If you have not been bullied yourself, you have either seen someone get bullied, know someone who has been bullied or been the bullier. When I was in elementary and middle school, there were plays, speeches and talks about bullying in school.
Over the past few years the discussion seems to have died down in schools on how to prevent and deal with bullying. Now that I am in college, there really is not anything on bullying in colleges. I think that as we get older, society feels that it is all on us to confront our demons and stand up for ourselves without help from anyone else.
Having been bullied myself when I was in elementary school, I know first- hand that kids at that early age are cruel and children need help to deal with those situations. As a coping mechanism, I became a bigger bully so that their words could not hurt me because I was now the one doing all the bullying.
If I had better tools on how to handle the situation, maybe I would not have
mistreated others poorly like I once was. I do feel it is appropriate for an adult to step in at any age if the bullying becomes damaging to one’s character. When I was in the 7th grade, I made the conscious choice to not let what people say about me enter my thoughts and change how I see myself.
Although I made that decision, not everyone at an early age has that same mentality and so an open discussion needs to be held. A conversation should be had at every level of education on bullying because you never know what someone else is going through. After a certain age, I do believe it is up to you to find your own strength to handle the issues in your life.
During this stage of life, we are adults by law, so we should treat others as such and leave the childish mentality of bullying in the past. In my opinion, the risk of scars, emotional trauma and diminished self-esteem happens more when we are children.
In college I think we have to distinguish between genuine bullying and someone just not liking you or wanting to be around you. Bullying at this level is more trying to make your life a living hell than it is stealing your crayons. If someone does not want to sit, invite or talk to you it’s just their own preference not to be your friend. Having their other friends ignore, tease, name call, expose and alienate another person is in fact bullying.
At this age you have a choice to let their comments fall on deaf ears or have it affect you in your adult life. The ultimate say so on whether or not these people will get in your mind is up to you. I do think that it’s up to the schools to stop the cycle of bullying, but it’s also up to us to realize that people will torment you for as long as you allow them to.
The song, “Be a Buddy, Not a Bully,” can help combat bullying by promoting kindness tolerance. I was a teacher for 20 years.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or7WPUtUnRo