Whenever we talked about bullying and harassment throughout public education, I always heard it had to reoccur several times for it to be even considered bullying for adults to actually take action to it.
Society’s concept, which the education system taught, completely devalued what I had been going through for several years. It was hard to talk to people about my situation. In the textbook, it wasn’t considered bullying; it was just teasing others. Throughout my years in public education, I endured all kinds of bullying: physical, verbal, and even psychological. I had several, different kinds of offenders: boys and girls of all ages and races. Sometimes, it was repeated; other times, it wasn’t. Either way, the cycle of bullying kept happening to me, but you know, it’s just teasing. No one took into consideration the fact that repeated acts of bullying did affect me emotionally and mentally, whether it was the same person or not.
To all of humanity: Please listen up.
We have a real problem lurking in the world, and, clearly, it isn’t being solved. All kinds of children and teens reported that they had been bullied at least once in their years of education. Many of these same kids end up being diagnosed with various mental disorders or even attempting suicide later on in their life. My friend, Morgan, didn’t want this. No one does. With such a big problem on our hands, what are we doing to stop it? In reality, we aren’t doing anything to solve it. We have schools which profess that they have a ‘no-tolerance’ policy enforced. However, this isn’t always the case. These same public schools proudly exclaim, “Our students are so happy! Bullying is not tolerated!”, but you see them silent when yet another student takes a bullet to the head or swallows the pills. They state they saw no signs of bullying and the victim asked for no help, but where were the teachers when they were supposed to be watching the halls for bullying and harassment? Where were the other dozen students in the hallways when the incident was happening? What happened, humanity? Wake up.
Children and teens are being bullied left and right, while the offenders are barely getting a slap on the wrist. The victims become scared to come to school and their life is severely affected by this. People are ending their own lives because they are so fed up with the torment of bullying! I keep seeing that offenders can get a fine and even jail time if they persuaded the victim to commit suicide. However, I see Morgan’s offenders are clearly free and playing the victim card in this situation. Where is the justice, humanity?
In all honesty, we are the problem. We are just supporting the stigma that the victim is in total control of the situation before them. Instead of punishing the offenders, we sit there and question as to why the victim did not say anything to stop it or simply ignore it. If you truly understood bullying, you would see the faults in this way of thinking. Every bully is different, and cannot be subject to a set of rules. Some might stop after you ignore them, while others might get physical. In the end, any kind of harassment or bullying is not tolerated, necessary, or right. I’m to blame as well for this phenomenon that keeps repeating itself. Answer my question: what do we do when we see someone in trouble? Most of the time, we ignore it because it isn’t our business. In reality, it is our business. It needs to be our business. I beg you, next time you see harassment or bullying, stand up for yourself and for the victim. Do not let another person be put down for something they do or believe in. We can change this utterly disgusting phenomenon before us. We can stop the stigma and discontinue the parasitic cycle of bullying and harassment.
This article is dedicated to the late Taylor Morgan Spires (March 4th, 1997- January 13th, 2016). Morgan was a comedic person and loved to laugh. She was also an athlete throughout her years in public education. Lastly, Morgan dedicated her life to her faith and was a true lover of God. Through her faith and loving of life, Morgan unfortunately suffered from depression and anxiety. Sadly, she is gone due to the hatred and harassment that she received from a few of her fellow peers. She wrote for us to remember that we need to #LoveEverybody. Morgan showed her love to her friends and family, by making sure that they were always happy and okay. We love and miss you so much, Morgan.
