Bullying...Stop It!

Bullying…what exactly is it?

It’s something that we’ve heard about only a million times. It’s absolutely everywhere. It doesn’t only happen at schools and in person, now it’s also on the internet. It’s all over social websites. Some people may not even realize when they’re bullying someone. They think that they’re just being funny. They want to have a “good time”. But, when did having a “good time” start meaning that you had to make someone else feel so bad? People who are bullied don’t know what to do. They get lost so quickly. As they see how much hatred people are sending toward them, they start to hate themselves as well. This is what leads to suicide, which has been seen more than often now. Bullying, it’s not something to be proud of, it’s something that schools want out of the way, but they won’t do much to make that happen.

Whenever it happens at school, teachers act as a support for the bullied ones. But after a while, it seems as if it’s completely forgotten. And, when doesn’t it happen at school? That’s where it happens the most. Most students don’t say anything about it. They live frightened that the bully will do things that are much worse. The thing is, in order to get the bully to stop, attention must be drawn to the problem. Other students that have nothing to do with the problem just stand around thinking that they can’t do anything but they’re wrong. They could tell an adult close by about it, they could tell their parents and have the parents talk the staff at school and make them realize what is going on in their school. I was bullied at school before, I know how it feels. I know how it feels to be isolated from everyone else, even if someone physically doesn’t push you away. You isolate yourself because you think that you’re not good enough. You just think that you won’t fit in anywhere. All of those things started to change when people decided to talk to me, when people decided to get to know the real me and not go by what others would say.

Now, I’m not bullied, and I have wonderful friends that I am very thankful for. I never spoke up about this problem. So, why am I doing it now? Simple, there’s been too many people being bullied, even people that you would’ve never imagined were going through a situation like that. I also started to realize that bullying is the main cause of suicide now-a-days. This is what our society has come to. But, the most important reason for me to be doing this is because my sister has started to get bullied as well. It started this year and well she’s really been affected by it. She’s started to think that no one cares about her, that she’s not important, and she’s gotten thoughts about killing herself.

Around us, people don’t do much to stop this. But, let’s not blame just teachers about this. In part it’s also our fault. Because, we, as a family should have noticed that she wasn’t okay. We should’ve noticed that there was something wrong. And teachers couldn’t have guessed that there was something wrong with her, or with any other k ids being bullied that don’t speak up. Guys, girls, everyone being bullied in any way, it’s time to do something to stop what is causing you so much pain.

The thing that makes me so frightened about all this bullying is that people wait for someone to commit suicide to do something to stop bullying. How is that supposed to help if the person is gone? They left being bullied and now they’ll never know the feeling of being able to go wherever feeling free and not feeling tortured. 

If you’re read this and you are being bullied, then speak up, and do something about it. Don’t harm the bully like they’ve harmed you. That would just make you get to their level, which you don’t want to do. Do something to make them understand that everything they do, hurts. If you’re reading this and you know someone who is being bullied, speak up as well. Why? Well simple because if you were the one being bullied, you’d want someone to speak up as well, you’d want the bully to stop. If you’re reading this and you’re the bully, then just stop! No one appreciates what you do. You just hurt people, and there’s no reason for that. And the way you treat people, those could even be ways that you’ve been treated. And if they are, go get some help, because that’s what you need.  Because honestly, it takes a sick and heartless person to bully people and not feel any guilt. Just, STOP BULLYING!

                                                                                                                                                                                -Zonia Reyes