Our school had an anti-bullying assembly on Friday. Suicide was talked about a lot. Needless to say, this brought up some bad memories for me. I ended up having to leave at the end of the assembly to go calm down.
During the slideshow of the kids who had committed suicide, I was disgusted to hear several students laughing for one reason or another. There was also an anti-bullying pledge, which we were only supposed to sign if we took it seriously. Waiting to sign it, I heard several kids make cruel comments about others over the most ridiculous things. I was fighting back tears and these children were continuing their 'harmless' gossip or whatnot.
Anyways, I went to talk to the guidance counselor and clam down. I brought up the subject of a boy in my Trig class who was bullied (most often through kids pretending to be nice in the hopes that he'd say something stupid so they could throw it back in his face). This bullying took place while the teacher was present. I couldn't stand to let it happen anymore. It was too much like what I went through. I didn't want anyone else to experience that pain. So I told the counselor and she thanked me then told me that they had no idea it was going on.
They are either completely full of bullshit or completely blind. Either way, I know that I can't just expect things to get better for him. I have to do more than have the occasional friendly exchange with him.
I am going to stand up for him. Even if it means losing all the social progress I've made so far. I can't stand by and let it happen anymore. At best, I will make a change in many lives. At worst, I can at least deflect some of the attacks away from this boy and be there to talk to him.