Happy Anniversary

Today is the anniversary of Out in Suburbia. I'm so proud of how wide-reaching my posts have become. My hope is that its message has positively influenced my readers, both gay and straight. Many of you already know that Tyler Clementi was the inspiration for this blog.

Sadly, others like Tyler continue to inspire me to keep spreading my message. In 2006, 14-year old Megan Meiers ended her life after a boy she befriended online began harassing her. The two exchanged messages, ending with Josh telling Megan the world would be better off without her. After Megan’s death, her parents discovered Josh Evans was a character fabricated by 46-year-old Lori Drew, the mother of a former friend of Megan. Drew lived four houses down the street from the Meiers.

New bullying statistics for 2010 reveal about one in seven students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade is either a bully or has been a victim of bullying. Tragically, suicide continues to be one of the leading causes of death among children under the age of 14. Suicide rates are continuing to grow among adolescents, and have grown more than 50 percent in the past 30 years. Cyber bullying can be very damaging to adolescents and teens. It can lead to anxiety, depression, and even suicide.

As recently as last month, Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old Buffalo, NY-area teen killed himself after enduring years of bullying over his homosexuality. Clearly, there still areas of our country and this world where being gay is not okay. What breaks my heart is that these suicide victims believe death is their only escape.

That's why I'm proud to have been asked by my children's school to serve as the parent representative of the Safety Team, a group of administrators, teachers and our school psychologist and guidance counselor put in place to prevent bullying. I've spent this week in the school kicking off New Jersey's Week of Respect by sharing lesson plans jointly developed by my employer, IBM, and GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian, Straight Education Network. The lessons pivot around respecting one another's differences and finding ways to prevent bullying. Programs like this and other efforts that New Jersey is making to create safe places for our children will model the way for other schools so that nationwide, our children feel like they have other ways to cope and make things better.


I encourage my readers to find ways they can contribute to their own communities to make their children's experiences safer and more accepting. If you are already doing things to make a difference, please share your good works, so we can all benefit and borrow from each other's service. We can't afford to turn an eye or think that since these suicides are happening elsewhere, it doesn't matter. Every life matters and every life lost has tragic consequences that simply cannot be measured.

So, I look forward to the day when I can share good news stories about lives being made richer and more joyful instead of  tragic examples that show we still have so much more to do.