Bullying

Bullying

Bullying has become a major problem in our world today. More often than not there are stories in the news about high school, or even college-level, bullying. On most occasions authorities are able to stop the bullying before it goes too far, but that is not always the case. In several instances bullies are not confronted and their victims are often driven to suicide to escape the constant hatred. There is never anything good that comes out of bullying, and no one should be proud to say that they were a bully. They should feel ashamed that they lowered themselves to such a level in order to achieve immediate satisfaction. Nicole Z says that "bullying is a defense mechanism to people who are very insecure about themselves".I totally agree, and that is very immature. I hope that one day kids can grow up and bullying can finally be stopped.

At my school, we have rules against harassment, hazing, and verbal altercations. The rules reads as follows: "Bullying, intimidating, harassing, hazing, name calling, verbal and/or physical confrontations will receive disciplinary consequences including but not limited to suspension or dismissal, depending on the severity of the incident." I think that this is a very fair rule. The punishment is determined based upon the specific case, and this ensures that the bully gets what he/she deserves. This is better than one big blanket punishment on bullying. It is not fair for someone who calls someone a name to be punished the same as someone who starts a fight. This rule protects against that.


Now that the internet and social networking sites have provided a platform for cyber-bullying, this hope seems very far away. One particularly nasty story about cyber-bullying comes out of Traverse City West Senior High School. Two fictitious and mean spirited Twitter accounts were created in order to mock students at the High School. The students who created these accounts have got to be the biggest cowards ever. Not only are they bashing people behind their backs, but they are also using fake names and accounts to do it! They feed off the satisfaction of putting someone else down. The people being talked about on these Twitters should just ignore it, even laugh it off. They should feel pity, and maybe a little pleased, that someone is so jealous of their happiness that they feel the need to gossip about them to make them sad.

At first, kids feel threatened when they are bullied. Although cyber-bullying is the most common form of bullying today, some bullies like to feel nostalgic and do it the old way: face to face on the playground after school. So how do kids protect themselves from this form of bullying? The first answer would be to get an adult, but adults are not always around or very effective. So there needs to be another way. Alexander Mahoney is one of four children at A Plus Martial Arts, a martial arts center in the Gainsville community. Here, four times a week, Alexander is correctly instructed by his teacher William Cotter on how to physically defend himself against a bully. I believe that this is the most effective form of defense. Deal with the bully yourself, and send a message that you are not to be messed with.

Unfortunately, growing older does not mean that we "grow up". Bullying can be seen at all levels, and can even get worse as we get older. Just this past week at SUNY Geneseo the girl's volleyball team was brought to attention due to hazing. During an initiation party, two freshmen were handcuffed, blindfolded, and forced to drink vodka shots. One was hospitalized for alcohol poisoning. Gabe B says that "bullies are just insecure cowards". The older volleyball players felt like they needed to assert their dominance over the new girls, and they took it a little too far. A little hazing is customary on sports teams, but this crossed the line into bullying. The girls had to pay for their actions, and the volleyball season was cancelled. Hopefully this sends the message to other colleges that their actions have consequences. Christy R says that "bullying has grown to be everywhere and people have grown careless about the consequences". Maybe kids will think twice before they do anything like this again.

A case very close to home is the case of 14 year old Jamey Rodemeyer. Jamey committed suicide after years of being bullied for being gay. In May, Jamey posted a YouTube video saying "That's all you have to do. Just love yourself and you're set. And I promise you, it'll get better”.  Jamey's parents said that  "It took him away from our family way too early and we're just convinced that he had a purpose on this planet and it was to touch as many people as he could". Appearantly pop star Lady Gaga felt the same way. She, being bullied as a child, wants to make bullying illegal claiming it is a hate crime. She is in process of meeting with Obama at the White House, wanting to make a law for Jamey. If this is what it takes to stop bullying, then I'm all in.