Craig's Speech

We all know what bullying is. It could come in the form of calling someone a name, spreading rumors or physically hurting someone.Unfortunately, it's a lot more serious than people may realize.

It makes me angry, because when an adult made fun of another persons name he lost his job at the Breakfast news company. (which he deserved) But when kids call each other names, they just do it back. In my opinion, bullies need to be punished more heavily for bullying. Less and less kids are going to the teacher for help. A bully may try to convince their victims that by going to the teacher, they will look weak. Truly, they do this to avoid their own downfall.

It gets worse.

Think about this; in some colleges the police come in to check for weapons. Thats right, weapons. Knives, scissors, perhaps even guns. Some bullies are capable of killing their victims. Does this worry you? It worries me. Imagine losing your son or daughter, or sister or brother or perhaps a close friend to someone who bullies them, it would devastate you. Or, perhaps, losing your own life. Thats why we need to stop bullying from the source.

It's not just kids we need to worry about, it's also adults. Attacking someone is considered assault and insulting someones name, gender or race over and over is considered harassment. And to think that in the 1800's in America, dark skinned people had to go in a different bathroom from the white people. And the black people were enslaved, and forced to work for the white people. That is also a form of bullying, called racism.

In addition to racism, women were also mistreated. Lets go back a few centuries to the time of Henry VIII. He had six wives. Six Wives. And when he got bored of them, he had them executed (except Jane Seymour, Henry's third and favorite wife who died from natural causes).

Racism, sexism, name calling and physical abuse are all forms of bullying, and it is a serious matter.

I know all this because I have been in this position. I have been called a nerd, retard, geek and more which I won't name. You don't need to be angry with who you are, and you can just accept yourself as you are. You don't need a bully to tell you what you can and cannot do.

Do you think that we need to be more aware about bullying? Should we be more strict with our school rules?