Canadian pop star, 18-year old Justin Bieber, got himself in a little bit of a media controversy that goes against his good, wholesome boy image when a picture of his smoking what looks like a joint ended up in the hands of TMZ and went viral.
With close to 32, 700,000 Twitter fans (to date) there’s no doubt the Biebs is very influential and much loved by the tween and teen demographic he appeals to. So the picture of him being caught doing something that is seen as a no-no resulted in a very disturbing Twitter campaign of support for the the star. The #CutforBieber campaign.
Started by his fans, not Bieber, it’s a campaign encouraging fans to self-harm but cutting themselves for the multi-platinum selling singer and then posting the pictures to Twitter.
WTF????
Is this what is happening to youth today? What is it about self harm? It’s not something to be done for fun or for support or to get your parents to do what you want. It’s a serious mental illness that is hard for people to control. I knew a woman who suffered from it, this desire to hurt herself if she wasn’t in control of a situation and she was in a very bad place. For teens to think it’s a cool way to show you support your star crush, to literally bear the scars on your skin to remind you of the time he got caught smoking a joint, it’s not only wrong it show something is really lacking in our society.
It’s like singer/ actor Miley Cyrus says, in her Tweet against the campaign:
#cutforbieber? Cutting is NOT something to joke about. There are people who are actually suffering from self-harm, this is so disrespectful.
That was her first Tweet. Then they became a little more heated as she saw how many people were doing it.
“If people are really saying they are gonna cut themselves cuz Justin Bieber could’ve smoked some weed the world really is coming to an end!”
She also urges people who are cutting themselves to get help.
However, this isn’t the only thing the #CutforBieber campaign has sparked. With the serious cutting comes the serious parody.
People are tweeting pictures of them cutting paper, marijuana plants and even threatening to cut the heads off of stuffed elephants. There’s fake @cutforbieber accounts made and the whole thing is blowing up in the Twittersvere.
So far no comment from Bieber or his camp.
There is no denying this trend of youth cutting themselves is disturbing and it’s continuing to catch on. What is driving youth to do this? How can it be stopped? Is this an effect of social media?
I mean cutting yourself for someone you’ve never met getting caught possibly doing something that is becoming more main stream is simply ridiculous. Regardless of if the media made your star crush look bad hurting yourself doesn’t do a single thing. It’s ridiculous. And scary.
If they think this will stop the paparazzi then they are so wrong, because these are the same people that keep the paps in business.
Whatever the cause something needs to happen. And it needs to happen soon. [ Source ] [ Picture ]
