Speech

       I see bullying everyday –more with words than anything, but it is there and it does happen. We’re all told not to bully and we have been reminded several times to treat others the way we want to be treated. But who does that? How many of you do that? I know I have not made that a priority in my life. Bullying affects everybody; whether you are being bullied, you are the bully, or you are a bystander.

            How many times have you heard of a bully that was alone when they tormented another child? Without an audience, they have no purpose. Bullies are never alone. There are three types of bystanders: 1. Friends of the bully, 2. Friends of the victim, 3. someone who was walking by or happened to be in the same place. It doesn’t matter what category you fall into. How do you feel after standing and watching? It can’t possibly feel good knowing that you’ve done nothing. Your silence hurts more than imaginable, and it hurts everyone.

            Which brings up the question, what does being a bully do to a person? You’d be surprised by how exactly it affects someone when they pick on or beat up someone else –especially when they’re children. People who bully can experience major problems with relationships. Whether they are very insecure or they show aggressive behaviors, they are not always stable enough for a healthy and functional relationship. If the one person you are gaga over has a knack for terrorizing people’s feelings, you may want to rethink some things. Also, studies show that people who bully at young ages are later convicted of crimes in their adult life.

Finally, what does being bullied do to a child? Some kids have the ability to brush things off and say, “It doesn’t matter.” But what about the kids that can’t do that?  What are they supposed to do? They never know what to do or why they were chosen to be a victim. It breaks my heart to know that children, and people in our age group, have the ability to take their own lives. And some people do kill themselves, some people not only become depressed and scared but they start to believe that they are better off dead. Six year-olds have actually killed themselves. Do you remember what you were doing at age six? I imagine that none of you were attempting to end your own life –you’re all here today.  
            Jared High was a fun-loving kid before he was bullied. He was the assistant coach for his school’s baseball team. One day when Jared was leaving practice another boy –who had been teasing him- followed him into the school gym. He threw Jared on the floor and began to beat him up, kicking him relentlessly. All of the bystanders were friends of the bully –nobody helped. The principal of Jared’s school ruled it as a fight, but it was more than that. Jared’s mother, Brenda, quickly noticed that Jared was no longer a happy kid. Jared became more depressed each and every day leading up to the day he shot himself. The morning of, Jared and his mom argued about Jared going to school that day; his mom had to go to work and ended up letting Jared stay home. She said later that she would have never gone to work if she had any idea of what he was going to do.

~video clip~ (I had to condense it, so I was only able to show from 5:10 to 6:10 -but I recommend watching the whole thing)

Bullying is a bigger deal than all of you think. I know that some of you saw the title of my power-point and immediately shut down or decided that my presentation would be stupid and unimportant. You can go ahead and bicker and make your comments about how many times we’ve heard this, blah, blah, blah. But if we are all within four or less years of becoming legal adults, and this is still something that we are discussing, then maybe we should get over how cool it seems to not give a shit crap and do the right thing. We all know bullying; we have all done it or seen it. Don’t be afraid to stop someone from doing it.