Katie and Gabreya, thankyou so much.
The reason I thought it important to post was because to eradicate homophobia, we have to educate at a young age.Something that becomes ingrained in the teens, will be far more difficult to change.
One teen boy, can do so much good.It is the ripple effect,even if he only convinces one person, and they continue,so will the ripple grow.We have to almost give up on the pensioner age,It is too deeply ingrained, but if we can start with this teenager generation,then mighty strides can be taken.Believe me, if my son can change, then so can 95% of teens.
What I found very sad was that this gay teens only friends were female.My son is his first male friend.Does my son feel uneasy, no far from it.He is almost like a man on a mission now.I can see this ending up as his next obsession.Not that I am complaining.
Looking back on my earlier posts, up to the time we had him arrested,what a change.It is nothing short of miraculous.I sometimes feel that it is really only the wounded who can have empathy for others.
It strikes me a lot here, most people have had some trauma, that has meant BBM has deeply affected them, yet those wounded people can actually help heal, other wounded.Ironic really,those who sail through life seem to have far less capacity for tolerance and understanding.
My son is wounded, through no choice of his own, and he has now come to realise that it is the same for gay men and women.
Understanding at a deeper level is what brings about change,and teens will pay far more attention to their peers than anyone else.
I hope BBM is seen by ever increasing numbers, who fall in love with it on every level, who are devastated by it, and who are consequently moved to change things.Either in their own lives, or others.
It is I think, a story that will never grow old.Homophobia should be regarded by schools in the same way as bullying or racial prejudice.There has to be a zero tolerance poicy, put in place and more importantly adhered to. Children really are our future and they can either lead this great mass of humanity down the path to tolerance and understanding, or down the road to hatred and destruction.