Twenty-five percent of teens are bullied. That’s one out of four kids who feel alone, helpless, and victimized. One out of four who are being put down on a daily basis; and this is one out of four kids too many.
At my high school, that’s over 500 students who are bully victims. Some people may look at Hartland’s own Arrowhead High School as a great place, located in the #1 safest city in the United States. But that shouldn’t imply our residents don’t experience the feeling of insecurity. We may not have robbers or murderers lurking the halls, but we have bullies around every corner.

Whether it’s cyberbullying or face-to-face fronting, bullies do their thing: tear kids town to build them up. Personally, I’ve seen a number of bullying encounters in both kinds of situations. Cyberbullying has become more popular in my school, I believe, because people can now hide behind the mask of a computer screen. It’s easier for them to them use this as a defense yet still allow their words to sting. Although this avoids physical contact, it enables the bully to keep firing, without a sufficient punishment.

Face-to-face bullying doesn’t occur as often here, at least as far as I know. I hear about kids having fights, some resulting in a punch or two. One happened to be two girls fighting, calling each other unbelievably horrible names. One punched the other and ended up putting something about it on Facebook. The other felt the need to respond and say, “it didn’t even hurt.” Everyone saw her cry afterward. But being seen as a coward was too much for her to face. They both played the role of a bully in this situation; they both hurt each other with their words and continued it. I feel one could have stepped up and been the mature one about it. But the fact that not one bystander stepped in also bugs me. Not a single person out of the hundreds of kids watching made the decision to step in and help. Sure, they have nothing to do with the situation. But anyone can stand up to a bully, even if it’s not the one being bullied.

The part about bullying that hits home hardest for me is the fact that it’s preventable. Seeing kids in the hallway get bullied, or looking someone in the eyes who bullies all can be avoided. Those labels wouldn’t even be necessary if the act of bullying was to stop.
In many ways, bullying is a pointless problem. One person is putting another down for pure enjoyment, or self-fulfillment. It’s ridiculous to believe bullying will help gain something like a higher self-esteem or popularity.
Teens juggle schoolwork and grades, sports and afterschool activities, and family and friends day in and day out. To add to all of these stresses, a bully comes along. These monsters have no clue what they’re doing to the victims, or how often their negative words ring in their heads. The act of bullying needs to be stopped in order for these bullies, bullied, and bystanders of bullying go away.