Thoughts on It Gets Better

I haven’t been paying too much attention to the It Gets Better campaign, but I like the idea, and I like that the campaign is expanding to bullying in general. For those who don’t know, the basic idea is that public personalities make a youtube video directed at people who are being ostracized for being gay or being bullied and tell them that it won’t always be like this. Obviously this is pretty powerful stuff because the worst part of bullying is not the actual bullying itself, it’s the sense of infinite despair—that the bullying will never stop and you will always be a target. Ezra Klein’s point is that for a lot of people that’s not the case. You get older, you get to graduate and have a bit more autonomy over your lives. Watch the video here:

I was lucky enough to not be inordinately bullied. Sure, I was bullied some, but not so much that these videos are really for me. But I do know a bit about serious despair and hopelessness, and I’ve got to say, a video like this would have made a big difference for me. I’m also sure it will help other people who know what I’m talking about. So I hope the It Gets Better movement expands again, but this time to focus on fighting a crushing sense of hopelessness and despair because that can be equally or more crushing than a bully.

–Daniel Strauss