Bullies

     So here I am, and another Friday has come once again. I love fridays almost as much as I love cats, so that's saying a lot. This week has just added to my experience points as I go up the scale and start teaching more classes. I have been thinking a lot about bullies lately, as well as the types of students that tend to be bullied. I just read a short book called "Give a Boy a Gun" by Todd Strasser. It's a story about two boys that are bullied all throughout their school years, and decide to take revenge, and hold a school shooting. You can read more at http://www.toddstrasser.com/html/gabag.htm.
     I can't stop thinking about this book, and it makes me wonder how much bullying actually goes on at the school I am teaching at. I know there are bullies everywhere, and sometimes we just don't see them. We don't see the bullying going on and no one wants to be a tattletale. How do we stop this kind of violence? How do we see the signs of a child that is being bullied?.. and to that extent how can we help that child? I hate bullies more than anything, this book is definitely a wake up call to stop violence and bullying!
     The boys in this book that are bullied hate their lives. They don't think they have anything to live for, and so they decide to take their own lives, as well as their enemie's lives. That's how school shootings happen. So how do we recognize one of these boys, and how can we help? Well first things first, we need to stand up against the bullies, and make sure the proper measures are taken so they aren't bullied anymore, inside and outside of school. 
     In middle school and high school, I always saw signs against bullying hanging up around the school, and I never thought much about it. I never really saw much bullying, although my schools were MAJORLY cliquey. I thought most people minded their own business. It wasn't until one day when I realized there are bullies everywhere, including my own schools. I was a senior in high school, my younger brother was a freshman. We have very opposite personalities. I am the loud type that talks to everybody, and he is the very shy and quiet type that doesn't talk to many people. One day after school my dad and I were asking him about his yearbook, and for some reason he wouldn't show it to us, so I jumped up and ran to the bedroom to grab it, and he fought really hard and got it away from me. So i let it go, but I walked back into his bedroom a little later and I found him sitting there scribbling in his yearbook with a black marker. I started asking him what it said, and who wrote it, and why he was scribbling, and he wouldn't answer any of my questions. He just started crying. I felt so bad. I even started crying. Why would someone do this to my little brother is all I kept thinking. Why are some people such jerks, and why would someone deliberately ruin his yearbook. I still never found out who the bully was, but I will never forget that moment, when I knew there were people in my school being bullied, my own little brother! To this day my brother still doesn't talk much, and I never know what he's thinking. It bothers me to know someone out there could be saying hurtful things to him, and he would never tell a soul. We should all strive to put bullying to an END, and teach our students, children, peers, and all that we know to love one another. That differences are okay, and everyone is unique! We shouldn't judge other people!!!