take a stand, make a change

lately the news has been filled with a storming sea of adolescent suicides, directly linked to bullying. instead of these individuals enjoying some of the happiest moments of their lives, they instead lived in constant fear of humiliation. they instead are dead. now i am not an advocate for suicide. i have experienced the tumultuous pillage that suicide brings. however, what i find to be so discouraging is that these individuals felt their escape would only be obtained by ending their life. shame on the individuals who bullied them.

looking back on my early years of schooling, i remember the times i spent sitting in the bathroom stall during lunch, just so i could avoid the taunts and torments that occured on a regular basis. you would think that after experiencing years of being humiliated, that in me would build a sense of empathy. thoughtfulness, compassion, and equality knocked at my door, and yet i choose not to answer. willfully i clenched to the hopes of being popular. by making an individual feel less of a person, made me feel more like one. then there were the times that i had witnessed someone being bullied, and i did nothing. i didn't want to be bullied myself. i was a coward.

we have all been there. we have all been bullied. we have all bullied. we have all been witnesses to bullying.

bullying is an everyday, constant occurrence in our lives. bullying doesn't stop once you leave the school walls, it exists in the workplace, at the grocery store, on the road, etc... it is like a festering abscess that will not heal, and why should it? bullying will not heal, it will not stop until we as a society put a stop to it. "speak up".

“never be bullied into silence. never allow yourself to be made a victim. accept no one's definition of your life, but define yourself.” ~harvey s. firestone

http://http//www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/partners-join-to-help-cartoon-networks-stop-bullying-speak-up-build-momentum-to-bullying-prevention-awareness-day-104502664.html