Bullying

Many problems come and go in American schools. Sometimes the focus is on healthier lunches are a drug free environment, but problems fizzle out after a while. However, bullying has been a problem since the beginning and it is still holding the reputation of being a major problem in schools today.
The problem with bullying is that it is such a hard to term to define. Where do you draw the line between teasing and bullying? It is often hard for the teachers to understand the difference without knowing how the kids treat each other outside of school, making them stay on the safe side and reporting bullying when it is only playing around with friends. This is still a much better option than not reporting it, though.
         I’ve experienced all sides of bullying. I have been bullied many times and I have done my share of bullying. As a young kid, I was picked on because of my size. Back then whoever was the fastest kid was the “cool” kid. I was always slower than everyone, so I was never allowed to sit at the “cool” table, and they let me know it too. Whenever I would try to sit at the cool table, people would rudely ask what I was doing there and then they would tell me to go find another table. It got to me because some of the people sitting at the table had been my friends for years before that, and I thought that they would always have my back. But they wouldn’t even look me in the eye while everyone else was telling me to move.
         I’ve also been the bully. I never bullied anybody physically, but I would tease kids past the point of joking as a middle school student. I would just mess with people and then when they would freak out, I would get a laugh from my friends standing around me. This was a time in my life where I would act out because I didn’t like what was happening in my own life. I am not proud of bullying kids, but it  made me realize doing to others what others had done to me would not solve anything.
         I’ve been accused of being the bully without ever doing anything, either. My size played a major factor in this. I switched schools and the first day of school, without me doing anything wrong, the guidance counselor pulls me into his office and tells me he doesn’t want any trouble here and that I should stay away from the smaller kids in the school. I was so shocked that he would say that to me without me doing anything wrong. I had not even had lunch and I was already being perceived as a bully who was going to torment the school for the next year. Then, when a case came where bullying was a factor, and one of my friends had done it, I was called into the office as well to be questioned on what happened when I wasn’t even there.
         Bullying has played a big role in my life, both directly and indirectly. It is a topic that people have to deal with in school now and a topic that is not going to go away. All we can do is keep fighting against it and try to make it as small of a problem as possible for kids. With more recognition of the problem, kids will be confident enough to report it and do something about it.