Bullying is wrong! It is unacceptable behaviour that makes the person being bullied feel afraid or uncomfortable. There are many ways that young people bully each other, even if they don’t realize it at the time. Many have a good idea of what bullying is because they see it every day! Bullying happens when someone hurts or scares another person on purpose and the person being bullied has a hard time defending themselves. So, everyone needs to get involved to help stop it.
San Mateo Daily Journal:Potter, 20, plays Becky Jackson on “Glee” and has Down syndrome. She will head the campaign after a report by a local nonprofit agency indicates bullying is widespread against people with disabilities and often unreported. Children with disabilities suffer a silent epidemic of bullying, according to a first-of-its-kind report released by AbilityPath.org yesterday. “Bullying is every parent’s fear,” said Sheryl Young, chief executive officer at San Mateo-based Community Gatepath, which oversees Ability Path.org. “For parents of children with special needs, that fear is exacerbated” - Bill Silverfarb Feb 2011 (‘Glee’ star: Stop bullying kids with disabilities).
Gleefan: Lauren had a trick she used when playing the part of Becky Johnson. “I became that person,” she said. “I practiced my script a lot and my mom would do it with me. She’d say, ‘Wow, you know every single line.’” “She memorizes easily … you never have to feed her lines,” Sinkhorn said. “I’m shocked because she really hasn’t had any formal training. She took drama at Poly, but that’s about it other than her dance lessons she’s been taking since age 2.” Lauren enjoyed the two-day shoot but said it bothered her that when people looked at her, they first saw the Down syndrome. “It’s really hard for me when people see me as a Down syndrome kid,” she said. “I want them to see me as typical.” “She’s so smart and it’s difficult that she can see the differences,” Sinkhorn said. “The kids on ‘Glee,’ they’re all in their 20s and they were all so sweet. But she’d see them and say, ‘I want to be doing what they’re doing.’” Lauren has a lot of plans for the future now that she has graduated (Lauren Potter, an Actress with Down Syndrome, to Star in Glee).
Socialitelife: Not at all. To be quite honest, that doesn’t take up a huge chunk of what really matters about Blaine. After having gotten to know the show a little bit, I was really excited to see that a character like this—such a strong gay character, especially a young, male, out-and-proud teen—was going to make its way onto network television, much less Fox. This is the first time I’d really seen an out student that was so young and innocent and really struggling with the big ordeal that it is to be an out student at such an early age. When other shows present the gay character thing, it’s typically been in much more adult situations, like gay men living in New York or closeted men who are married and struggling with that ordeal, but never really the core of the journey of defining your sexuality. Blaine offers a beautiful counter to that and makes such a great addition to the many-colored palette that is Glee. So as far as me having any reservations about it, no. I read it being like, this would be so cool, whoever gets to play this, it’s going to be a great thing for an already great show. (Justin Thompson Dec 2010) Darren Criss Proud To Play Gay
Out: Criss initially thought he would tell reporters something ambiguous and "idealistic" like "It doesn’t matter if I’m gay or straight -- I’m playing a role." Though new to Hollywood, he’s wise enough to know that such a tactic could have backfired. He concluded, "I didn’t want to make it troublesome." So Criss came out, as it were, as straight, and now he regularly says things like "I think it’s more empowering to everybody, including myself, if I’m articulate about identifying myself as a straight male playing a gay character. Ultimately, that’s more powerful for both communities." Criss’s backstory is so good it seems tailor-made for this moment. He grew up in San Francisco (translation: he’s gay-friendly), where he was a big musical theater geek (see previous); his mom is Filipino and his dad is Irish (so he’s appealingly multicultural); he graduated from the University of Michigan in 2009 (in other words, he’s a smartie); his self-produced EP and the Harry Potter musical parody he and his UM friends made became worldwide viral video hits (he’s creative, resourceful, and of-the-moment); he auditioned three times for Glee (that’s persistence); and he’s still deeply involved in Team StarKid, the theater company he started with his friends in college (he’s grounded). The New Kid on the Block
Darren Everett Criss (born February 5, 1987) is an American television actor, singer-songwriter, musician, and Internet personality. He is best known for his portrayals of Harry Potter in the plays A Very Potter Musical and A Very Potter Sequel, as well as playing the role of Blaine, an openly gay student at Dalton Academy, in the second season of Glee (Wikipedia).
Bullying is an abusive treatment, the use of force or coercion to affect others, particularly when habitual and involving an imbalance of power. It may involve verbal harassment, physical assault or coercion and may be directed persistently towards particular victims, perhaps on grounds of race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ability. The "imbalance of power" may be social power and/or physical power. The victim of bullying is sometimes referred to as a "targeted individual" (Wikipedia).
