Photo: AktivOslo.no
Justin Bieber was recently caught on camera using marijuana. Many young women that are big fans of him have taken his drug use seriously and are protesting to get him to stop. When I say ‘protest,’ large mobs of people with huge signs, posters and banners probably come to mind, but #CutForBieber is a different kind of protest. These young women are cutting their arms until Bieber quits using drugs and have posted pictures on sites like Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr of them cutting themselves in a desperate cry out to their pop star icon to stop smoking marijuana.
Here’s what makes this even worse: the protest was started by pranksters trying to troll real fans into hurting themselves. It’s horrifying that girls are participating in the #CutForBieber protest, but it’s even worse that it was started as a joke to trick fans into hurting themselves.
Going to an extreme like cutting is a ridiculous way to protest something. How are you going to fix someone’s self destructive addiction by mutilating yourself? There is no winning in a “solution” like that.
I am sure that the families of these teenaged girls are concerned about what they are doing to themselves. I am positive they are doing their best to try and get them to stop. Many people out in the social media world are critical of the fans, posting pictures of the girls and mocking them for cutting.
Bieber used marijuana to raise his reputation to a new level of being “with it,” due to the fact that he is often made a laughing stock on social media sites. He didn’t need to use marijuana to rank up on the fame chart.
Lots of big rap, hip hop and pop artists use drugs, but you don’t see their fans trying to stop them. The only reason these girls are acting this way towards Bieber’s use is because they grew up listening to him and made him a role model.
I asked my friend, Jassi Samara (16), about what she thought of #CutForBieber. “I think it’s terrible that we are making fun of the girls cutting themselves, but then again the girls are stupid for cutting over such a terrible cause,” she said. “It’s ridiculous how I see girls cutting themselves for a celebrity, a guy who barely knows they exist.”
I think the best way to help these girls out would be by letting them know that they are not only affecting themselves but they are hurting many people that are close to them and love them. I am positive that Bieber feels a little bad and ashamed of how his actions affected his fans.
I just want to ask those girls who are in pain out there, is it really worth it?
In 2006, over 25 youth began participating in weekly after-school writing workshops where they congregated in the hallway of a two-story building in West Fresno and learned the essentials of creating media and telling their stories. The group evolved over the next five years and is now proudly recognized as The kNOw Youth Media.
Through our program, we create opportunities for our youth participants, who in turn create long-term positive change in their communities. Our approach weaves youth development and youth media innovation to produce our biannual youth publication, multimedia projects, and community forums.
The kNOw began as a project of New America Media, which was the country’s first and largest national collaboration and advocate of 2000 ethnic news organizations. In 2018 The kNOw became a project of Youth Leadership Institute.
