Chances are that in your life you have been bullied, know someone who has, or have witnessed it. Bullying is a problem that has been sweeping the world at an alarming rate. Obviously bullying isn't a new problem, but that doesn't make it alright. People kill themselves way to often because of bullying. We need to do something about bullying. It's not right that people get away with it. I'm not saying they need to be harshly punished, but really, something has to be done. We can't let bullying go on.
I know people who have been been bullied. My best friend has been bullied, my brother has been bullied, and my sister has been bullied. I'm the only one of my siblings who hasn't. But I am the only one who has stood up to the bullies. One particular story comes to mind that I would like to share.
You see, all year the "cool" kids made fun of my friend Lewis in Spanish. They constantly put him down no matter what he did. If he tried to answer they made fun of him, whether his answer was correct or incorrect. It got to the point where even the teacher got in on it. On the last day of school, they all ganged up on him at once. They were saying they were going to jump him after class and were threatening a lot of violence. The teacher was turning a blind eye as always and I couldn't take it any more. That day I decided to dress "up" for celebration of our last day, and looked pretty scary if you wanna know the truth. I had my hair spiked (which I do half the time anyway) but I was wearing leather pants with chains all over them, combat boots that were worn out (official Marine combat boots at that), I was wearing a red kinda chain-mail type shirt with a silver over-shirt, black eyeliner, and my wristbands (one is black leather with studs and the other is checkered). I'll admit I looked pretty intimidating, but I'm proud of what I did. I looked dead in the face of the ring-leader. He was on the football team, one of those muscly guys, also son of the vice principal, and pretty much thought he ruled the school. But yeah, I looked him dead in the eye and said "Knock it off." He didn't like that very much. He glared at me and said "Knock what off, we're just joking, he knows that." Then he hit Lewis, as if too show his point. I put my hand on my desk as if I was about to stand up and said "Yeah, well it's pretty obvious he doesn't like it, so knock it off." Then he got close and asked "Well who's gonna make us?" I stood up at that point (everyone in class was pretty much standing up anyway) and got up close to him as well and I said "I will. One on one, or I'll take all of ya. Your choice." At that point they started backing down. All his friends were saying to just let it be, and just to stop. He did at that point too. He said (exact quote, minus my name change. I'm not posting my real name, Gokin will do just fine) "Alright, I'm done. Gokin's got his swag on today"
Now, I'm not saying that it's okay to try to use force to intimidate others out of bullying, it's better to go to a teacher or adult. But my other point is that bully's are typically cowards. Very rarely can they actually fight. They'll typically back down if offered a challenge. It's way to risky to fight back though, unless you *know* you can fight good. My advice if you're dealing with a bully is to go to an adult you trust to handle it. Kids have the power to change the world, but we need the help of adults to do it.
This part is for bully's. I know life can be hard, believe me. I've seen abuse before, I've seen pain and suffering. I know what it's like for it to be hard to trust, but hurting others doesn't make the pain go away. You know what does make the pain go away? Friendship. Yeah, you can say that what I said is gay, but it's true. The number one healer of emotional pain, is friendship. I don't know what state my mind would be in after the death of Sammy if I didn't have my friends. They've been helping me tremendously, and I appreciate every last one of them. I love my friends, and I'm not ashamed to say it. There's nothing I wouldn't do for them, I would even die for them. I'd die to save the world. Bullies, you don't have to hurt others. I'm going to issue a challenge to you. Go to someone you have bullied, and apologize, ask for forgiveness. Chances are, you could be saving someone's life. And with that, you're helping to save the world.
Bullying is wrong, but if we just stop it, if we find a way to redirect our anger into something useful, we can make the world a much better place. So next time you're angry, instead of taking it out on another human, try playing a video game, or working out, or hitting a punching bag. I've found all those to be extremely helpful.
If you have problems with a bully and need to rant, or just need to talk to someone about anything, I'm here. For any of you. Email me at Gokin_kun@yahoo.com. I love you all, and I love this world.
Live on,
Gokin
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