“I don’t believe that I’ve seen you smile. Why don’t you smile?”

“Because people make me unhappy.”

I believe that many of us has been bullied throughout our short lifetime. Bullying has been a reoccurring part of my life. This has to do with the fact that I am not like the stereotypical black guy; I love rock music, talk “white” and I recently permed my hair and dyed it into a variety of colors. As a kid, I took being bullying really hard. I used to get called “fish lips," mocked for my voice and it’s a good thing that I didn’t come out until senior year of high school or else it would’ve escalated even more.

The emotional, mental and physical abuse that bullying can have on people is quite heavy. I have had a lot of anger issues because of bullying, and have attempted to commit suicide on many occasions. The worst part of the whole issue is that many of us are too afraid to tell anyone about our problems, mostly because we are too scared of annoying anyone or because that person we tell doesn’t have time to listen.

Currently, I’m working at a summer camp. This morning, a camper of mine came into the nurse’s office, telling her that he had a stomachache and a headache. The thing I did not pay any mind to was the fact that this camper did not smile much. However, the nurse noticed the pain in his eyes and asked him if he was okay. “I don’t believe that I’ve seen you smile. Why don’t you smile?” “Because people make me unhappy.” During the last couple of camps, this camper has endured bullying; he was called out by name and even picked on by a fellow cabin mate. He never quite bothered to tell anyone until today. He broke down into tears, when the nurse asked him what was going on.

I stood there and watched my camper as he said the same words that I felt for the longest time. So many people bully others into a pit of despair. This pit runs so deep that many people don’t see the point in happiness anymore. I understood his pain of trying to deal with these issues alone, but they tend to eat you up from the inside the more you think about it. You end up feeling lost, alone, like there is no one who could help you.

But, no one deserves to feel that way. Not one person deserves to be brought into that pit and most definitely should not suffer alone.

I just want to let you guys know that there are many people out there in this world that want you to be happy, and will be there for you no matter what. Whether you're being bullied, or going through any other type of problem, there is no need to suffer with your problems alone. So please, don’t hold back…