Hey you…yeah, you! I heard you call that kid stupid. And that other kid who’s rushing down the hall with a bright red face, I heard you call him ugly. I hear you every time. I hear you when you demean someone’s intelligence and I hear you when you degrade someone’s personality. I hear everything. And you know what else? I see you too. I see you point and laugh at the girl who doesn’t quite live up to your standards. I saw that time when you tripped the boy who doesn’t speak English very well. But what about you? Do you hear yourself doing these things? Do you see your victim’s self-esteem dropping? Do you feel anything? Remorse? Regret? Anything?
Just because you don’t classify yourself as a bully does not mean that your peers have the same opinion of you. Bullying is anything from name-calling or mental abuse to actual physical abuse. Just simply calling someone stupid after they get a bad grade on a test is bullying. I mean, how else would you classify that? Peer motivation?...Not exactly. I can only imagine that what you’re feeling is some kind of vain, self-appreciating high when you degrade someone, or you are so incredibly insecure that the only way you can feel better about yourself is by making someone else feel worse about themselves. If either is the case: get a grip! What if your life took a turn for the worse and all of a sudden people were teasing you about your grades, your appearance, your ethnicity, your sexual orientation, or your personality? I can vouch that you would definitely not appreciate that kind of humiliation.
You need to be put in place for two reasons; first, because you bully your peers, second, because of why you bully your peers. Teasing someone about his/her appearance is completely unacceptable. Not everyone can be athletic or thin or “really ridiculously good-looking” or however you see yourself; I think we’ve already established that you have a high opinion of yourself. So why do you need to mortify someone who might have a bit of a weight problem, or whose skin hasn’t cleared up, or who can’t afford to wear Abercrombie and Hollister? Is that really what matters to you, how everyone else looks or what they’re wearing? And don’t even get me started on teasing people about their race or ethnicity! Now don’t think I’m on some kind of ethnic-pride trip when I say that uttering any sort of racial or ethnic slurs to anyone whether they be Caucasian, Christian, African, Muslim, Asian, Buddhist, Catholic, Jewish, whatever they are, is more than unacceptable. It is deplorable! Forever in my mind will you be the person who has no respect for other cultures, because that is what you are showing me by demeaning someone who is of a different race or ethnicity than you.
I don’t think you know exactly what you’re doing to your peers when you bully them. Do you have any idea what humiliation can do to one’s self-esteem? It obliterates it; crushes any hopes of making friends or being more sociable or succeeding because they think they’re unworthy. And do you want to know why? Because of you. You are making it impossible for them to have faith in themselves. The kids you bully are so hurt by what you say, and I can guarantee that they’re a lot more upset than they’re willing to show. And by you perpetually harassing them, they think that they’ll always be known as “the kid who has no friends” or “the overweight kid” or “the kid that no one likes.” Put yourself in that situation and I guarantee you’ll have little to no self-esteem and think yourself unworthy of any positive attention.
So I hope as you’re reading this you’re thinking about everything you’ve done in the past. It’s never too late, or too difficult, to apologize. Simply saying “I’m sorry” could potentially gain you forgiveness from a number of people. I also hope that this has influenced you to stop. Stop making fun of people, they don’t like it and if you were in their position you wouldn’t either!
And for anyone who has ever been bullied or has seen bullying take place, speak up! There are so many people willing to rectify the situation. Teachers, principals, guidance counselors don’t want to see bullying take place so they’re the first people you should go to! And don’t listen to what any bully says. You are cool, you are fun, you are smart, you are attractive, you are you! No one can change who you are, so be proud of yourself no matter what people say.

Posted by
Nadia Elboubkri