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Bullying, putting someone down with words, with physical attacks, it’s unacceptable. And yet, I can guarantee you that it takes place in almost every school across this nation every single day. 99% of people will say that bullying is disgusting, and still have at least participated in bullying once during their lifetime. It can be terribly difficult to avoid it altogether. Sometimes we do it without even realising.
People are like sponges. We just soak everything up. If we’re surrounded by hurtful words and seclusion, that’s what we’ll absorb. If we get told we’re worthless often enough, we’ll start believing it. Bullying ruins lives. Bullying ends lives.
Bullying can be as easy as throwing a couple of words someone’s way. Words have spectacular power. They can drastically impact a person’s entire day, or even their life. You can never be sure what kind of effect words you say can have on another person.
You don’t even have to mean it to bully someone. You might not even call them something, you could just be making comments on what they do and how they do it. You may not even use words at all. Ignoring someone, excluding them from your group, from your conversation. does damage.
We’re all in this together. Governments and nations aren’t formed for corporations, ideas or economies. Everything exists for people. People are all that matters. More than money, more than petty arguments, more than feeling good about ourselves.
But we all know that, right? So, what’s in the way? Is it a societal thing? Is it poor parenting, or lack of proper education? What can we really do to stop it? Probably nothing.
But what we can do, is make damn sure that we don’t play a part in it. We can make sure that we treat people kindly, that we speak happiness and encouragement into their lives. We can tap our friends on the shoulder when they’re saying things that might be hurting someone. We can stand up for someone when they need it.
Far too often, people ask the question “What’s everyone else doing about it?” instead of, “What can I do, right now, to improve it?”.
One of the reasons I’m writing about this now, is because of the short film I created with friends for an English Assessment Tasked which involves bullying and the potential consequences. I’ll leave you with it now:
Jason O’Neil.
