Jonah Mowry

By Mike Ashworth | December 5, 2011

In the desperately sad video above Jonah’s emotional and physical wellbeing are held hostage by the views and comments of bullies at his school.

Now it appears his emotional wellbeing is at the mercy of people on the internet who’ve questioned whether this was in fact a real video at all.

He posted a follow up vid a few months later where he seems incredibly happy, and states that all the bullying has ceased. But there are also rumours that he posted a video where he claimed the video above was actually made up.

So, what have we now got. His emotional state is a roller coaster based on the approval of others, initially those at his school but now by anyone with access to the internet. And as you would imagine, celebrities such as Lady Gaga and Ricky Martin have waded in and offered him there support too. So his emotional wellbeing is now also dictated by the approval, or not, of celebrities.

Some have stated that whether or not the original video is real or not doesn’t matter, as the message is one about bullying, and that’s what’s important. I’m not so certain.

Of course bullying is bad and it should never happen but the reality is that it does, however when I watch an “advert” on television that is supporting something like Cancer it tugs at the heartstrings but I know it’s an advert as it appears in an advert break. It makes me think about cancer, and they want me to donate, as thats what the advert is for. But what abotu this kind of thing on the internet?

If someone posts a video like this on the internet I watch it as if the person is talking about their life, damaging their body, perhaps they might take their life at some point. And that then influences how I feel. It will upset millions of people, who will go to bed that nght perhaps wondering whether Jonah will be alive in the morning. So is it important whether it is fake or real? Damn right it is.

I wonder whether his position has actually got any better at all? Does he still need help? More than ever…….

I’d love to know what Charlie Brooker and Oliver James make of this.

Topics: Society |

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