I´m upset that I even need to say this.

Bullying is an issue that has been around since the dawn of time, but as the years pass, it seems the problem is only getting worse. Hell, we even elected a bully as our president. Many victims of bullying, a lot of which are fricking CHILDREN, are becoming uncomfortable in their skin, depressed, and even committing suicide. CHILDREN. 1 in every 4 students have admitted to being bullied at one point in their school careers and, of those 1 in 4 students, 30% have reported having depression.

Now, how are we going to fix this, you may ask. The sad truth is that a lot of the population will do nothing. In fact, a good number of people even blame the victim. They´ll say things like ¨If they knew how to stick up for themselves, this wouldn´t have happened!¨ or ¨Bullying will always be a thing. Stop being a pussy and face the facts!¨ (These are actual quotes, by the way). For these people, I have a news flash for you: It is not the victim´s fault.

This simple truth can go for just about any sort of victim: Bullying, rape, assault, robbery, etc. When will we stop trying to justify heinous acts and admit that there is something wrong with the way our society thinks? We should be teaching our children what is right and what is wrong. We should be teaching them that everyone, no matter their race, religion, gender, sexuality, or ANYTHING that sets makes them themselves, deserves to be treated fairly. I don´t give a shit if you don´t like a particular thing about a particular person; Suck it up and be a kind fucking person.

Sure, things may not be so perfect. People will always be mean and cold hearted. Our society in this day and age may be flawed, but it was once a lot worse. To think, women couldn´t even have their own bank accounts until 1971 and gay marriage in America was taboo´d until 2015. Everyone went through the rough but guess what? We changed. It may have taken a little while, but we still made it. If we see bullying as something that will always be around and accept it as normal, nothing is ever going to get better.

Now, before anyone freaks out, I’m not saying we shouldn’t teach our children self-defense; It’s always good to have a little knowledge on how to defend yourself on your side. But using more violence and bitterness as a solution to the bullying epidemic that plagues our nation? It’s, for lack of a better word, stupid. Instead of teaching kids to use violence to solve their problems, we should be teaching them to be kind and to eradicate bullying from its roots. As my dad always used to tell me, kill them with kindness.

Long story short: Anyone can be the victim of bullying. Old, young, black, white, gay, straight, etc.; No matter who they are, they probably didn’t ask to be bullied. It’s time that we shined some light on just how big the bullying issue is within our nation and start doing something about it. Just as you would teach a child how to tie their shoes, teach them about bullying and the effects of it on others. Education is our biggest asset, after all.