Gertrude is always at my bus stop. She lives right next door.  She moved here about 6 months ago and We soon found out that Gertrude’s family (her mom and younger brother and sister) had moved in with our neighbors who were their cousins. I was on the bus one day when she walked up to the front b, sat down next to a 5th grader and kept calling him “Maddy” when his name was “Matt” and she knew it too. She kept trying to get his attention and he clearly wasn’t up for it. Then he turned and said “Go away freak.” And she smiled and started swearing at him and calling him all sorts of mean things. She then walked back and sat down and smiled as she said “That was fun.” I sat up, and looked around at the group of kids around her, whom I knew were nice kids, and they said nothing. I decided to sit back down because I was too flustered to speak. I thought, Isn’t it sad that one must be in such desperate need to make someone feel that way about themselves, and get that attention. And I felt bad for her. I looked over at her house and saw two people (Her family I assumed) smoking and talking, and it wasn’t hard to figure out why she did what she did. But then I thought, was that the real reason? What else contributed?
About 90% of 4th to 8th graders report to being victims of bullying. And yet still, some schools are taking no further actions against bullying. According the Merriam Webster Dictionary bullying is “to treat abusively” but other definitions may be “to use power over someone”. Middle School bullying is a major problem in American schools. People are mean and make other kids feel bad about themselves. Right now, some schools are making a change to prevent bullying because they want their school to be a safe place for students. However, not a lot are making that change, so many people have been raising awareness of middle school bullying, by telling kids to speak up and then they “punish” the bully, but I have noticed that although that does work very well, kids still feel hurt, and the bullies themselves also may feel hurt and that’s why they are bullying, but I think that we should stop it right at the source: the bully.
Stopping the source seems to arouse a problem of how to stop the bully, when another question occurs which is “Why do kids bully?” Well, according to a survey in January of 2015 students in the eighth grade ? students have admitted to being bullied, and most students think that kids bully because they feel bad about themselves and in order to make themselves feel better, they need to make other kids feel bad about themselves.  And it doesn’t stop in middle school. All-In-All, the world is just filled with bullying and, if it weren’t, well then there wouldn’t be any wars because what starts wars? Big ole’ bullies. But even if a kid is brought up in a  good, clean household, what makes them bully? As I have observed, some kids just want to see a negative reaction like when Gertrude smiled as the kid turned around. She needed to see that she had control over his feelings and he couldn’t do anything about it, but let me just say, I could, and you bet I did. It could also be that the other kids were mean to them so, like Matt, they turn to the bully and bully them.
Schools can help this problem by better monitoring the halls and buses where most attacks occur. They can also set up meetings and better educate their students about this topic. And, adults could be better role models for children, and maybe start a program for those families who can’t provide a good setting and help them.
I conclude by saying that I don’t know why kids bully. Sure, most people say that it is in their upbringing and home life that they develop it from, and then other kids see them and how much influence and power they have and begin doing it too, but why? Why would someone be so mean and so hurtful just to make themselves smile. And another, deeper question arises, What is wrong in their brain that makes them enjoy seeing other’s pain, and enjoy making someone feel that way? Why? And my answer; I honestly don’t know. Maybe it’s because they were dropped as a baby or got a concussion from sports, but I don’t know why anyone would enjoy to see someone so sad, sometimes even to the point where they would kill themselves or endanger other kids because they weren’t compassionate. And it’s not just middle school either, that’s what the real world is, a whole bunch of bullies. Some people think that bullying in middle school will help prepare them for the real world, but then isn’t that like saying that the real world is just a whole bunch of big, mean, middle schoolers? Anyways, we can help prevent others from getting hurt emotionally, mentally, and physically by sparking a change. You, yourself can help right now by looking out for others and being aware that bullying is a problem and if you have the power to stop it, do it.