I had my bully, and it was excruciating. Not only the bully, but the intimidation I felt.
-Robert Cormier

It hurts when you can’t be yourself, when you’re so afraid of the repercussions so afraid that what you might say or do might give you away for who you truly are, so afraid of every one and every thing so afraid of… you. Bullying is something many of us have faced, in fact, it is estimated that 160,000 children miss school every day due to fear of attack or intimidation by other students, so says the National Education Association. Bullying is not just a “big kid” issue in high schools, 90% of 4th through 8th graders report being victims of bullying, it starts young and bullying transcends race, gender, and sexual orientation, every one gets bullied even the bullies?

If the majority of people have been bullied in middle school and elementary then, why does it continue to be such a big issue in high schools, it turns out that 86% of students said, “other kids picking on them, making fun of them or bullying them, causes teenagers to turn to lethal violence in the schools.” It is a fact that most people who bring guns and other weapons to school are focused on “getting back” at those who have hurt them, however it’s harder for people to relate to a situation when there is nothing to relate to.

“A caged bird stands on the grave of dreams”
-Maya Angelou

I feel like I’m growing up in a time when bullying is it’s own “art form” we’re not free from begets and yet it’s not socially acceptable to go around berating one and other. I feel as if bullying has become, if it wasn’t already, an under the table practice. I grew up in a small town in Wisconsin, Where I was one of 3 black people (my sister, My self and my sister’s friend) I was accustomed to “white” life. It was a bit of culture shock to go from a town of 2,000 people to having schools with that many kids crammed inside them, but shocked me most was peoples expectations of me to be “black” I would talk to my friends with “correct” grammar and be looked down on and called an “Oreo” or they’d just say “your so white”. What I remember most is I met a friend through a friend and we became very close but after I came out to him he would always call me his “Little Gay Oreo”, it’s those things that stuck with me, I do remember the first time I was called a n***** on the bus, but when you feel trapped inside yourself and some one validates just how powerless you feel inside your body and there’s nothing you can do, that’s worse than any insult any one could hurl at you. Bullying is a major political issue that you can address on a local state and federal level.