Recognize, Inform, Start, Ensure.
16 year old girl: “I guess they do it because they’re trying to help me. Pointing out my flaws I mean. It’s not like I wouldn’t tell them if their hair was messy and they had food in their teeth… But sometimes I feel it goes too far. Like they’re intentionally trying to cut me down. I want to feel beautiful, feel accepted. Disregard my obnoxious freckles and crooked smile, but I can’t. I’m in denial and they keep reminding me.”
Take a look back on this week. Its third period and you’re stuck in math class, back row, learning some sort of algebraic equation. Do you notice the girl in front of you, sunk back in her chair, or the boy to the left being whispered about by his peers? DO YOU notice the pain in her eyes, or the tears he’s trying to with-hold? Or are you focused on the clock, and doing the homework you forgot about. Maybe you’re paying complete attention. Either way, you find yourself sitting there as your classmates are being torn apart, chewed up, and spit back out. Is being a hero your job? NO. But it’s not the victims’ job to feel pain either.
To be bullied is not one’s choice. Bullying involves a series of actions that leave scars. Scars that dwell within and on your 14 year old daughter, best friend, and maybe even you. Like an illness bullying has the possibility to be treated. The acts needed to RISE against the stigma of bullying and find a solution are: R. recognizing the issue. I. informing the community. S. starting to implement a plan. And E. ensuring that the plan follows through.
Now, for some of you, an example of an ideal bully might be “Biff” from the movie Back to the Future, or the tougher, older, student that steals another child’s lunch money. But bullies are not always big and strong, or intentionally attempting to hurt another. This is one reason why it is important to R. recognize and define the issue and the roles of the victim and bully.
RECOGNIZING THE ISSUE is the first step in treating the bullying epidemic. According to Dan Olweus, creator of the OLWEUS BULLYING PREVENTION PROGRAM, a victim of bullying is described as “ exposed, repeatedly and over time, to negative actions on the part of one or more other persons, and he or she who has difficulty defending himself or herself.” The bully or bullies are easily defined as the people committing the actions. Defining each role is key to analyzing a situation and acting upon it. By R. RECOGNIZING the situation and figuring out the roles of each person involved it creates an easier situation to solve.
The second step in reducing the epidemic of bullying is I. INFORMING THE COMMUNITY. Do you think before you speak? Or just act upon impulse? Because even a slightly snide comment can impact a person. You never know if that one comment will be the trigger for someone else’s sadness. Every 15 minutes an American dies by suicide. And every 16 minutes someone is left to make sense of it. Do not allow yourself to be someone else’s reason to make such a choice. Someone’s life may depend on it. Kathleen Patel, author of THE BULLYING EPIDEMIC-GUIDE TO ARM YOU FOR THE FIGHTING quotes “ With ignorance comes fear-from fear comes bigotry. Education is the key to acceptance.” Education is indeed the key to acceptance…and change. And educating the community will give people a better understanding of the impacts and problems facing Bullying.
Next, you must S. START. Start a program where schools can make a lasting change. Maybe a mix-it-up at lunch day. Every Friday different students can sit with someone they don’t know. Or every first of the month an assembly meets to recognize certain students who have shown an impeccable act of kindness. Even a day of each week where students from various social standings come together and participate in a class “check-up’ and discuss how they feel and solve problems together. The possibilities are endless. In order to make a change, you must change. In order to see bullying falter, you must implement and act on a plan. Nothing will happen if you are not active.
If within .12 seconds 43 million, 900 thousand results could be identified with the web search of “bullying”, think of how many people could have possibly been impacted. In schools alone, each year 2.7 million students are harassed and affected by bullies. Struggling through this sickly disease and fighting for a solution. On a national average, 1 out of 10 students drop out of school because of the lack of communication and problem solving used to prevent the 2.1 million bullies that continually attack them. S. Starting a plan might keep kids in school and off the street. Finding a solution for bullying is only the first step in treating other issues such as suicide, depression, and stress.
After S. STARTING A PLAN you must E. ENSURE THAT THE PLAN FOLLOWS THROUGH. Monitoring such activities and continuing them is very important. Once a plan is in action you cannot let it go, otherwise we might end up where we are today; hypothesizing…
By R. Recognizing. I. Informing. S. Starting. And E. Ensuring. You are taking steps in helping…and even in some cases….saving a life. RISING against the stigma and difficulty of a problem such as bullying will not be easy, but the idea of R.I.S.E is the first 4 steps that will guide you to finding an answer. We have the possibility to change the world, one step at a time.
Now, once again look back into that third period classroom. Behind the front they put forward, the girl who sits alone at lunch, criticizing herself thanks you. The boy who’s picked on for his homo- sexuality appreciates your input. I thank you. The support for making a change and working towards the end of bullying has saved and impacted many lives. My life was saved… SO,Do the world a favor. R.I.S.E. “RISE” AGAINST THE STIGMA AND MAKE A CHANGE.