching that if you’re being bullied, don’t be afraid to tell someone.
“You need to tell your parents, even if it will make it worse maybe. You need to tell someone because keeping it in just makes it a lot harder. If you tell someone, it’s a big weight lifted off your shoulders,” said Mowry.
Jonah says once his story became a viral sensation, he was called into the principal’s office.
“He told me if anything happens, that he’ll do his best to make sure it doesn’t happen again. So, when I came back to school, everyone was very supportive and very welcoming and nice,” Mowry said.
His final message to other kids being bullied is that it will get better. You can be happy. You just have to try.
The positive ending to his message will prove extremely heartening to victims of bullying who can see no end to the constant persecution in sight.
Tags: Bullying, confession, Education, Gay, Good Morning America, Jonah Mowry, Lady Gaga, News, Perez Hilton, School, Video, Viral, YouTube
Topical Teaching 
December 11, 2011 at 10:09 pm |
Bullying is a scourge in the classroom, in the playground AND in the staff room. I understand if you have too many rats in a cage they begin to devour each other. (Smaller classes would help.) We all know about the chicken peck order phenomenon. I guess if all we are is animals, as some learned people affirm, then our behaviour towards one another is nothing more than is to be expected. My son was bullied at school, unmercifully. He is now a successful TAFE teacher, is married and has 4 children.The bullying was deplorable and considering the absolute denial of the principal, shameful. My son believes that what doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger, but I have to add that while he was suffering this persecution he had the strong and loving support of 3 generations of his family and our church community. My observation of schools has been that wherever bullying is used as a management tool by school executives who should know better, it is also rife among the students.
December 12, 2011 at 10:47 pm |
I agree completely!