Part One     CRUELTY KILLS    47 U.S. States have now enacted anti-bullying laws.     Whether these laws will be enforceable remains to be seen.   There are also many private initiatives, such as the "It Gets Better" ad campaign, intended to empower teens struggling with sexual identity issues, as they are so frequently targeted by bullies.  14-year-old Jamie Rodemeyer of Buffalo, N.Y. commended the "It Gets Better" ads, but just couldn't follow the advice to wait it out.  He read an anonymous post on his Formspring page, "Jamie is stupid, gay, fat and ugly. He must die."  Tragically, that was the direction he chose to take.   Our guest today has a lot to offer on the subject of kid on kid cruelty.  He is a Martial Arts Instructor and a school lecturer on his counter-cruelty movement, www.TheKidsAreUnited.com.   Adam Mitchell is next on Voices.

Part Two:    CRUELTY KILLS        It's a safe bet that not one person listening to this show today can say they were never teased, hurt, never feigned illness to stay home, never closed the bedroom door to cry it out.  Joel Burns, an openly gay city councilman in Fort Worth, Texas, in an impromptu and very emotional address, which went viral immediately, began by saying, "I've never told this before tonight."  He proceeded to relive the names he'd been called and the moment the incessant harassment had driven him to the edge of suicide.  He urged kids going through what he had, to endure and outgrow their tormentors.  "You'll get out of that high school and never deal with those jerks again!"   We now have a new verb, bullycide. But parents, teachers and as Adam Mitchell encourages, student leaders in particular can be the 1^st line of defense.  We return to our conversation with Adam Mitchell.

Part One     CRUELTY KILLS    47 U.S. States have now enacted anti-bullying laws.     Whether these laws will be enforceable remains to be seen.   There are also many private initiatives, such as the "It Gets Better" ad campaign, intended to empower teens struggling with sexual identity issues, as they are so frequently targeted by bullies.  14-year-old Jamie Rodemeyer of Buffalo, N.Y. commended the "It Gets Better" ads, but just couldn't follow the advice to wait it out.  He read an anonymous post on his Formspring page, "Jamie is stupid, gay, fat and ugly. He must die."  Tragically, that was the direction he chose to take.   Our guest today has a lot to offer on the subject of kid on kid cruelty.  He is a Martial Arts Instructor and a school lecturer on his counter-cruelty movement, www.TheKidsAreUnited.com.   Adam Mitchell is next on Voices.

Part Two:    CRUELTY KILLS        It's a safe bet that not one person listening to this show today can say they were never teased, hurt, never feigned illness to stay home, never closed the bedroom door to cry it out.  Joel Burns, an openly gay city councilman in Fort Worth, Texas, in an impromptu and very emotional address, which went viral immediately, began by saying, "I've never told this before tonight."  He proceeded to relive the names he'd been called and the moment the incessant harassment had driven him to the edge of suicide.  He urged kids going through what he had, to endure and outgrow their tormentors.  "You'll get out of that high school and never deal with those jerks again!"   We now have a new verb, bullycide. But parents, teachers and as Adam Mitchell encourages, student leaders in particular can be the 1^st line of defense.  We return to our conversation with Adam Mitchell.