We must stand together to end bullying

by Andrea Farrington

“I have been bullied at this school since kindergarten, most of the time it was because of how I dressed or what my hair looked like.”

“I feel that bullying is useless and cruel, there are other ways and nicer ways to show how you feel about someone.”

“I have gotten picked on for a long time about my weight.”

“When I post pictures or statuses on Facebook, people say really hurtful things to me and it makes me want to die.”

These quotes came from students from Montezuma Community Schools.

On average 160,000 children miss school everyday because they fear attack or intimidation by other students. One out of every ten students who drop out of school do so because of repeated bullying. Nine out of ten students reported being verbally harassed at school because of their sexual orientation.

I think the majority of people have been bullied or witnessed bullying sometime in their life. There are so many people that have been bullied or participated in the bullying. Everyone jokes about the concept of bullying, but I personally think it is a huge deal. What is the point of targeting one person and being very impolite to them? There are nicer ways to deal with situations. I know that I have targeted people in the past, and I apologize to those who I have hurt.

 I strongly believe that bullying needs to stop. Even if they are not your friend or you have never talked to the person doesn’t mean you shouldn’t stand up for them. I’m sure they would appreciate it. 

You don’t know everything that has happened in others lives, so nobody has the right to make fun of someone’s weight, hair or the way they dress. There could be a huge possibility that the person is having financial issues at home and their family doesn’t have the money to buy better looking clothes, or maybe they have a medical condition that results in excess weight.

Several people are bullied everyday but we all deal with it differently; some people stick up for themselves, some just blow it off, and some sadly commit suicide. 

We are all from Montezuma Community Schools, we are different, but we are a family. We spend at least 35 hours a week with each other. We may have our arguments, but we need to stand together and end bullying!