As of late, bullying and suicide stories have been rampant in the news. The ages and places are all different, but one thing is the same — people are hurting other people.
Bullying starts early and never really ends. Even in college, there are people who make fun of you for wearing pajamas to class or not attending that wicked party at Vista. No matter what you do or don’t do, someone will have something to say about it.
An 11-year-old boy, named Jaheem Herrera, committed suicide in April after being bullied, even after complaining about the harassment.
Herrera’s mother is trying to make it so lawsuits can be filed against local officials and the parents of the bullies. The bully’s mother won’t communicate with her. What choice does a mourning mother have? Considering that for every suicide, there are 25 attempts, the amount of mourning parents is not fully publicized.
Not all bullying leads to suicide, but the growing number of publicized deaths is frightening. Do bullies ever stop? Do they grow out of it? Do kids around the country realize there are others harassing their peers to death?
This doesn’t stop at the university level. College is the first experience of freedom for most of us and should be full of experimentation, fun, friends, but most importantly, acceptance.
Everyone is different. Even in a house full of bleached blondes, every one of them is unique. Yet we all try so hard to fit in with everyone else.
The better question is why are those with differences so ostracized? What is it about a change in the norm that freaks us out? The truth is that if everyone were the same, no one would ever grow intellectually or emotionally. Differences should be celebrated, not torn down.
Bringing others down has nothing but negative consequences. Pulling people up has nothing but positive outcomes. Bullying someone may feel good temporarily, but all that does is make someone else unhappy and make the bully a worse person.
It’s a vicious cycle. Proof of that lies in Herrera’s sister, who is being terrorized by bullies who talk about her brother. Jaheem Herrera committed suicide due to his tormenters, and now his sister is being bullied over that. When does it end?
The fact that bullying still takes place in college, whether we see it or not, is the very reason there should be serious action taken against bullies and their families early on. Steps need to be taken so that bullies understand that they can ruin lives with their words or actions. Every child should understand the power of words on a person’s psyche.
Schools should be teaching acceptance from the beginning instead of ignoring this issue. While there are anti-bullying laws in almost every state, there are no federal programs.
There is never a good reason to make fun of someone. Not for race, sexuality, gender, hair color, aspirations or anything else. There is simply no excuse.
Spread some positivity at amurrell@asu.edu
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