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Picture a crowded school bus. It is early
morning, and the sun is just beginning to peek through the
wispy clouds. The bus driver is calmly ignoring the muffled
calls of “Cut the apex! Cut the apex!” from a brown
haired boy in the third row, instead concentrating on the
road in front of her. Now put a skinny bespectacled eleven
year old girl in the seat behind her, holding a book and trying
desperately not the punch the flaxen haired guy sitting behind
her.
That would be me. See, there, with the glasses
and the book? And the reason I’m trying not to punch
him is because he is, once again, bullying me. He never leaves
me alone; every morning it’s taunt after taunt until
I want to explode. Freak, weirdo, he’s called me all
of them. Told people loads of rumors that are so untrue it
isn’t even funny anymore. And the worst thing is, he
just won’t take a hint, just keeps coming back with more.
“Hey, Freak-o, whatcha reading?”
he says, leaning over the seat and snatching my book out of
my hands. “The Fellowship of the Ring? You have that
many brain cells, Freak-o?”
At that point I snap. Enough is enough,
after all. I whip around, glasses crooked (they always are)
and punch him right in the nose. If I hadn’t taken karate
two years previously it would be funny, but as it is the blonde
boy doubles over, dropping my book and clutching his face.
And, while I’m sitting there, kind of dazed about what
I just did, I start to wonder:
Why do bullies do this to people? How can
they make me feel so trapped that I act out of pure instinct,
not even knowing what I'm doing, like a dog? What is it that
makes bullies act like this, preying on younger kids? Is it
because they don’t have caring parents, or because absolutely
no one tries to stop them? In fact, 85 % of students these
days report seeing people being bullied and just walking right
on by and another 30% report being either the bully or the
victim. I for one think this is completely cowardly. Why can’t
we just confront these people while we have a chance? Something
made them like this; find out what it is. Stop bullies before
they destroy your life, and, in the end, theirs as well.
So what makes a bully what they are? Well,
why don’t we explore that enigmatic shadow that is their
mind, for starters? Hang on, this could get very gnarly very
fast.
Most bullies bully people because of their
own problems (an uncaring family, parents that drink, or,
in some cases, being bullied themselves). Some bully because
they want to be “cool”. Some even bully because
they saw other doing it first, and wanted to join the gang
(the age-old excuse of acceptance). Bullies are all ages,
so don’t expect your little sister to be angelic just
because she’s five. Even in preschool, children were
beating on me, and I can’t be the only one.
But, no matter what age kindergarten or
college, Internet or face to face, bullies are still bullies.
Help the world: stop them while we still have the chance.
Help them see that what they’re doing is wrong.
Witnesses (a.k.a. the scumbags) are easy
to figure out. They’re simply there to watch you fall,
to laugh at your pain. I’ve lost friends that way, as
well as earned black eyes.
But what about the victim? What do they
feel? That’s easy: you’re talking to one. Most of
the time I feel trapped, and angry. It’s like when you
get really mad at someone, and all of a sudden you just want
to run, run far and fast, away from them and keep on running
until you pass out or die. It’s hard to explain this
feeling. It is, in essence, the primordial fight-or-flight
situation. When somebody starts beating on you, yelling insults
in your ear, everything just kind of fades out until it’s
only you and them and the wide-open spaces to run to. And
your mind just goes blank for a moment, with one thought drilled
into your brain: I don’t want to die like this.
Stop bullies. Help people like me and like
all the other even less fortunate out there. Help them see
the error of their ways. I don’t want to die like this.
Do you?
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