06 Feb Teen Suspended After Making Viral Anti-Bullying Video That Principal Says “Hurt His Feelings”

So much for free speech, unless that free speech is used to torment teenagers. It seems Lebanon High School in Tennessee has a bullying problem, yet when one brave student created a video to speak out about the problem, she was promptly suspended.

Sixteen-year-old Emily Gipson created a viral anti-bullying video titled ‘Welcome to Lebanon High School’. In the video, she uses spoken word to criticise the school’s lax behavior toward bullying and apathetic stance toward those students with mental health issues.

Emily made the video partly in response to the suicide of a classmate last fall. She claims that administrators stigmatize depression at her school and do not take it seriously. Students repeatedly use suicide as a “punchline” and making fun of mental illness is accepted.

You can see Emily’s heartfelt video below:

“Posters say ‘smile’ and ‘be happy,’ but how am I supposed to be happy in a world, no, in a community where creativeness is put down, where the people who make fun of others never get punished because ‘there’s no proof,’ or ‘there’s nothing we can do about it,’ or, my favorite, ‘kids will be kids.”

“Sometimes I wonder just how many kids it takes dying to make a difference,” Emily says in her video.

Depression and suicide, especially due to bullying, is a growing problem at many high schools. So it is surprising to hear that Emily’s school was not supportive of her efforts.

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