The Gay Deceiver: "Why is it?", I ask ...

Saturday, October 2, 2010

"Why is it?", I ask ...

... that an unheard of (outside their home town) regional Advertising Agency, servicing niche markets in the Okanagan Valley of central British Columbia should have, in 1999, taken the bull by the horns and realized the dream of a local Secondary School Teacher and published his STOP A BULLY registry to the World-wide Web, and in their doing so, started what would become an irrevocable, and groundswell, movement nation-wide for all Canadians to be PROACTIVE in their revulsion towards the bullying of our youngsters in schoolyards in particular, and their communities in general? Why is Canada apparently the only country in the Group of 20 Nations to have undertaken this, albeit our having been done solely through the good graces and largess of private enterprise, and not through government intervention? Why should a nation of barely 40-Millions apparently value the security and safety of their children more than all the others? Why has no other agency, in any other jurisdiction, not likely considered "licensing" the software and established STOP A BULLY registries of their own within their own countries? To me, given the escalating incidence of bullying in schoolyards and elsewhere within communities World-wide, that is absolutely a no brain-er.

Too, as worthy and valuable an endeavour as The Trevor Project is, I can't help but wonder, given their population of some 350-Millions, "What took America so long?" Canada's Kid's Help Phone had been operating nation-wide a good ten years before the much vaunted launch of The Trevor Project in 1998, and regionally for damned near 15-years before that. Again, I have to ask "Why is that?" And why haven't the good folks at The Trevor Project, or agencies in any other country for that matter, considered approaching the Kid's Help Phone people about appropriating their dozen or so 30-second Public Service Announcements, tailoring them to meet the needs of their respective marketplaces, and broadcast them nation-wide a dozen times a day until the message began to filter through to the collective consciousness of everyone, everywhere, just as had been, and is being, done here in Canada for more years than I care to remember?

Why is that?

Warren C. E. Austin
The Gay Deceiver
Toronto, Canada

2 comments:

GIDEON MACKOctober 3, 2010 at 4:55 AM
Hello Warren.
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Warren C. E. AustinOctober 3, 2010 at 11:33 AM
"Hello there" coming right back at you, and welcome.
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Kid's Help Phone (Canada Only)

Stop A Bully (Canada Only)

From a concept developed in 1999 initially by British Columbian Secondary School Teacher Trevor Knowlton, the STOP A BULLY programme has become Canada's premier school violence reporting service available to students, parents and schools. This system allows both victims and witnesses of violence to safely make a report, to prevent future bullying and harassment. By using this service schools make it clear to their students that they are PROACTIVE in trying to stop violence & cyber bullying within their school. This is a private service supported by donations, intended to provide assistance in the challenge of reducing bullying in our schools.

Youth Without Shelter (Toronto and Edmonton)

Youth Without Shelter (YWS) is an emergency residence and referral agency serving homeless youth aged 16 to 24. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, YWS believes in second chances, building confidence and teaching life skills to empower youth to break the cycle of homelessness. It provides the basic necessities of life - but it also steps well beyond the basics, to offer support and training programs and a unique educational opportunity for youth who want to finish school. Our vision is ending homelessness... one youth at a time, one step at a time.

The Trevor Project Helpline (U.S.A only)

Established in 1998 to coincide with the Time/Warner Specialty Cable Channel HBO's airing of the award winning gay-themed short-subject film, "Trevor", hosted by Ellen DeGeneres, The Trevor Helpline is the only nationwide, around-the-clock crisis and suicide prevention helpline for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning youth. The Trevor Helpline is a free and confidential service that offers hope and someone to talk to, 24/7. The Trevor Helpline's trained counselors will listen and understand without judgment. If you or someone you know would like to talk to one of our highly trained counselors, dial 1-866-4-U-TREVOR.

I'm From Driftwood

Here you'll find gay stories from every corner of the Earth which should be, and are being, told. "Why?", you may ask, "What does it mean?" To gay teens struggling to come out and deal with their sexuality, who to this day still attempt suicide 4 times more than straight kids, it says “You are not alone.” Other people have dealt with similar situations, families, communities and churches, and have overcome and are now living happy lives. It can happen for you, too. It will, can, and does get so much better.All any of us can ask is that you hang in there; and to the people who don’t support equal rights, it says we’re not all that different afterall. We all have stories and problems and loves and lives just like everyone else. So maybe we should all be treated like everyone else, too.

Anti-Bullying Alliance (U.K. Only)

No Bully (U.S.A. Only)

The mission of No Bully® is to make school a place where every student feels included by their peers and accepted for who they are, so that we create a world where every adult is accepted and valued for who they are. No Bully helps schools and school districts to develop an anti-bullying policy and implement campus-wide programs to address bullying. But we don’t stop there. Our goal is for all students to develop the social and emotional intelligence that will give them greater success in their peer relationships, their academic performance and in their adult lives. We offer a choice of powerful workshops, trainings and consultation to make this happen.