[dropcap]B[/dropcap]ullying has always been a hot topic for me. As someone who was bullied in elementary, I can definitely identify with all those who have felt different and ostracized at one point of their lives. While the bullying stopped when I got into high school, it’s sad to say it’s not the case for many others.
It has always amazed me how very little attention the topic of bullies gets. Until recent years, it was just a crude way of keeping the status quo in schools. But no one should ever be bullied for who they are, how they look or what they believe. Period.
I look back at the many tragic victims of bullying like Jamey Rodemeyer, Megan Taylor Meier and many others, and it truly makes me sad how alone they were. Of all the questions I have, the first would be…where was the help?
Now we can ask the whys and the whos, but we cannot forget how alone people can feel when they’re tortured by bullies, their clothings, personalities, and even sexual orientation is questioned and criticized. If we’re going to do anything about bullying, we need to address the underlying issues.
What most people don’t realize is how hurtful words can be. For someone who feels different in any capacity, the approval of their peers is essential. Take approval away, and replace it with taunts, mistreatment, and alienation, and you’re stripping them from any sense of belonging. And ultimately, you’re stripping their basic human right.
Bullies should be accountable for their mistreatment and abuse. Now bullies come in all different guises. They’re not just the people who directly enforce the torture. The bystanders, the adults and ultimately, the parents are also accountable. We forget silence is as much as omitted that this is okay when it’s not. And while I understand that for some, the fear of being bullied for standing up for someone is a real threat. But what if we all stood up? See the bullies only have the power to dominate if they are a majority. Take away the power of the majority and we force them to retreat and stop. In my case, I was fortunate that when my parents did become away of the taunts (my own omission of the fact), they were adamant at taking me out of the school and transferring me to another school–a school where I no longer was afraid of my own shadow.
Now we can all point fingers at everyone from the parents, to the bullies to the administration to lay the blame. Or we can simply say, “Enough is enough”. And do something about it. If we see someone being bullied, let ‘s stand up for them. If we do nothing, are we not also a bully? I don’t know about the rest of you, but I don’t want to hear on the news about another girl, boy, woman or man whose taken their lives as a result of this.
Their lives are valuable. We are all valuable.
