October is Bullying Prevention
Awareness Month and it highlights a life or death issue. There have been cases
in the past where kids who were bullied were driven to suicide. There was Tyler
Clementi of Rutgers University who jumped to his death. Phoebe Prince was an
Irish immigrant who was taunted until she killed herself. Stories like this
brought mainstream attention to the problem. As a result, cases of bullying are
more easily spotted and reported, but that doesn’t make them any less
detrimental to the victims.
Bullying has been going on for all
of history, however technology has made the
problem worse. No longer is it just whispering in the halls or taunting in the
lunchroom, there’s cyber bullying where rumors spread and multiply at lightning
speed. Teens can very quickly get carried away and the comments and actions of
one or two bullies can reach an entire community with the click of a button.
Instead of a kid being afraid of going to fourth period gym they fear their
entire day because the Internet has made the threat of bullying constant. After
all, you never know when someone is going to write another mean comment about
you on Facebook.
Bullying went on when I was in
school and I often wonder if any of my classmates thought I was a bully. By
today’s standards, the actions of my friends and I might be considered bullying.
The difference is in the magnitude of our actions. I
might have teased someone and when they were noticeably uncomfortable or said
to stop I did. Nowadays, the teasing goes on online and once someone puts
something out there there’s no way to take it back, even if someone’s feelings
were hurt. I think in most cases people don’t realize they are bullying someone,
which is why I believe Bullying Prevention Awareness Month is so important.
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