Last week's 'Glee' inspires record traffic for The Trevor Project

"Glee" winter finale last week contained the story line of teen suicide when former bully, Karofsky, found himself attempting suicide after being a target for gay bullying. "The episode included a PSA for the Trevor Project, a national organization that helps prevent LGBT suicide that counts Daniel Radcliffe and "Glee's" own Chris Colfer, Darren Criss, Kevin McHale, and Adler among its supporters." The episode allowed the Trevor Project's website and phone line being overwhelmed with views of the show. Cofounder of the Trevor Project, Peggy Rajski, says that they were ready for an overload of viewer to go to their website. "Rajski says the Trevor Project toll-free number fielded triple the number of calls normally received, plus a huge online boost. "On average, our site probably attracts about an average of 1500 visits a day," she admits. "Tuesday we got 10,000. There's the power of network TV."

I watch "Glee" every week on Tuesday nights, and though I view it as a fun show and a little cheesy, it was cool to see the producers use it for a way to get a message across. Gay bullying is a problem for American teenagers and it must be a hard thing to have to live through. When I started watching "Glee" I never thought that I would actually seen things I could learn from, but I have. "Glee" has done many episodes that contribute to real teenagers today. A young girl getting pregnant, but still being able to pursue her dreams to go to Yale. Or a young man who thought there was no other way out and decided to attempt suicide. We can learn from these episodes, we need to realize that there are people out there that go through this everyday, and we need to respect and reach out to those people so that we can help them. We do need to remember that this is just a show also, and the dramatized reactions might not be the best way to approach a situation that can be touchy. I respect the organization and the producers of "Glee" to use an episode to send a message about things happening in real life. It is awesome that so many people responded in a positive way. Calling and visiting the Trevor Project's website and seeing what the organization is all about.

Stack, Tim. Last week's 'Glee' inspires record traffic for The Trevor Project. 28 February 2012. 1 March 2012 <http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/28/showbiz/tv/glee-trevor-project-ew/index.html?hpt=hp_bn4>.