Bullying.... What's the big deal?

Give me Strength...  

The amount of issues happening in America today is overwhelming. Women have to watch their back everywhere they go, parents are losing their children to suicide from bullying, and the amount of American’s struggling everyday just trying to make it through the day. One of the biggest issues is in school, this issue can start as young as grade school. This issue is bullying. Whether it be cyberbullying, or the common bully at school, this kind of harassment is everywhere and there are so many children who suffer every day. 

In grades 6 through 12, 28% of students experience bullying. Think about 28 kids out of 100 are being bullied every day and the percentage will just keep increasing with the incline of social media. Since the rise of social media cyberbullying has had a rapid incline. 15% of high school students have experienced cyberbullying within the past year. Now bullying is more than just one kid hating another. Bullying can occur if you are of a different race, different financial stance, different gender, or even different sexual preference (LGBTQ+).  When looking at the percentages of the different bullying rates, one might not see the biggest issue. However, when standing in the place of a parent who lost their child due to “bully-cide” which is suicide due to bullying. Think about it, 28 kids could lose their lives today all because of what one person said.  

Why do you need to know all of this information? Because my issue is helping to limit bullying. Within my old High School, I witnessed bullying every day. Most of my friends have been bullied, a couple have even faced suicidal thoughts. When you’re in the middle of all of this mess and you actually witness the effects of bullying you start to see why this is such a big problem. I went through bullying all the way until my senior year of high school. My mother witnessed the effects bullying had on me. She began to show me that what they say doesn’t matter and that I am strong. I am worth living this life.  

Therefore, I want to try and limit bullying by getting my old high school more involved. People don’t want to speak up when they witness bullying or experience it, but with the right motivation I believe a change could be made. I know we went through a few programs about bullying but once the class was done everything went back to normal, what if there was a way to get kids more active to help limit bullying. Maybe give rewards or positive action since they helped someone and turned a bully in. But with this, the administration would also have to partake. Instead of blowing off the situation they get involved and figure out ways to eliminate the bullying or whatever is happening.