This video was included at the end:
I'd like to extend the broad discussion of bullying to this blog. You don't even need to go read the memoirs to add to this conversation. We have a lot of posts citing specific bullying incidences due to controversy surrounding homosexuality and race. Are these the only two bases for hate crimes? What else are people intolerant of? What kinds of people bully and what leads them to do it? What can we do about it?
What draws me into this discussion are the poll numbers SDL cited at the beginning of his memoirs. He wrote:
"I tested the waters. I placed a very unscientific poll on my blog and asked my readers to “check all statements that apply to you now or in the past.” I let it run for 48 hours, curious to see what the results would be. At the end of two days, more than 22,000 different users participated. It was by far the most involvement I’d ever had in a poll. But far more shocking than the number of participants was the result of the poll.
43% of participants reported they had been bullied “viciously.”
64% of participants reported they had been bullied “minorly.”
27% of participants reported they had been a bully to others.
48% of participants reported they had seen others being bullied and done nothing.
57% of participants reported they had seen others being bullied and stepped in.
And only 0.6% of participants reported that they had never bullied, been bullied, or seen bullying."
These numbers surprised and shocked me. I can't think of any time when I've been bullied - or even witnessed bullying. I do vividly remember trying to turn my friends against someone I disliked in elementary school once (we'd leave this girl out of our games and talk amongst ourselves about how 'uncool' she was). It lasted about 4 days before my teacher sat me down and was very blunt with me - I didn't realize how cruel I'd been until then. I never did anything like it intentionally again. Was I a bully? I think so. Did it stem from a fear of people who are different from me? I'm not sure.
What are your thoughts? What have your personal experiences been with bullying? Does all bullying stem from misunderstanding of 'diversity'?
In seventh grade, we were only allowed to have 8 people per lunch table. We usually got away with having 9, but one day a teacher told us if he came back in 5 minutes and there were still 9 of us, we would all get reported. The girls decided to vote someone off of the table. Since I opted out of voting, the girls asked me to be the one who counted the votes. Everyone unanimously voted this girl who had few friends and no one else to sit with. I had to ask her to go sit somewhere else. I felt so bad and some days I sat with her when she looked especially lonely. I never meant to be a bully, but in middle school I was too afraid of losing friends to do much else about it. I haven't forgotten that day or that girl and apparently she hasn't either. I was on facebook the other day and found a poem she wrote on a friend's wall who was at that table.
ReplyDelete"Amanda oh Amanda
I hate you, you bitch.
when i think about 7th grade,
it makes me itch.
If only you hadnt kicked me out that day,
Amanda oh Amanda
I hate you, okay?
I'd rather sit with God in Heaven
or at a lunch table alone
or with kevin.
You've broken my heart
You know you were able
to not put my number
under the table.
Amanda oh Amanda
you're such a big bully.
But now that we're friends,
I love you fully.
If i could only erase
that one terrible day
Amanda oh Amanda
YOU SUCK, OKAY?"
These two girls became best friends at the end of high school. Luckily she found friends, but it hurts to think of all the people who are victims of bullying and never move past it. We are all so precious to Heavenly father. I can imagine it is so hard for him to see so much hate between his children. I think its also important to realize that whenever someone is bullied, there is a bully and a victim, but there's usually a bystander as well. Most of us aren't usually bullies or victims, but we've probably all witnessed it. We should all be actively trying to spread tolerance in our society.
Hannah Pardoe