“Oh my god, did you see what they were wearing the other day? So ugly!” It may sound like a dumb joke but deep down, words can hurt! Yeah, a ha-ha for you but for him or her, a mental slap to the face! Bullying has been around forever. No matter how fun making a person feel like crap can seem, going too far with the “fun” could end up costing a life. Just like the saying, “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eyeball,” yeah how about, “it’s all fun and games until someone commits suicide,” or “until someone brings a gun to school,” or “until someone cuts themself.” So, for a few minutes, let’s put ourselves in one point of view; the Victim.


You are the victim. Starting off, you absolutely love school and have close friends. You are known for having straight A’s and being able to play guitar. So many good things are going for you, but there is a catch. You don’t have a lot of money, so you don’t have name brand clothes and you’re parents got a divorce when you were five. I know, I know. “How am I supposed to relate to this? This is dumb!” This is not dumb, you are experiencing what the victim feels. Anyway, you feel good about yourself and your self esteem is high. Suddenly, a “popular” student picks on you for your shoes! You shrug it off but soon enough the petty insults get worse. The entire school gets in on the joke and people start tweeting (Facebooking, instagramming, etc.) bad things about you. Eventually the whole school knows and your close friends have even turned on you! You walk through the hallways at school and people throw comments at you. “EW, yuck! Look at pimple face!” “No! More like pizza face!” Your self esteem is lowered, along with your grades. “Why?” You ask, “Why are you doing this to me?” No one answers your question. The rumors and insults continue to fly around. You finally feel like you have had enough. You rush home and take out your mom’s kitchen knife. Seconds later, you’re gone.

A life lost all because of a "joke" gone too far. Bullying is not right and will never be right! Categorized as abuse, bullying comes in many forms such as:
1. Physical
2. Emotional
3. Sexual
4. Cyber
5. Verbal

Bullying does not only happen at school but it happens outside of school and even at home! The question that needs to be asked is, "How do we as a community fight against bullying?" That's easy! Here are some tips!

Tip One: Bullying happens when a person feels jealous of someone else or feels bad about themself. If you feel like insulting someone or starting a rumor, get your mind off it. Take a walk or look at yourself in the mirror and state all the things you love about yourself.

Tip Two: Put yourself in another persons place. Ask yourself, "How would I feel if I was being called that?" OR "How would I feel if I had people against me?" By putting yourself in someone elses shoes, you are thinking of how you would react.

Tip Three: This may not be easy, but stick up for someone you see getting teased or insulted. Get a trusted adult or teacher to end what is being said or done! After you do this, make sure the victim is okay and be a friend to him or her. Who knows? Maybe you are the friend the victim needed all along!

Tip Four: If you are being bullied, get an adult or tell a friend. Dont let the bully walk all over you and make you feel worthless. You are not worthless. You are who you are for a reason. Never let anyone change who you are. You need to tell yourself, "I'm me and I'm proud of who I am."

Last but not least..

Tip Five: Love yourself! If you cannot love yourself, then you can't love others.