There comes a time when horseplay and insults have to be left behind us and students need to grow up. They need to become mature adults and that means no name calling and no bullying.
I used to be bullied as a child in elementary school and personally know how degrading the act is, but children will be children. Once those children have grown and started learning about moral rights, bullying should be punished because we are no longer children. We are growing adults who respond to others civilly and responsibly. Who cares whether someone is gay or straight, black or white? Just because our race, religion, skin color, or sexuality is different, doesn’t mean we aren’t human beings.
In many respects, no matter what, we are still people who look for others to respond to us in positive ways and crave a human connection, whether that be romantically or not. That’s the person’s choice, not yours, and they shouldn’t live with the fear that people are always judging them for that. Bully victims are between two to nine times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University. A study in Britain found that at least half of suicides among young people are related to bullying (bullyingstatistics.org).
What people don’t realize is that they themselves secretly don’t want to be judged, but openly admit to judging others. “Misjudgments can drive discriminatory behavior such as racial profiling and contribute to the alarming drop-out, incarceration, and mortality rates among our minority youth,” objective leader of Psychology today, Elizabeth R. Thornton, says in her article, “How often do you judge people unfairly? What is the cost?”
So many more of the world’s children are growing up with the effects of bullying and inferior thinking with no help and no way out. I don’t believe that. I think there will always be a way out and that we will always be able to help someone in need. One way? By cutting judgment and bullying out of our lives. There’s no need and it’s only hurting our children. We are better than this. We are better than putting others down so we can feel better. We can make the world better today, one step at a time, and I am willing to try.

There are many different ways to stop bullying. One way includes getting help from others, including teachers and parents. Bullying is a scary thing but it doesn’t have to be handled alone. Standing up the the bully politely is a second way, but should be exercised with care. Bullies are people too and should also be treated as such. Bullying may be hard to talk about but steps must be taken to achieve the desired result of final freedom from discrimination, so discuss it with someone who cares about you. People care and can help you through this difficult time. You are not alone.