Rick Mercer’s rant on bullying, teen suicide goes viral
Canadian comedian Rick Mercer has taken a stand against bullying in one of his latest rants, and he isn't interested in just telling kids that they have to wait for it to get better.
Mercer's rant Tuesday night on the weekly Rick Mercer Report took aim at the bullies who drive about 300 young Canadians a year to commit suicide.
"It's no longer good enough for us to tell kids who are different that it's gonna get better," Mercer says in the video clip. "We have to make it better now."
Since his Tuesday night rant, Mercer's video has gone viral, popping up around the internet and being shared by people who don't even know who Rick Mercer is, but who stand behind his message.
Mercer's video comes after the death of Jamie Hubley, an Ottawa area teen who committed suicide after an ongoing battle with depression and vicious bullying from peers. His death prompted several Tory MPs to come out with their own "It Gets Better" videos.
The It Gets Better Project was started in 2010 by columnist Dan Savage and features thousands of videos by celebrities and teens reaching out to one another to share the message that life will improve past high school.
While Mercer doesn't directly call out the federal policy makers for inaction, his message of taking action against these cyber and real-life bullies seems to speak directly to those who have the power to change how these incidents are dealt with.
This isn't the first time Mercer has tackled the topic of teen bullying, telling Canadian youth that it will get better back in November 2007. Since that first rant, however, social media has changed both how bullies get to their victims and how those standing up against bullies spread messages of hope.