Umm...I don't know...sorry, I havent posted in a long time, so I wanted to...and "Color" did too...and other people probably did too, and...yeah. Today we had to give our speeches...I was vibrating, stuttering and REALLY nervous, because although I can talk alot if I want, I'm not good at talking in front of large crowds...the theme is "The Next Step"...and although it will be probably VERYYYYYYY boring to read, if anybody wants to, they can...
Originally my speech was based around poverty. But something drastically changed my life and opened my eyes. I was bullied. It really hurts, and needs to stop. In our class, in our school, in our lives we need to take the next step to stop bullying.
So where do you draw the line between a small fight and bullying? Although it’s often difficult to tell when the bad behaviour crosses the line and turns into bullying, the key is the reaction of the targeted person. If the negative actions continue in spite of the person being hurt, it’s a case of bullying. Bullying is not a misunderstanding. It is intended harm.
KidsHealth asked 1,229 kids to answer some questions about bullying. When asked how much they had been bullied, about half said they hadn’t but the other half said; every day, 8%, every week, but not every day, 7%, once in a while, and but not every week, 33%. The KidsPoll also asked how many were bullies themselves; a little bit more than half said they weren’t, but 22% said they bullied others every once and a while, 5% said they bullied others every week, and 15% said they bullied every day. That’s about 590 kids being bullied, and 516 kids bullying.
There are many forms of bullying, but the main three in schools are physical, verbal and emotional. Physical bullying includes violent actions like hitting, kicking, or trying to make someone do something that they don’t want to. Verbal bullying includes name-calling, teasing, or insulting someone. Emotional bullying includes isolating or excluding somebody from the group. All three types are painful, and can severely hurt someone.
There is also direct and indirect bullying. Direct bullying is when the bully confronts the victim face to face. Examples would be being threatened, physically attacked, or socially embarrassed while the victim is there. In indirect bullying the bully attacks the victim’s social standing or reputation. It usually occurs when the victim isn’t around. Examples are gossip, writing insulting things about the victim, or organizing a group of peers to shun out the person being bullied.
Here is a story of a grade seven student in our school that was bullied in all five ways I mentioned. There are a lot of stories of bullying like this one, but I chose this one, because, sadly, I know it will always be with me. Alot of you have probably heard it, and I know that a lot of people won’t be happy with me saying it, but I REALLY need to stress how painful it was for the victim to go through all of it. This victim was very passive, didn’t like becoming mad at people, or standing up for herself, and didn’t have many friends at school anymore. It was actually a person that she considered her friend and trusted that was the one who started the bullying. She got more people involved, and at first, although it was annoying, it didn’t seem like that much to the victim, so she ignored it. But the first day back from Christmas break, the teasing, and attempts to make the victim to do stuff she didn’t want to crossed the line, and the next step of the problem was bullying. At recess she was dragged down the stairs, and there was nothing she could do to stop them. She tried to get away, but she couldn’t. She tried yelling, but her mouth was being covered. And whenever a teacher walked by, she tried to get them to see her, but they hid her whenever one walked by. She was almost in tears, and wanted to scream but she didn’t. She had no idea what to do. It’s really hard when you’re in a situation like that because there’s basically nothing you can do. Luckily for the victim though, she got away before having to do the task that the other people wanted her to do, that she didn’t. She was so glad it was over. But sadly, the problem continued after school, and when her friend and another person tried to get her to do the task again, she couldn’t handle it any more, and neither could the bullies. So when she said no, their answer was, "fine, we’ll do it for you." The victim had no idea what to do, and she felt awful, but she acted like everything was fine. She watched the two if them walk away, then left. After walking awhile she heard a tremendous uproar of laughter coming from the school. She really couldn’t take it anymore. So she ran like crazy, and didn’t stop until she got home.
As soon as she got home, she started crying, and didn’t stop until her parents were home, because she didn’t want them to know. That was one of her biggest mistakes. She didn’t tell anyone, and her parents still don’t know, although they know that she was being bullied. For awhile things were awful, but eventually they calmed down, and on Friday, she felt that everything was done. But, of course, it wasn’t. Later on that day, during the dance, there was an almost exact replay of what happened before. She left the gym before she saw her friend and the same person as before say anything. She wasn’t sure how to feel. She was angry, upset, wanted to let people know she had no part in anything to with it from the start, but didn’t want to talk to anybody about it. When she went home, she was crying on the inside, but she was too upset to. She made the right decision, and decided to tell her teacher about the problem when she went back to school the next Monday.
I know that basically everyone knows who the victim is, but I really don’t care anymore. If it gets the problem to stop, although it’s really hard to do, it is so worth it to stand up here and speak about myself being bullied. It’s now awkward to be around numerous people in the school because of one person that I considered a friend who just had to start a huge thing. I want to say sorry to all of those people, and I would like to let everyone know I had no part in any of it whatsoever, and I wish none of it ever happened.
I know that many people think what I went through was nothing, shouldn’t be considered bullying, and it’s rude of me to talk about this like it was. But to me it was everything. My world was turned upside-down, and worst of all there was nothing I could do to stop the problem, and I didn’t want anybody to know. I had to stop myself from crying whenever I saw that friend because I knew what she was going to try to make her do. I always said no, but she always did it herself. I started becoming even more insecure than I already was, and before that, I was almost confident. My spirit was flying so high that I could fly with it. All to drop down to the ground again.
Many wonder why people bully. There are lots of different reasons. Sometimes they pick on other kids because they need a victim to feel more important, popular, or in control. Another reason is the bully has had troubles at home, and doesn’t know what else to do with their anger. The bully is usually a powerful person, physically, or socially, and doesn’t use that power right. If you are a bully, think about how you are acting, apologize to the person or people you are bullying, and take the next step to improve your behaviour.
There are two groups that victims fall under. Passive victims and provocative victims. Passive victims are physically weaker, avoid violence, and more anxious than their peers. Lacking friends, these victims are usually an easy target. Provocative victims may be both anxious and aggressive. They also have poor social skills, which tends to irritate their classmates. Bullies often take pleasure in provoking these people into an outburst through taunts or teasing, then sit back and watch as the teacher punishes the victim for disrupting the class. If you are being bullied, take your next step and stand up to the bully. Also make sure not to act aggressively or passively but assertively. I know that it is often hard to do, and it sometimes seems better to keep the problem to yourself, but always tell a parent, teacher, or somebody you trust when you are being bullied.
If you are a bystander watching bullying happening, get it to stop. If you’re a person with power, you can influence the problem in two ways. If you’re joining in with the bully or watching and not doing anything, you’re just as much part of the problem as the person who started it. One thing that really sickened when the bullying first started for me was how many people joined in. It started with two people that I might have been able to escape from, and turned into a whole bunch of people. Stand up for what’s right, and you’re next step will be helping the whole school and even the world.
So take whatever your next step is to stop bullying. And most importantly, be confident in who you are. Stand firm and strong in what you believe. If you fall, get back up again. And don’t ever let anyone push you back down.
THE END of my speech! Thanks for reading, even though youre probably asleep by now!