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Bullying is a serious reality

Bullies are unwanted by everyone. Nobody wants to be threatened or made fun of.

TAYLOR SNELL

Work Experience

Bullies are unwanted by everyone.

Nobody wants to be threatened or made fun of. A bully’s goal is to make their victim feel low or to hurt them mentally or physically. It’s wrong and is a major concern to many teens, parents and schools.

When I was in Grade 5, I started attending a new elementary school. On my first day I recognized some familiar faces as I had attended kindergarten at that same school. I automatically picked up where I left off with those people. After only a week or two at school I started to notice that some of these kids I called my friends were not the greatest of people, and neither was I, for that matter.

These kids manipulated me into thinking that what they were saying or doing was cool and fun. I found myself doing and saying things that the real me wouldn’t say. I hid my ideas and the love I had toward everyone.

My friends were bullies, always ganging up on the weak, different, or not comfortable with themselves. Taking part in the harassment for months made me very upset with myself. I couldn’t understand why I was allowing myself to be a part of such bad things and bad people.

So many times I tried to get away from the person I became. I remember always wishing I could just walk away and go say hello to this boy, whom all my friends didn’t seem to know existed. I was afraid to leave my bully friends and go and start talking to this kid.

I wasn’t sure if he would want to be my friend because I just assumed he thought I was horrible through association. Making a poor choice, I never ended up talking to the boy and I stayed with my group of bully friends for the rest of the school year.

A lot has changed in six years. I no longer hang out with those kinds of people. I’m finally myself; happy, caring, helpful, understanding and maybe a little bit crazy.

People who get bullied never deserve it. To me, I think that people treat others badly because they are battling their own issues or insecurities. This needs to stop, teens or just people in general who are bullies need to be aware of the problems they are causing in the victim’s life. If a person hears something too many times they start to believe this is true. If someone calls another person ‘ugly’ or ‘fat’ they will begin to think they are, or if they already believe these nasty thoughts on their own it will bring them down even more.

If you ever see someone being treated badly don’t be afraid to stand up and say something to make a change. People need to come together and better understand what damage can be done by bullying.

Raising awareness though communicating with each other and being open, honest and caring are ways resolve the problem.

National Bullying Awareness Week was Nov. 17 to 23. For advice or support on bullying please call 1-888-456-2323.

For questions or letters for the Review’s teen columnist, Taylor, email her c/o editor@rimbeyreview.com.