“You ruined my life and now I’m going to ruin yours.”
This is not about fucking guns
“Why you people making fun of me? Why you laughing at me?”
Those are the words that an 8th grade student who attended a leadership camp I was a counselor at for the last two weekends heard yesterday morning before a boy at Sparks Middle School (Sparks, NV) where she attends pulled out a gun and killed a teacher, shot two students, and then took his own life.
What more does it take for us to recognize how serious an issue bullying is? When do we as society change our mentality from “toughen up” to recognizing that this is a real problem that needs real action.
This is not about fucking guns.
This is about education and psychology. This is about giving our youth a better understanding of empathy and emotional intelligence.
When I went to Colfax High School (Colfax, CA) my freshman and sophomore year I was called sand nigger on an almost regular basis. I was bullied for my skin tone and my height/size more than anything else. Eventually I realized that those doing the bullying were unhappy with themselves and therefore felt the need to lash out. I learned from the experiences and have long since moved on.
With pain, regret, and embarrassment I admit to also being engaged in bullying and watching others get bullied while I stood by and did nothing, mostly through middle school. I was so selfish that I allowed my own uncomfortability, were I to stand up for someone, to outweigh the pain of those being teased, made fun of, and laughed at.It wasn’t until I became aware of the fact that everyone goes through incredible adversity in life and that everyone has a story that I grew out of bullying and decided to no longer be a bystander.
Simple awareness was all it took.
I believe we have an obligation to give our youth this awareness through education on personal growth, empathy, and leadership. Short term, we reduce the likelihood of bullying. Long term, we produce individuals who will value life and some of the most important aspects of it.
