A while ago I saw a kid getting bullied, all the kids in the bus called him gay and they laughed at him. Nobody wanted to sit with him either. We'll call him Patrick. The kids who teased him were mostly the same age or bigger than him, some kids were even smaller. The saddest thing about him was that he had been treated this way for three years or more. I know this because when I just moved to Malaysia, he was on my bus and he was treated that way back then too. Can you imagine being bullied for so long? Well one day two people, lets call them Carl and Bob, did something quit mean and stupid. Carl was going to show everybody that he could touch his toes then Patrick tried. Patrick couldn't do it and a lot of people started laughing. He tried it again and Bob came and pushed him down this must have hurt him a lot. I had to say something, even though I was a 6th grader and all the kids were bigger than me, I had to say something. "You guys are so mean! What did he ever do to you?" I asked. Bob and Carl didn't have an answer, they just went back to their seats. I was conflicted about what to do, should I tell a teacher? Should I tell my friend? Was it my business? I decided to ask his permission to go tell the counselor about him. But the next day, he wasn't on the bus. I guess he just didn't want to go on the bus anymore, which was perfectly understandable in his situation. I decided to tell my best friend, except I didn't tell her all the details. She told me to go see Ms.Thompson, so that's what I did. Patrick is still not on the bus, but hopefully he gets treated better now.
There are a few things that I would do differently now. One of those things would be that I would tell Ms.Thompson immediately instead of waiting for so long. It literally took me a week to convince myself to tell Ms.Thompson and I feel so bad that he isn't on the bus anymore, I feel like if I had told her sooner, Patrick might still be on the bus today. Something that would help me stand up for Patrick would be that I would make better impression, or actually make more people listen to me, now since I know more people now and they could back me up. On the bus and in school. Something else I would do differently would be to ask the persons permission before consulting anybody else about the situation. Maybe the person had already told a teacher or his/her parents, then there would be no point in me repeating what the person already said. I keep feeling bad that I didn't ask Patrick before I told my friend and Ms.Thompson. I feel like I had a secret that wasn't mine but I told people. I guess it was the right thing to do, but I still can't help feeling bad.
Three goals I have for ISKL are; that people don't stick to their groups of friends and try to make new ones, that people don't choose friends over how they look, where they come from or the communities that they belong to and that people stand up to bullies . My first goal is that people don't stay in their group of friends and try to make new ones. This is really important because incase your best friend leaves, which is quite likely in an international school, you should be able to have other close friends to sit with at lunchtime and play with after school and on weekends. Friendship is very important, you're friends are with you through thin and thick and you all help each other. That's the best part of school; spending time with your friends. My second goal is that people choose friends over their personalities. Have you ever heard the sayings "Don't judge a book by its cover" and "It's what's on the inside that counts"? Well that is what my goal is all about, people being friends for their personalities or their "insides" and not their "cover". Personally the third goal is the most important one. Nobody should be bullied anywhere, not even bullies. Bullying is cruel and a sign of weakness, bullies are strong on the outside but weak on the inside. If you now anybody who gets bullied or see anybody getting bullied, confront the victim and brainstorm ideas to stop the bullying. Try your best to help others so that we can have a better, safer and happier environment to live in.
 |
| Just remember: NO BULLYING!! Sources:http://www.thetankgroup.com/?p=3 |
No comments:
Post a Comment