The month of October is dedicated to raising awareness for bullying. Everyone knows what bullying is, Dictionary.com defines it is “using superior strength or influence to intimidate someone, typically to force him or her to do what one wants.” If you just focus down on the first part of that definition, it hits bullying pretty head on. Intimidating. Not just to the person who is getting bullied, but anyone who witnesses the act being done on someone else. Whether you are participating in bringing that individual down or if you are simply a witness to it in effect, standing up for the person being bullied can be pretty hard. It all boils down to the fact that being the target of harassment is not something people would willingly sign up for. So, what can you do?
No doubt, everyone has read the generic articles filled with cliches like telling an adult or stepping in and saying that’s enough. Although these are great suggestions, they may sometimes be difficult to actually carry through with. So what can you do? Well, like many things, it depends on the situation. However, one thing you can always do no matter what situation is simply treat other people with respect. We are all imperfect human beings and we are all equal. It’s called the golden rule for a reason, simply treat others the way you yourself would expect to be treated. Everyone is a little unique. No two people are going to be the same. But being unique does not make us better or worse than anyone else. Nobody is superior to anyone else, we are all just different, and equally deserving of respect.
If you yourself are scared of becoming a target of bullying as a result of taking a stand for someone, don’t let that stop you from making a difference in whatever way you possibly can. Talk to an adult about what is going on. It is more than likely that they don’t know about the situation.
Above all, the best thing you could do for someone is to push your pride to the side and simply apologize if you’ve treated them unfairly. Bullying is not okay, and being the target of bullying just makes all the struggles we all deal with that much more worse for the person. Don’t be a bully and don’t be afraid to stick up for people. Around 160,000 kids have confessed to staying home from school because they don’t want to face harassment. 1 in 10 students will actually drop out of high school because they are the target of bullying. These statistics are unacceptable. What happens to thousands of kids every single day is unacceptable. The generic articles filled with cliches are generic because the suggestions in them work. They do make a difference. Put a little bit of good in this messed up world.
While bullying is not that big of an issue in Weedsport, the principles that lead people to take a stand are still important. Even if you have not witnessed bullying first hand, you still should have the morals to know what to do if that situation ever did arise. The topic of bullying is so stretched out because it’s important. Organizations travel to different school districts in order to give presentations on bullying because it’s important. This is a significant issue facing our generation. It’s our responsibility to help put an end to this. Every single person that attends Weedsport High School or works here has that responsibility to keep it a safe environment. So just do your part, and be a little kinder than you have to.

Editor’s Note: Burger King recently had a powerful ad that looked at the topic of bullying and what can be done, check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnKPEsbTo9s