Madonna speaks out on bullying on The Ellen DeGeneres Show
Tuesday, 09 November 2010
During a satellite appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show Tuesday, Madonna makes a heartfelt plea to end bullying in America.
'I'm incredibly disturbed and saddened by the overwhelming number of teen suicides that have been reported lately because of bullying,' she says. 'Suicide in general is disturbing. Teenagers committing suicide is extremely disturbing, but to hear that teenagers are taking their lives because they are being bullied in schools and dormitories, what have you, is kind of unfathomable.'
Madonna, now 52, says she was bullied as a kid growing up in Michigan.
'I still feel different,' she says. 'I can totally relate to the idea of feeling isolated and alienated. I was incredibly lonely as a child, as a teenager. I have to say I never felt like I fit in in school. I wasn't a jock. I wasn't an intellectual. There was no group that I felt a part of. I just felt like a weirdo.'
It wasn't until her ballet teacher, who was gay, took her under his wing and introduced her to a community of artists that she felt 'it was OK to be different,' she says.
The gay community 'has been incredibly supportive of me,' she says. 'I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for the gay community.'
She says she's been talking to her children about bullying. 'We talk a lot about the importance of not judging people who are different - not judging people who don't fit into our expected view of what's cool and what isn't,' she says. 'The concept that we are torturing teenagers because they are gay - it's unfathomable. It's like lynching black people or Hitler exterminating Jews. Sorry if I'm going on a rampage right now, but this is America. The land of the free and the home of the brave....'
Her solution? 'I think it would be interesting for everybody to try one simple experiment: Try to get through the day....without gossiping about somebody,' she says. 'And not only that - not even listening to gossip, walking away from it. Can you imagine what your day would be like? How much more free time you'd have? I also feel like you'd feel about better about yourself.'
'I'm incredibly disturbed and saddened by the overwhelming number of teen suicides that have been reported lately because of bullying,' she says. 'Suicide in general is disturbing. Teenagers committing suicide is extremely disturbing, but to hear that teenagers are taking their lives because they are being bullied in schools and dormitories, what have you, is kind of unfathomable.'
Madonna, now 52, says she was bullied as a kid growing up in Michigan.
'I still feel different,' she says. 'I can totally relate to the idea of feeling isolated and alienated. I was incredibly lonely as a child, as a teenager. I have to say I never felt like I fit in in school. I wasn't a jock. I wasn't an intellectual. There was no group that I felt a part of. I just felt like a weirdo.'
It wasn't until her ballet teacher, who was gay, took her under his wing and introduced her to a community of artists that she felt 'it was OK to be different,' she says.
The gay community 'has been incredibly supportive of me,' she says. 'I wouldn't have a career if it weren't for the gay community.'
She says she's been talking to her children about bullying. 'We talk a lot about the importance of not judging people who are different - not judging people who don't fit into our expected view of what's cool and what isn't,' she says. 'The concept that we are torturing teenagers because they are gay - it's unfathomable. It's like lynching black people or Hitler exterminating Jews. Sorry if I'm going on a rampage right now, but this is America. The land of the free and the home of the brave....'
Her solution? 'I think it would be interesting for everybody to try one simple experiment: Try to get through the day....without gossiping about somebody,' she says. 'And not only that - not even listening to gossip, walking away from it. Can you imagine what your day would be like? How much more free time you'd have? I also feel like you'd feel about better about yourself.'
From UsMagazine.com
love you madonna!!!!!!!
Posted by: alice | Sunday, 14 November 2010 at 12:10 AM
wow...as always madonna proved her true nature that always lived with her no matter wat she did and to which horizon she moved
MADONNA ROX!!....AS ALWAYS!
Posted by: sid | Saturday, 13 November 2010 at 09:46 AM
EaDD1013: THIS HAPPENS AT WORK ALSO. WHAT'S AN EMPLOYER TO DO?
Posted by: LoveMonkey | Wednesday, 10 November 2010 at 05:07 PM
Very well said, Madonna! This kind of bullsh** is just ridiculous. We are ALL different in one aspect or another, so really in a way when we are judging another we are judging ourselves. I feel that if we learned to love ourselves more we would feel confident enough not to slack on another. And, yes, it does all start in the home.
Posted by: Mandie | Wednesday, 10 November 2010 at 12:09 AM
Madonna, the best artist and better person. I wish you the best luck with your next album.
Posted by: me | Tuesday, 09 November 2010 at 09:30 PM
I did not finish school because of it! What is the teacher really going to do in those circumstances? I just walked out and never went back, to make the point, "It's just wrong!!!
Posted by: eAdd1013 | Tuesday, 09 November 2010 at 06:14 PM