Thursday, April 11, 2013

Rehtaeh Parsons and social media

Rehtaeh Parsons (was) a Teenager in Nova Scotia.

I've been regretting writing this post, as it is the same shit as always. Same story, same outcome, and same level of caring from people who should care.
The judicial system has failed and will fail again.

Reh was a 17 year old high school girl, like any other I guess you could say. Went to school, and dabbled in parties on weekends. Business as usual for most high schoolers. Media and social networking gets blurry on the next details. She drank a lot, she blacked out. Yes, blacked out. Where you don't remember what happens once you reach that point. Typically 0.25-.035% BAC. What is not mentioned or argued, is the fact that one of the 4 guys who proceeded to rape her after the point of blackout, are not charged. For that matter, aren't even put under the microscope.

The incident happened in 2011. She drank, she fucked up and drank too much. What I would assume she passed out. 4 guys proceeded to rape her, one by one. Nobody says anything. EXCEPT for one of the rapists to say take a picture. The picture is put up on nearly every social networking site that we are visit daily.

The next day, she remembers very few details that you would expect from someone who blacked out. Suffering from crippling anxiety and disarray of the whole situation, she was unable to give a reliable testimony for them to look into criminally investigate these 4 shitheads.

That should not be the problem. Photos of their ridiculous actions and selfish fucking stupidity are online. That should be enough to prosecute them. But, alas it wasn't deemed enough reliable evidence to begin to prosecute them.

from 2011 to 2013 she continued to battle through high school. The worst part of it all is nobody was there to comfort her. Nobody cared enough to talk to her. She became afraid. She didn't know what to do. Nobody helped, not one individual could put aside differences to say "hey, everything will be okay." Which is sometimes all a person needs to hear. Instead she got ridiculed, she got called a slut. She was considered a person who liked gangbangs from people who weren't even there for the whole situation. She was called a whore. She was a shell by the end of all of it. That is not fair.

People should be man enough to say something, nod or smile. Include her, even nurture her. She got nothing, she didn't get a wink of helpfulness. Of some semblance of human interaction. High school ate her up and spit her out.

Social media is now a blessing and a curse. In her case it is a curse for right now. Social media lit the fire. She became so much more to people in the town when bloggers, accounts on twitter and close friends were able to tell people how much of a slut she was. How she is playing the victim. People bought into it. People lived it, it embodied them. People hated this girl for basically no reason.

She committed suicide in April. As my previous posts were written, this is very emotional for me. No individual anywhere should be treated like a piece of shit. I have feelings, you have feelings and she sure as fuck had feelings. It is too little, too late to to try help Rehtaeh. You can help the cause by using social media as a positive tool to get those 4 shitheads behind bars.

What can you do? You can talk to people, talk to anyone who looks like they are having a rough day. Listen to people, if they have a story be willing to talk to them. Give them a smile. Make them feel welcome in this shitty world. It is too late for Rehtaeh to have kindness given to her. I send my best wishes to her family.

Nothing or nobody helped this girl in Nova Scotia, nobody cared enough. To the common individual to the elite, nobody gave 2 shits about this girl who got raped.

Bullying has to fucking stop, cyber, human, fiscal, personal, elder, spousal. All of it has to stop.

Rest In Peace Rehtaeh, you will not be forgotten. You may become a face for change, a face for an anti-bullying campaign.
We need to start saving lives instead of ridiculing people.

http://www.kidshelpphone.ca/teens/home/splash.aspx Here is the number to kids help phone.

If you are in post-secondary, talk to a psychologist. If you are stuck and feel trapped. Talk to those close to you. Remember "This too shall pass" and please talk to somebody if you feel anxiety or depression. Do not bottle it up, it will consume you.

Thanks,

Regards,

Devon

Monday, April 8, 2013

I am

I am writing this blogpost to help people gain a little insight into who I am

I am funny
I am odd-looking, I am also aware of this.
I am unique, but as are all of you.
I am an avid gamer
I am a proud Indigenous Canadian
I am not better than anyone
I am easily frustrated.
I am easily angered
I am not hesitant to hit inanimate objects
I am unable to lay a hand on another human, regardless on how much you piss me off.
I am unable to make jokes about rape, racism, or using the word 'retard' and you shouldn't either
I am a person who was born with Bilateral cleft lip and palate
I am able to tell you what you should hear, if others cannot say it. (good or bad)
I am capable of feelings.
I am capable of comforting you, regardless if I have ever met you
I am a person who has broken my arm twice.
I am a person who has experienced 18 surgeries in my life (3 more on the way)
I am stronger because of them, not weaker
I am a person who does not see what is in front of him at first glance.
I am a hypocrite, as are you.
I am human
I am able to forgive
I am selfless
I am a sufferer of mental health problems
I am learning to control this.
I am most interested in learning about others, as you are the people in this with me.
I am a person who speaks from the heart.
I am an individual.
I am me .

I am done with this blogpost now, it is redundant. This is me.

Thanks,

Best Regards

Thursday, April 4, 2013

Negative news media and its effects on anxiety

Anxiety of the masses, it is hard to justify that something can affect multiple people in one area. Each individual is different and deals with things differently.

At the end of the day, all of our information gets piped through the internet. I don't read a newspaper because it is all on my 4 by 6 screen. But, what are you really reading? How North Korea is threatening everyday. Murders, rapes and people trying to justify the fact they were raped because they were dressed provocatively.

The worst one of all, the health column. How bad do you eat? How shitty of a person are you for eating a little bit of cake? You are fat, you are gross and have no self-control.

Sometimes it is as blatant as that. Look, your body needs sugar, needs fats, needs salt. And your body needs a little bit of belly to help your brain. You don't need to be flat, you need a little girth. A little weight. It is no reason to freak out if you put on a few pounds. As long as you are happy with it. Magazines and newspapers put such stringent rules on society and how they should feel. Why? It is what they are paid to do. They break down your conscience and on the next page will have advertisements for hot yoga, weight loss plans, or a new pill. Why bother? Why bother reading these things?

Another issue I have with the negative news media is.the actual effects on the human body. Read a story that really affects your mood and your blood pressure will rise and your body's stress response will go haywire for days. It can also depress you. Read a story about a person younger than you who is a millionaire or has 3 degrees and it will seriously depress you. Regardless if you are a jealous person or not. Reality TV shows for people who are "fat" who have nothing left to live for are there to make you feel some compassion. What it actually does it give you a check-and-balance system that "hey, I'm not that crazy".

The constant need to portray people with mental health issue as crazy, or unlike everyone else is what makes me more angry. People deal with things in their own way. Yes 1 in 8 people are depressed. No need to paint them with a broad brush that they aren't like anyone else. Enough of that garbage media people. That affects peoples mental illnesses a lot worse as well. Because they are going to feel worse about themselves.

In my opinion (I will extrapolate in a further blogpost) Money is nearly synonymous with anxiety, and the news and media will be right there to reinforce it. What is worse about it all? They enforce it, and they force you into a corner by offering you "help". Their help puts you more in debt. Causes more anxiety, in some cases drives people to bankruptcy or even worse. Suicide.

So much negativity in the media today, it far outweighs the positivity. It is so much more than that, as I did not tie in sponsorship, who they are paid by, and the whole objective of it.

The news media is biased, and it is never positive. It makes me more anxious than it should. As if they report that we should be worried. Everyone will worry.

Oh, side note. During a mass murder they show the killer hundreds of times to make you feel uneasy and angry, they really need to stop that. Show victims and talk about their story.

Regards,

Devon