February 6, 2022

BULLYING

When people think of bullying they think of kids getting shoved into lockers or having their heads flushed in a toilet but the truth is bullying can be a lot more complicated than that. Bullies use their power to hurt or control others and they might make you feel unsafe in places where you should feel protected and that's not okay. Your school sports teams and after-school clubs have to be safe spaces for everyone.

There was a time when I didn't feel welcome at school; some girls that I thought were my friends had decided I wasn't cool enough for them, everywhere I went they either laughed at me, made fun of me or ignored me altogether. I didn't know what to do.

No one ever has the right to hurt you or make you feel unsafe. The problem is bullying is hard to stop and that's because most people's first reaction to bullying is to ignore it. You may feel like it will go away but the problem with ignoring it is that it won't stop and it might even get worse.

Maybe you're embarrassed or you want to believe that it's not a big deal or maybe you're afraid that telling will make it worse or that whoever you need to tell won't understand or be able to help but trust us because we've been there if you're being bullied there's only one way to deal with it: Stop, walk away and tell an adult. Stop taking the abuse; get yourself away from the situation and go talk to an adult you trust, tell them everything.

Parents', teachers', and counselors' first priority is your safety. Believe me there are adults that want to help you. Bullies might scare you out of telling but if you tell an adult the bullying is more likely to stop. The adults in our lives won't tolerate bullying but we can't tolerate it either, we have to stand up for each other and we all know some kids get it the worst.

Last year a friend of ours started feeling unwelcome and unsafe at school. He was being bullied for weeks just for being different and having different interests than some of the other kids at school. We didn't want to see our friend get hurt or feel like he didn't belong so we helped do something about it. Kids who are LGBTQ or who are of color or maybe you have learning challenges or physical differences might get bullied the most. We need to work together to decide how safe our school can be. Our differences are our strengths. We also know that bullies need help too but we can't tolerate their behavior.

Never ignore bullying; never stay silent; you will help yourself and help your bully more by speaking up; Stop, walk away and tell an adult even if the bullying happens online or on your phone. Speak up whenever you see here about or experience bullying, do it for yourself, for your friends, for the kids you've never even met, always speak up. It's time we work together to make our schools safer for everyone.