I was flipping through channels last night when I happened to come across a great show on MTV called "If You Only Knew Me" A team of counselors goes into different schools and seeks to unite the school and break up the various cliques that exist by showing them they have more in common than they think. In last night's episode, they went to Neenah High School in Neenah, Wisconsin. There were the usual Jocks, Preppies, Stoners and EMO kids. There was one openly Gay teen in the whole school and he was Ostracized because the kids were uncomfortable with him or their parents forbid them to associate with him. The counselors brought members of all the groups together for a session. They were told to line up along a line down the center of the Gym. The counselors would ask questions such as "How many have ever thought about or attempted suicide? All but maybe 5 or six crossed the line to the other side. They then asked them if an adult had ever told them they were worthless or wouldn't amount to anything? Again all but 5 or six had crossed the line. The question that really hit home was when they ask them "How many of you know a friend or family member who is Gay , Lesbian, Bi or Transgendered? I was floored by how many crossed over the line. The counselors then had members of each group open up and talk about issues they were dealing with at home. The different group members realized that they really did share so many of the same issues. One of the jocks talked about dealing with drug abuse and how he went to Juvie for it. This convinced one of the Stoners that he needed to straighten out or he might be headed the same way. When it was over, walls were broken down and people that had hardly spoken were suddenly talking like they were old friends. Preppy girls and EMO girls actually planned a shopping trip to the Mall. The Gay boy actually started to get hugs and people included him in what they were doing. The kids actually said they felt really comfortable around him once they got to know him. I wish there had been something like this at my school. We could have helped each other through a lot of things back then. I didn't find out until years later just how many of my friends were being abused physically and sexually when they got home at night. I guess we were all just dealing with our own issues then. I remember in my Marriage and Family studies class, we had a discussion about the research being done on the possibility of MTF Transsexuals getting pregnant in the future. One of my friends said his mother was a nurse and had assisted in a MTF SRS. One of the other girls was grossed out by the idea and I just sat there in class and battled all these emotions deep inside. I was scared that someone might figure out that I was Trans and I would be looked down on by my friends. I found out years later, that most of my friends have been very accepting of me. I guess time and life experience allowed them to see that the world is not so black and white as they once believed. I do wish that we all could have had the chance to be as open about things back then as they were on the show.