The bullies of this world are back at it again. This time they’re manipulating someone’s weaknesses to a whole other level.
On a Sunday night at 10 p.m. I turned the channel over to the news to hear the news anchor introduce a headline called, “Food Bullying.” I sat there in shock thinking about how creative today’s youth are. They have such innovative ideas to ruin the life of someone else but when you ask them to create something for the good of humanity, they suddenly become brain-dead. And it's not just children, but adults such as teachers and parents who partake in the bullying of food-allergic children! I’m not saying all of today’s youth and adults bully but those who create mayhem by bullying others continue to pose a huge threat to society and the well-being of others.
In the past psychologists have documented psychological cases to prove that bullying is a killer. Those who are not mentally strong enough to handle the emotional assaults dealt by the bully end their lives. Others develop numerous mental illnesses from being a victim of bullying which results in self-harm and serious deficiencies in social interactions.
The thing that amazes me, now, is that there are thousands of bullies somewhere out there thinking it's okay to target a person by using their specific food allergies with the intention to physically harm them. Kids without food allergies are using food and the ingredients within food to terrorize people with food allergies—a condition they have zero control over.
School boards are assigning food allergy safe zone tables and order children with food allergies to sit at those designated areas in order to not to be exposed to certain foods that cause allergic reactions. This leads to isolation and separation of a minority group from the majority group. From my personal experience, when isolation like this occurs, it's just one more reason for bullies to ridicule a person for being different. There is no limit to a bully's cruelty.
Not only do bullies make fun of the kids who have food allergies, they also use those food allergies as a lethal weapon by touching certain foods to someone's food-allergic skin. A person with food allergies doesn't need to swallow the food their allergic to in order to have an allergic reaction; it also occurs with a mere touch.
If bullies are using food allergies as a weapon of their cruelty, they clearly don’t know what a food allergy can do to a person. Something the bullies and the bystanders should know, if they don’t know already, is that: food allergies are lethal if not properly managed and treated.
Here's a reality check for all the bullies out there: You have the ability to kill another human being by your immature actions!
Imagine yourself swallowing a peanut that you’ve been diagnosed as allergic to. A minuscule salted peanut slips past your lips and finds its way into your immune system. You only have seconds, at the most a couple minutes to pull out the Epinephrine Auto-Injector (aka. EpiPen) and jab its contents into a vain to calm your over-active immune system down. Big deal? Hardly.
The most severe case of peanut consumption to someone who is allergic is called anaphylaxis. According to the American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology, anaphylaxis is “a life-threatening whole-body allergic reaction that can impair your breathing, cause a dramatic drop in your blood pressure and affect your heart rate.”
To the bullies, how would you like it if your throat closes, feeling the surge of panic that comes with not being able to breathe? Feel yourself wheezing for any ounce of oxygen you can get yet coming away with nothing but a shortness of breath. To others your skin turns pale or blue and no one is there to help you. They stand around laughing as you plead for help. You eventually go into shock or respiratory failure.
This is serious. You have the potential to kill another human being by threatening to touch them with an allergy they have no control over. It should not be played off as a prank or downplayed. Food allergies have the potential to seriously injure or kill a person. It is wrong for bullies to find this funny and shows how little empathy the people of this world have for other human beings.
I hope this article reaches everyone so that this issue gains awareness. You have the ability to save a life; to stand up for a just cause.
Dear bullies, here is a wake-up call: you are not funny or clever; you’re just cowards.
