PAGE 30 | PERSPECTIVES | HILITE | HILITE.ORG | SEPT. 12, 2013
PERSPECTIVES IN FOCUS: BULLYING OPINION
Photographer Omeed Malek
OPINION
Reporter Jessica Tao
Silent Killer. Bully-induced Bullying Happens. Students suicide is a growing problem must do their part for the new in all schools across the nation. bullying policy to be effective. I recently got the opportunity to watch a documentary I had been wanting to see for a very long time. The documentary is titled “Bully” and is directed by highly acclaimed filmmaker Lee Hirsch. The movie chronicles the lives of five middle school and high school students and their daily lives in school for roughly a year. Sadly, these students were not randomly selected by the filmmaker to be the subjects of this documentary. They were chosen by the cruel hand of teenage bullying. These five students represent only a limited sampling of a larger problem in this country. These five students are the victims of bullying. To those of you who may say, “So what? We’ve all been bullied at one point in our lives,” I say this to you: have you ever been bullied so mercilessly that you considered suicide as the only viable solution? That question is what differentiates modern day bullying from bullying in the past. That central question has shifted the teen bullying debate from “enforcing peaceful educational environments” to saving a human life. The stories told in “Bully” are those of students who have struggled emotionally, physically and mentally at the hands of bullies and at the hands of aloof and passive school boards. In the past decade, bullying has taken on many forms ranging from physical bullying to cyber bullying. This problem is central to every school district in every state in this country. Tori Nakol, Billy Lucas, Angel Green, Jamarcus Bell, Braylee Rice. These are all the names of Indiana students who only recently committed suicide to escape instances of vicious gossip and physical, mental and emotional bullying. According to a recent statistic by the Center for Disease Control, 4,600 teens commit suicide annually due to varying degrees of bullying. That harrowing number is equivalent to the size of the CHS student body. Just as many students have experienced from first grade to senior year, I have witnessed and sometimes been on the receiving end of bullying. Though what I witnessed and endured was not as severe as the torture leading to the final curtain falling on the lives of many bullied Indiana teens, it has inspired me to be more vocal on this matter. Bullying is no longer a school nuisance. It will remain a legitimate life-and-death matter until school boards, students, teachers and parents come to the realization that the list of teens lost to
Be the Change
bully-induced suicide will not stop after Tori Nakol, Billy Lucas, Angel Green, Jamarcus Bell and Braylee Rice. So, as a human being to another human being, I ask you: Whose name is going to be next on this tragic list? Your friend? Your brother? Your sister? You? In order to counteract the increasing number of teen suicides, we need to reevaluate ourselves. Whether you are a school board member, student, teacher or parent there is still something you can do to improve the quality of education and the quality of life for students who otherwise would be on the receiving end of emotionally traumatizing bullying and gossip. Be the difference. Be the voice of change. Be the stand-up person you need to be for the sake of the downtrodden. After watching “Bully,” I felt emotionally moved. I wanted, more than anything, to mentor and guide the five bullied youth in the documentary. Then it dawned on me: These problems are not isolated to that documentary—they exist in every school. I realized that I could be the voice of change; that I could be the difference; that I could stand up for those who have had a piece of their lives stolen from them at the hands of bullying. H And so could you. The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Omeed Malek at omalek@hilite.org.
We’ve all seen bullying. Whether in the form of malicious rumors, exclusion from a group, or nasty texts, many of us have been subjected to it, perpetrated it or allowed it. Regardless of the role any of us have taken in bullying, we can all partake in the most important part: stopping it. Indiana has recently instituted a new anti-bullying policy that now includes external jurisdiction—meaning you can be punished for bullying off school grounds— and a mandatory obligation to report incidents of bullying. It is true that a stricter policy will help to deter bullying, but why did we wait until now to reinstate another bullying policy? Does it really matter? From my experience, I only wish that this policy could have come sooner, because I, and dozens of others, would have felt more secure about coming forward. During my freshman year, there was a period of time when I dreaded coming to school because of the intense bullying. School became so painful that I wanted to transfer schools. To be pushed to the brink of mental and emotional exhaustion by your “friends” is a harrowing experience—and I am most definitely not the only one to have felt this way. However, whenever teachers read off the new bully policy rules, I lost track of the amount of eye rolls that circulated the room. It seemed like nobody cared about the consequences that came with this new stand against bullying, or realized the effect it could have, which makes the efficacy of a policy change questionable. The new anti-bullying policy is completely necessary; however, will it be completely effective? The two major changes to the policy punishes students for bullying that happens off school grounds and makes reporting
Strive for Yourself
bullying mandatory. The difficulty that administrators face is the secrecy involved with bullying. While everyone acknowledges that it happens, nearly no one will report it. The new policy revolves around the concept that “You must help us to help you,” meaning that we need to do our part so administrators can, too. We should eradicate the social taboo that comes with being bullied, because this will encourage victims to come forward, and discourage bullies from continuing their act. Turning a blind eye to the issue has solved nothing and will continue to solve nothing until we all take a stand. I am challenging you to be “that person.” Don’t take shame in standing up with the victim: Take pride in being brave enough to do what’s right. You could make someone’s day, change an attitude, or even save a life. It is essential for us, as members of a Greyhound nation, to acknowledge bullying’s presence and maximize our efforts to make our school a great place for everyone. And, I’m proud to say that although this is not the end to bullying in Carmel High School, it is H certainly a great start. The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the HiLite staff. Reach Jessica Tao at jtao@hilite.org.
Videos: The Battle Against Bullying Scan the QR codes to check out these insightful YouTube videos on the issue of bullying:
“250 Balloons to Remember the Fallen” a PSA by Davey Wavey
Ellen Degeneres’s call for change after bully-induced suicides
Trailer for the Lee Hirsch documentary “Bully”