Bullying - How Serious Is It?

    Bullying takes place in almost all schools, although some cases are more serious than others. What people don't realize is how serious bullying is. The movie Bullied helped to show how truly dangerous and hurtful bullying is; it doesn't only affect the student being bullied, but also the person doing the bullying, bystanders, and the parents involved. Jamie Nabozny had to deal with mental, physical, and verbal abuse, and it led him to feel the need to kill himself and run away from home. He couldn't take all the abuse, and rather than helping him, officials chose to ignore what was going on. Even worse, they blamed Jamie for all that was happening to him and told him that if he wanted to stop being bullied then he should stop acting so gay. By not stopping the bullying early on, it taught the students who were bullying Jamie that their actions were okay and allowed in school. Unfortunately, this led the bullying situation to spiral out of control; it grew so out of hand that it physically put Jamie's life in danger.
      One of the cases that really captured my attention was the case of United States v. Lori Drew. We read a short piece on this case in class; it explained how a mother, Lori Drew, created a fake Myspace profile to both spy and harass a young girl named Megan Meier. Due to the intense harassment and cyberbullying, Meier killed herself. After researching a little more about this case, I have found out that Lori Drew was convicted and then acquitted. Even though Drew ended up not being punished, many actions were taken to prevent this from happening again. An harassment law in Missouri was created to cover bullying over the internet. I think that this is incredibly important, because people must recognize that bullying comes in all different forms. Although the media often portrays bullying as some physical actions, it can also be in the form of verbal abuse, or even over the internet and through technology. I also learned about the Megan Meier Cyberbullying Prevention Act that was introduced to Congress. The bill was designed to set a definition for the term cyberbullying; the definition claims that the behavior must be repeated, hostile, and severe to fall under that definition. The bill has not been passed yet, but it will hopefully soon, because many people often do not realize how serious cyberbulling is. It can even be worse than physical harassment, due to the fact that the bullying is not done face-to-face, so it is easier to say more hurtful and threatening things.
      I believe that bullying is a small problem at DHS, but people do not often realize it, because the bullying at our school is less physical and more verbal. To most people, bullying is defined as something physical, such as being pushed into a locker or tripped in the hallway. However, at DHS, bullying takes a new turn, and is often heard rather than seen. People are very judgmental at our school, and it causes people to feel the need to conform. It seems as if those that dress differently than the majority of the school are the ones that are most often made fun of and picked on. It is hard to stop this type of bullying, because it usually happens when large groups of people talk about others behind people's backs. It is not usually evident to school officials, because most of the bullying is all talk.
    Bullying is a very serious issue, but is something that is hard to prevent in schools. Teenagers are teenagers and they will act as they please and often conform to what others are doing. However, as individuals, we have the responsibility to make sure others feel safe. I believe that if students are more willing to stand up for those being bullied, then they will be able to outnumber and overpower the bullies at the school. The students who bully others often feel powerful when they are in that position because no one ever tells them to stop. However, if more bystanders were willing to say that bullying is wrong and that it needs to stop, those who are doing the bullying would not be as willing to continue with their wrongful actions. Bullying cannot be stopped unless everyone puts forth an effort; students must be aware of the consequences of both bullying, and being a bystander to bullying.