He's the lonely kid walking down the hall or the boy with the black eye. She's the girl with the thick black makeup or the one you never see eating. They're the ones with scars and unspoken words that they bottle up and hold in. They are the "freaks"and the "outcasts" of the school no one talks too. They are the ones victim to bullying of any sort. Three of the biggest causes of death: verbal abuse, physical bullying, and cyber-bullying.
Verbal abuse is common because it's the easiest and most effortless to do. The saying "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" was meant to encourage people to not let something someone says affect them. Calling someone names is one thing, but that's dying down. More common these days is gossip; talking about someone behind their back, or starting rumors. Talking about someone usually includes, "Oh she's a freak," "I hate her but she doesn't know," "She's so annoying, i wish she would die," these can really hurt people, especially the last one. People will take these seriously, sometimes a little too seriously. Starting a rumor about someone will get serious very fast. I've heard stuff from, "She steals money," to, "She's pregnant. Such a slut, throwing herself around like that." Eventually these will spread and push them over the edge.
Physical bullying is bad as well. Mostly, its common with guys. The strong football player vs. the wimpy nerd (totally stereotypical, but seriously, it can happen to anyone). This is usually where people get depressed and seclude themselves from everybody. They get made fun of because they are weak and can't defend themselves. Constantly getting bullied, these people feel worthless and most likely, will end their life.
Now, our newest fascination is the internet. Worldwide search engines, social networking sites, entertainment sites, everything. It also happens to be a new form of bullying too. People hack a social networking profile (everyone has one, it's easy to pick a victim), they post embarrassing things, often sexual or offensive things that people look down upon. Now, it's an open target. Whatever is posted is always there. Soon, the torture and embarrassment is transferred into school (bringing in our little friend verbal abuse). In some unfortunate cases, physical bullying is brought into it. The world is a hazardous place for us high school kids now-a-days, but there's nothing we can do about that. The only thing we can do is change people (yeah, right). Bullying is a serious topic and it's growing. There is no way we can stop it. If you or someone is getting bullied, get help. a teacher, a counselor, a parent, anyone, before it's too late.
Two movies related to this topic are Bang, Bang, You're Dead (a high school boy is bullied and shunned when he makes a bomb threat. Later, he gets the lead in a school play about a high school shooting from a student who was bullied. It's a beautiful story that demonstrates the dangers of bullying) and Cyberbully (self explanatory)
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