One month before she committed suicide, Rehtaeh Parsons posted a picture of herself on Facebook with a quote from Martin Luther King captioning it as such: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” And in the end that is exactly what happened for Rehtaeh. It took 17 months, but eventually the silence of her friends became too much to bear and she left this world not knowing the storm of outrage she'd leave behind. I wonder if we knew 17 …
Put Down Your Guns America
Back in late July, I wrote a post titled “Put Your Stones Down”. (God, was it really only July?) Long story short, it was a from-the-heart post in which I begged, probably even condemned, people who were quick to throw judgment about in light of horrific events, to put their stones down. Ultimately, it didn’t really matter why people had children at a midnight screening of Batman. It wasn’t the parents fault they were shot. …
Stop Humiliating Your Kids On the Internet Please
A couple of weeks ago, somebody brought to my attention a website called Dogshaming. People submit pictures of their dogs wearing signs around their neck that are meant to be confessions of bad deeds. As the owner of two dogs who do some pretty stupid things, I thought it was hysterical in a twisted sort of way. Shaming a dog is funny. Shaming a child is not. Yesterday I tripped across this apalling article on Huffington Post. Basically, this dad thought shaming his …
Suspended for an Open Love Letter
I haven't written a post under World Gone Mad in a while, but a story I read this morning has prompted me to add a new one. A young man at a school in Durham, wrote an open letter to the girls at his school for Valentine's Day. This is what it said: A love letter to all women Written by Paul Gomille Could I please have your attention for a few moments? I guarantee you won't regret listening to what I have to say. You definitely won't regret hearing this in your life time, …
