Notes:

 

-bullying very common

-pain and triumphs within life

-isolated for being different

-LGBTQ teens are having different experiences from “regular” teens

-suicide=feeling different/being outcast

-group w highest rate of suicide

-public health emergency

-loss of friends

-no support

 

Audio plays a big role in the way this story is told because you can’t read peoples body language or facial expressions or anything that would be physical indicators of what they’re feeling. In a way having Hallward give facts and explain scenarios and then victims of the bullying they’ve experienced speaking along with LGBTQ teens sharing their stories via podcast is almost more intimate. Again, you can’t see them so we’re more in tune to the tone in their voices and whether they’re crying or not etc. You can tell a lot by listening to someone’s voice.

The parts of the podcast that are particularly effective are when the real-life stories are being told by LGBTQ teens who are going through these experiences. This is so effective because kids who are being bullied or losing friends because people in their life have decided they’re lesser than can hear about kids’ experiences who are similar to theirs and maybe not feel so alone.

This compares to the more visual story we got from Martha Halls books because both Martha and Safe Space radio are appealing to similar emotion, but in very different ways. Martha attempts to share the same message Safe Space does, that people can be brought together and don’t have to suffer alone if we share our painful stories, but she does it in a way that isn’t blatant. Martha uses extensive metaphor and imagery in her books, she appeals to our visual senses and what she’s conveying isn’t in black and white. Safe Space, on the other hand, just comes out and says their stories and they do it in a way where we don’t have to read much into it, it’s pretty black and white the message they’re conveying