Beauty and the Bully
One in seven students, from kindergarden through 12th grade has either bullied, or been a victim of it. An estimated 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of being harassed by fellow students. One out of every ten students who drops out of school, does so because of repeated bullying. Bullying forces some to turn to self mutilation, such as cutting themselves. At least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year.
Typically when we think of bullying, we picture a large intimidating kid who steals peoples lunch money, and shoves nerds into lockers, but the reality is, bullying is so much more than that. Bullying comes in different levels and forms - Physical, verbal, indirect, and cyber bullying. (Cyberbullying can happen 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and reach a kid even when he or she is alone. It can happen any time of the day or night. - http://www.stopbullying.gov/cyberbullying/what-is-it/index.html) No matter what form of harassment is used, it's all bullying, and it all hurts.
One in seven students, from kindergarden through 12th grade has either bullied, or been a victim of it. An estimated 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of being harassed by fellow students. One out of every ten students who drops out of school, does so because of repeated bullying. Bullying forces some to turn to self mutilation, such as cutting themselves. At least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying. Suicide is the third leading cause of death among youth, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year.
Bullying is a subject that easily grabs my attention. I have personally been on both ends of the pendulum when it comes to bullying. I have been the victim, and unfortunately also the bully at times. Looking back I still regret not treating people kind.
("No single factor puts a child at risk of being bullied or bullying others. Bullying can happen anywhere—cities, suburbs, or rural towns." - http://www.stopbullying.gov/at-risk/factors/index.html) I hate seeing children have a low self esteem due to the mean words of peers. Bullying is something that needs to be fixed, it is only getting worse. These days with the internet and sites like Facebook and Twitter, cyber bullying has become out of hand. Kids don't see how damaging their words can be, especially when they can't see the persons's reaction.
I would love to come up with a group of inspiring speakers, including myself, to go around to middle, and high schools to speak to the students. The goal of the team will be to bring awareness about bullying, encourage kids not to bully, to stand up for victims, and victims to have a support group to talk to. The group would be called Beauty and the Bully. This is a good name because Beauty and the Beast is a name people recognize. Changing the word beast to bully not only goes with the theme, but makes the bullies compare themselves to a "beast." Kids, even adults, need to learn that being kind is beautiful. A person cannot be truly beautiful with an ugly soul.
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