Stephen Colbert: It Gets Better! (VIDEO)
Political satirist Stephen Colbert got unusually serious in his contribution for Dan Savage’s “It Gets Better” project, talking about how he was picked on and called “queer” at school.
But things changed when he saw his friend Pat stand up to a bully. This incident altered Colbert’s thinking, he says, and he realized, “If you don’t give power to the words that people throw at you to hurt you, they don’t hurt you anymore. And you actually have power over those people.”
I feel compelled to point out the Pat method of confronting a bully as described above is probably not a good idea, though I do agree with the spirit of what Colbert is saying.
Also, articulating the idea that “words only harm you if you let them” to young children suffering because of bullying of any kind may be difficult, but I believe Colbert correctly identifies one thing, and that is that bullying is about trying to make the bully feel powerful when inside they desperately fear a powerlessness. It is the bully that is truly weak and not the victim. As such, the bully’s hold is tenuous. Finding help among friends and supportive adults is what is required because it means you do not stand alone, and it’s much harder to bully a crowd than it is to target an individual.
Related Reading:
Hillary Clinton: LGBT Rights an “Urgent” Struggle (VIDEO)
U.S. Senate to LGBT Teens: It Gets Better
Chicago Cubs Record “It Gets Better” Video
Image taken from It Gets Better video, no infringement intended.
Sorry. I don't agree, but I wish that I could because Stephen Colbert is one of my favorite people. I just celebrated my 65th birthday and I can still remember the bullying that confronted me on a daily basis. Words do hurt; words are remembered; words sink in and if you come from a background of abuse at home, only to face more abuse at school and as you walk home from school, what recourse have you? Being smarter really doesn't do much for you if someone has their gang of buddies with them, shouting things at you from across the street as you walk home, repeatedly, on a daily basis. You are alone and there is no one for you to ask for help. You just have to take it and keep your mouth shut. You learn to be a victim without realizing it's even happening. Words are far more than just words; words can cut like a knife and affect your future. What to do about bullies, both female and male? (They will one day be in prisons, in reform schools, and be headed for more 'fulfilling' things than calling people names because people that behave like that are low-life to being with, even if they are children). Get them OUT of the school; put them in their very own special school, one just for people like them. That would keep them from harming others. They should be expelled immediately, no second chances given, no warnings. Teach them a skill so that one day they can actually be a useful citizen, and while doing it, perhaps they'll learn how to keep their ugly mouths shut. But gener
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