Editorial: Bullying needs to stop
0By: Jacob Rhine
Imagine you’re back in high school, walking the halls of your high school and you come upon a group huddled. You stop to listen to the group, and you find out the large group is picking on a kid. What would you do? This situation is more than just a story; many kids live every day fearing for their lives. More than 280,000 students are physically attacked in secondary schools each month.
Growing up was not easy for me. I had a great mother and father and a few good friends, but I began to be bullied and harassed as a third grade student. I had a gym teacher who made fun of me being overweight and classmates who giggled behind my back at the fact that I could not do as well as them in certain areas.
According to makebeatsnotbeatdowns.org, one in four teachers see nothing wrong with bullying, and only four percent will intervene when a student is being bullied. I feel like teachers should be more involved in the interaction of their students and stop bullying or harassing as soon as it happens.
During the grades K-12 every, one of seven students is either a bully or the victim of bullying. Ninety percent of fourth through eighth grade students report being victims of bullying. One out of ten students drop out of school because of bullying. Bullying and harassment have been connected to 75 percent of school-shootings.
Bullying is a problem in grades K-12, but bullying can happen anywhere and anytime. This past year in the National Football League (NFL) there was an incident on the Miami Dolphins where three players were allegedly harassing a rookie, forcing him to leave the team halfway through the season.
What about college life? According to a Health Day News study, 22 percent reported being cyber-bullied, and nine percent admitted to being a cyber-bully. Cyber-bullying can be any kind of abuse through technology; texting and social networking are big ones.
Bullying can happen anywhere, but there are ways that bullying can be prevented. If you see bullying or harassment happening, stop what your doing and either step in and escort the person out of the situation or find the nearest person who can do stop it. In grades K-12 for example, a teacher or principal would be the perfect choice to help stop the bullying or harassment of the student.
The person who is being bullied needs someone in his or her life that can be an active part of his or her life. He or she needs someone who can see that the person is having a rough time and needs help or guidance in some way shape or form.
Putting someone down so you feel better about yourself is just petty. Kids who are playing the role of the bully need to find a safer outlet for the reasons they pick on or harass other students. I know that a lot of times there are things going on at home behind closed doors, but letting it out on other kids does not help the situation.
Being bullied is not fun in any way and can even lead to death or suicide. I went through plenty of it. In middle school, I just went along with the jokes, and in high school, I stood up for myself and took on athletics.
Be a part of the solution. Stop bullying.