I could give you statistics to prove how big of a problem bullying is, but why would I when all you should need is one scar, one person, to realize it’s a problem. It can’t be solved in one day, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be solved.
What are we told to do in elementary school when we are bullied? Fill out a form! Precisely! Now as these children are educated about bullying they are being encouraged to talk to a paper rather than a person. The child will fill out a form today and then the police will be filling out a suicide form for them tomorrow.
What is another thing to do if you are bullied? Talk to a trusted adult in school. Now let us think, how many children and teens are courageous enough to spill their problems to anyone? Not many. What about to teachers? Rarely any. Well my little sister’s friend was one that was courageous enough. It really hits you when your little sister comes home to tell you that her friend is bullied. Did I mention they were in 5th grade when that happened? Her friend has a large overbite and she went to her teacher and told her about how the other children were making fun of her for her teeth. What the teacher said was more heart breaking than thinking of a child needing to fill a form to get help. Her teacher said, just wait a while and the bullying will stop. Don’t worry everything will be all right. No action was taken. How likely is she to seek help from anyone after that?
The problem here is that in life things are unfortunately easier said than done. We listen to grand speeches of prevention of bullying and what to do in this situation or in that, but when it comes time that we need help, how many of the adults are actually by our side?
It is time to replace forms with real people. It is time to replace meaningless answers with talks with parents, actions being taken, and counseling being given. It is time that teachers start being able to do something when they notice bullying in their classes. We’ve had enough assemblies and enough “risk behavior surveys”. We need real people who will listen to our problems and we need words of encouragement and a smile. We want to be felt needed and we need to know we are worth something. Not in an assembly when every person is getting the message at the same time, but through small actions from the people around us. That’s all we need for the words and actions of the bullies to stop affecting us so much and for us to be strong enough to stand against bullies. That’s all we need and maybe then words won’t make us bleed.