what’s goin on?….lots for sure. this video from a young man named jonah has been blowing up the interwebs. one of my students posted it on her facebook page on sunday and i think it had like 800,000 hits. Today its ready to turn over 6 million. Jonah is one strong young man. and according to his update on youtube…he is totally blown away by the outpouring of support that has been shown. one of the things i’ve noticed from the responses posted back on youtube, many of them from students…they like jonah have posted their first vlogs on youtube. its actually remarkable too that Jonah’s video was his first. he truly struck a positive cord.
i’ve been part of many hours of helping students better understand this whole thing of bullying. i remember on session at the end of the last school year with some middle school students and as the presenter walked through building an awareness of those who struggle with their place in life i was truly reminded that at the core of most of these bullying acts is the reality that it comes down to being unfamiliar with each other…and out of the unfamiliarity comes a sense of fear for some that results in bullying. the resolution to the issue of bullying is somewhat easy, but takes effort and courage. a courage very similar to young Jonah…a willingness to tell our stories…to build friendships and begin to better communicate with each other. there is such hunger for a person’s life to matter and sitting on the reality of two recent suicides of teens in our community it only paints the picture with more starkness. so thanks, jonah. grateful for your facing your fears and offering literally your scars to offer release and break through for so many…a reminder that our stories matter.