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Listen to Lady Gaga — Be Kind, Stop Bullying

By Kathleen McCartney and Richard Weissbourd
02/29/2012 10:23 AM
2 Comments

Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta, better known as Lady Gaga, remembers when she was bullied in high school. She returned from gym class and discovered profanity scrawled across her locker. “It sticks with you and it hurts. And I went home and cried. I didn’t want to go to school,” she said. Her story isn’t unique. On any given day, 160,000 students opt to stay home because they are afraid of being bullied.

Today, at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, Lady Gaga is officially launching her Born This Way Foundation, which will inspire bravery and kindness in young people. As one of the best-selling recording artists of all time, Lady Gaga has repeatedly encouraged her fans to “be someone that nurtures.” With her new foundation, she is poised to do much more.

Bullying is pervasive in and out of school. Each year, 20% of high school students report being bullied — physically, emotionally, or socially. The results can be tragic, as the recent suicides of Phoebe Prince, Jamey Rodemeyer and Carl Joseph Walker-Hoover have taught us.

To read the complete commentary, please visit CNN.com.

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  • A Feast is a Feast

    I suppose the core reason a victim is afraid that lots other people might talk about him or her enough that teachers, managers are going to have bad prejudice to the victim…that is the law of conservation. Luckily, in America , those mean students bullying classmates on Facebook and such were dealt with by the law. There is no such disciplinary acts in other country. God Bless America.
    Please remind victims that the bullying people are always mean-spirited, un-reasonable and that victims should always bear in mind :
    If God be for us, who can be against us? Air for Soprano …
    Handel’s Messiah

    As long as they were at the same level it was no big deal but when
    he stepped up to a new level, when he began to wear his blessings well
    the scripture says, ” if you worry about everybody liking you, you’re
    going to have a problem being blessed because when you’re blessed the
    haters come out.
    When you step up to a new level the backbiters show up.

    Every day is friday Joel Osteen

    Totally Fulfilled
    Book by Dean Graziosi

    The courage to be yourself Sue Patton Thoele

    If the bully does not mention one’s name, one does not need to react or take it personal , since nobody else around takes that personal … If the bully indeed says one’s name; one should ask the bully to be nice …if not, go and report to authority .

  • Godloved

    There is mob effect to Bullying; just like the practice of stoning in the old days. Therefore, educators, managers, please assure victims that as long as he/she/they do their jobs well, he/she/they should not worry. Sometimes, victims could get easily bullied if they do not chit-chat or do small talk. But all of us have different temperament and different upbringing. And sometimes, one is not contented with just Jibberish/Gibberishing. Therefore, one prefers not to talk much.
    I HAVE A DREAM! THAT PEOPLE ARE NOT MEAN-SPIRITED AS THEY MOST ARE NOW.
    1 Corinthians 9:26
    “So I run straight to the goal with purpose in every step.”
    Let the bad things go, trust God to be my vindicator. If you don’t let the hurt go, we are wasting valuable days, letting the person who hurt you hurt you again and again. Quit reliving the hurts of the past, we can choose what we want to dwell on. It uses the energy we need to do more positive, productive things – redeem my time. I have no control over what others think, feel, or say.”

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