Bullying

Recently the world has been big on the subject of bullying. They made a movie and did a bunch of that stuff for it, but to be honest I don't think they're going about it the right way. Do you really think that after a kid is mercilessly bullied he wants to be the center of attention for the entire United States? I don't think he does. Alternatively, he shouldn't want revenge either. I've been bullied before but I've just wanted a little peace and quiet is all. No elaborate strike back or scheme, just a feeling of safety. I can understand how, in some cases, it turns to the quiet little kid walking into school and blowing a bully’s head off with his dad’s .44. Now, not to sound like a monster, but I think a little corporal punishment could do the bully community good. Yes, movies make the nation aware of a problem it already knew about, but telling the bully that we know he’s there won’t change the situation. Bullies aren’t alone in the world. There are plenty of other bullies they can side with. I might suggest putting the attention on the bullies for once. Put a camera in their face and make them talk about what they did and why they do it. That’d put most of them in their place. Most of the time the bullies are the ones who need help. They come from a broken home with three abusive dads and a mother who sells pot out of her car. Bullies need the attention because they’re convinced that’s the only way anybody will even look at them. And, if the bully insists upon their harassing ways, we should send them to Singapore for a year and see if they’ve changed. On that note, I think teachers should be allowed to apply a little physical punishment. If not by literal hitting, then by standing in front of the class for some time or doing push ups or something. Sending them to the office doesn’t really work.

Now I want to tell you something else. Mr. Barrier is a substitute at our school and he went nuts over the movie Bully that came out recently. After class he showed us a music video that I honestly felt didn’t represent much. It was just a guy dancing in random places and a bunch of shots of sad children who had been brutally bullied. It was saying something about how we all stand together against bullying but it really should only take one person. After we watched the video, Mr. Barrier began asking us questions about bullying in our school and even gave us times to go see the movie in Salt Lake. I realized that he was trying to bully us into seeing Bully. This destroyed the point of everything he’d said so far.

Another big thing is when kids attempt suicide because they’re convinced they can’t escape in any other way. Bullies, like I said, are trying to put themselves on the other side of their bad home life. They want to be the abuser. When they abuse others, the others are then given that bad feeling and need relief. Suicide shouldn’t ever be the first thought here. Sometimes they become bullies themselves and it becomes a vicious cycle of bullying. That angry energy should be put back into the bully instead of wasted on other innocents. He pushes you over, break his nose and see if he’s really as tough as he tries to be. Warning, he might be that strong and you could end up with a black eye, but then you know how far he’ll go. An even better response though, would be to use your words. The pen is mightier than the sword, and although sticks and stones break bones, words are permanent scars. Just see if you can get under his skin. If he doesn’t respond you know that he’s all talk. Again, he might punch your lights out, but at least you don’t get in trouble. Another thing you might like to notice is that bullies often act from behind. Whenever I was harassed the harasser was never in plain sight. They’d step on my heels and then look away real fast or throw something at me and start whistling. I never acted on my bullies because they were cowards. They hid and snuck away. I knew that in the future, that wouldn’t get them anywhere and eventually they’d probably mess with someone who really will kick their ass. Relax, I used that in the name of bully awareness.

Bullies are lesser humans and should be treated as such. Flies in your soup or dust in your eye, because in reality, the bully has a much bigger fly in his soup than you do. If you want to be extremely pacifistic about it, you can realize that you’re an outlet for the bully and that without you, they’d probably kill themselves. This isn’t the best way but if you can deal with it, it’ll work for a while.

So, you shouldn’t let bullies ruin your life, but don’t turn it into a big Hollywood production. I knew all of this before I saw any movie. Bullying is a personal affair and must be dealt with as such.

“As you swim the river of life, be sure to do the breast stroke. It helps to clear the turds from your path.”

–George Carlin

Here's a song I hate to agree with. Just listen to the lyrics.