I think bullying should be talked about a lot more than it is. There always seems to be a new headline on the news: "Student killed themselves from bullying." When will it stop? We live in such a world of hate. Bullying is all around us. Here are some examples of the bullying my peers have been victims to.

My teacher had killed himself because he was receiving threats and was being bullied. He left behind two kids and hundreds of students that always looked up to him.

I first started getting bullied in middle school. I tried so hard to "fit in." I wanted to be like everyone else. However, that did not go as planned. I was always told my parents didn't want me, that's why I was adopted. I was pushed into lockers, pushed down the stairs, had milk spilled over my head, had threats left and right, and I was told to kill myself. I was told no college would ever look at me, I would go nowhere in life, and that I was worthless.

I was told my mother was going to die in surgery by my peers.

Someone told me to go kill myself because I was not good enough.

I'm Hispanic and one day someone told me to shave my arms and unibrow.

I had a hate page made on Facebook about me in middle school.

Someone poured hot sauce in my eyes.

Someone told me that they can not believe I would show my face in public.

I was told that I will never amount to anything more than a 16-year-old pregnant high school dropout in a trailer.

I was called a skank.

People spray painted my phone number on the local bridge in my town and said: "Call me for a good time."

I was told I was not as attractive as I used to be because I put on a few pounds.

I was called a cunt and a slut because people based my life off awful rumors.

I was called a spoiled rich bitch.

I would always leave school with bruises and tell my mom that I fell.

I got made fun of for being skinny.

I was called anorexic and then, later on, became anorexic.

I had a group gang up on me because I did not dress like them.

Someone told me they wished I was born in Auschwitz with my ancestors.

My friend was bullied so much that he started self-harming and eventually killed himself.

People talk bad about me.

Someone told me I should have been aborted.

* * *

Nobody wants to talk about bullying because they do not see it as a major issue. "Oh, these mass shootings are an issue. ICE is an issue. Global climate change is an issue."

Yes, those are all issues. However, so is bullying. Students, teachers, and even parents are subjects of bullying. Some decide to end their life because it is so bad. "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." We would say that knowing that their words hurt, we just wanted it to stop.

Bullying has long term effects. Some of which include: increased suicide risk, depression, poor school performance, low self-esteem, anxiety, sadness, loneliness, change in sleep patterns, eating disorders, and even loss of interest in activities they once enjoyed.

Bullying needs to stop. What happened to treating people the way you want to be treated? Now, we treat people the way we are treated.

If you read this, I urge you to tell someone, maybe even more than one person, that they are loved. They are valued. And that their life is worth it.