Take A Stand #10

Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke. (Disreali, Benjamin)

We've all been there at one point in our lives. A time where we have felt scared, small, defeated; as if no one cares. The many scars that these traumatic events leave. Some are just superficial, that heals and goes away with time, but, there are those scars that will leave lasting impressions and will never truly go away. The scariest part of bullying is no one says anything about it. If we want to, we're threaten that worse things could happen. When will we learn that enough is enough? What does it take? An injury? A trip to the hospital? Your grave? We need to learn that the first time should be the last time.

Towards the middle of eighth grade I started to be bullied. At first it was small things, such as like punching me in the arm and being insulted by her. It really didn't bother me because I'm one of those people who don't let people get under their skin. I had already realized that not everyone in life is going to like you, so I didn't let it affect me. I also didn't let it bother me because that was my friend's friend and I didn't want to offend her by saying I didn't like her friend, so I let it pass. I took the high road and made sure that she knew I was there for my friends and she didn't have to like me, but just tolerate me.

Towards the last couple of months eighth grade she started making sure I knew how much she didn't like me. One day she came up behind me and hit me in the back of the head. At first I was in awe, because that had really hurt. She started laughing so I didn't understand if she was trying to pick a fight or think of it as a joke. Since she didn't seem like she was going to do anything else, I let it slide. Since I was still trying to be the bigger person, I felt like she was not a major threat and she was trying to get a rise out of me. That was my first mistake.

Then towards the last month of school, she started to become even more aggravated because I would not respond to her actions. So since they say words are like daggers she started using my words against me. She told one of my oldest friends that I had been saying nasty things about her behind her back. That friend became angry with me and when I had asked her what it was I said she told me. I then realized that the bully had took my words and twisted the statement. I became mad with both the bully for saying that, but also my friend seeing as she believed this person more than me. I tried telling my friend that what I said was something totally different and that I hadn't said those hurtful words. Then all of sudden my friends started to ignore me and give me dirty looks. I honestly didn't know what to do, so I hung around my other friends until this situation blew over. That was mistake number two.

One day my friends started to get super mad at me. I had to ask other people why they were mad and they told me it was because I said "again" some mean, nasty things again. I knew then that the girl really didn't like me and she was trying to isolate me from my long time friends. That day at lunch it was made clear that I should just stay clear of that bully until I got a handle on things. I hung out with friends who didn't believe those things, seeing as they didn't trust the bully. But the bully wouldn't let it go. Supposedly there was a rumor going around that, that girl was going to get into a fight with me. At first I thought that was outrageous, seeing as I hadn't done anything wrong. Second she was going to ruin my opportunities of going on a field trip and going to the dance for the end of the year, because if we got into any trouble, whether we started or not, then we would not get to do anything.

Then towards the end of lunch, I saw that she was there waiting at the door of my class. I was so scared because, not only have I never been in a fight, I didn't want to. So I went in through another door, because I had class in the gym and there were two entrances, by then I was crying. As I walked through the door there stood two of my teachers and the campus police officer. They had asked me why I was crying and I realized at that point that the bully had took it too far and I would not let her threaten me. I told them all about what had happened, with my friends by my side to back me up. The police officer said that he understood what was going on and would make sure that nothing would happen and that he would try to prevent the situation.

Once that happened I felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest. I knew there were still problems that I had to deal with, but in that moment I felt like I was on top of the world. I didn't succumb to violence, but instead told a trusted adult about the problem. I realized that, that was all it took and that words are stronger than actions.