Bullying

Bullying is a serious problem in many schools across the nation.  Everyone has experienced it at some point in their lives, in a variety of ways.  Such an experience, from even one event, can linger with the victim for the rest of their lives, but they likely will always remember the person who stepped up and comforted them.  I remember one specific time when I was bullied and it still affects me today.

I was in first grade and we were working on spelling.  I struggled then and still find it a challenge today.  We were coming up with ideas on how to spell words.  In this case, the word we were working on was 'because'.  At this point, we had gotten 'B-E', which we understood was equal to the word 'be'.  For 'C-A', we realized we just had to memorize it. Last we were on the letters 'U-S-E'.  Our teacher asked for any suggestions.  My hand went up immediately.  The teacher called on me and I said, "You can write it as U-S-A and then you change the A to an E."  I felt so proud of myself and the teacher said it was a good idea.  She called on someone else to see what they suggested.  A girl sitting next to me was called on and she said, "Everyone knows that U-S-E is 'use' and it is so much easier to remember."  The teacher said good and she told us that U-S-E is 'use'.  I felt like someone just slapped me in the face.  I was upset that no one liked my idea.  To make it worse, at recess the girl who made the suggestion after me made fun of me calling me "clueless" and "stupid".

I sat on a hill and cried during most of the recess.  Then another girl from my class sat down beside me and put her arm around me.  She was one of the nicest girls in my class and friends with everyone.  She told me that she had the same idea as me but she was to scared to say it.  I felt better after she said that.  She told me that it wasn't worth worrying what anyone else thought of my idea.  I went home smiling at the end of that day because of her kind, comforting words.

To this day this event affects me.  Every time I write 'because', I write 'B-E-C-A-U-S-A then I erase the A and write an E.  It is a little time consuming but that is how I know how to spell 'because'.

So I hope that you will think twice before you say something hurtful which is what bullying someone is all about.  If you see someone being bullied, stand up for them.  They might not be able to stand up for themselves and it can really make a difference.