Bullying is a crime

Photo+by+Avietta+Singletary

Avi Singletary

Posters around the hallways announce statistics and information that students should pay attention to.

Bullying is when someone repeatedly harasses an individual even after being asked to stop, knowing it’s making the person uncomfortable. Bullying can happen in a lot of different forms, including: verbal is words and teasing, physical actually touching the person, and cyber involving electronic media.

I was bullied in elementary school as the “nerd” of the school because I was small and wore glasses. People often threw things at me. What did I do to deserve to be bullied? I was so scared to tell anyone that I just let it keep happening. It would have been nice to have someone by my side, but I had no one.

Bystanders are just as bad as the person doing the bullying. You cannot just sit back and watch a person get bullied. You have two options: Stand up to the bully or go get an adult and report it. You could be stopping a chain of bullying. Bullies usually attack in a pattern, from one person to the next. Twenty-eight percent of students 12-18 reported being bullied at school. One in three U.S. students say they have been bullied.

Some signs that a child is being bullied are not wanting to go to school, loss of appetite, anxiety, wearing clothes that cover certain parts of their body, and various other behaviors. Often a child is too scared of the bully to tell an adult. That gives the bully an advantage and they know that.

Bullies look for a person that looks weak and vulnerable because they are an easy target. People bully for many reasons. They might have been bullied and they think it will make themselves feel better. Or perhaps they are judgmental and they have insecurities within themselves so they take it out on other people.

If you see someone being bullied stand up for them and be their friend.  Lafayette does a lot to be proactive, with anti-bullying programs that our school bullying coach, Mr. Jefferson, is in charge of. We also have an anti-bullying day that is dedicated to the prevention of bullying. Bullying is no laughing matter and needs to stop everywhere.

Photo by Avietta Singletary
Mr. Jefferson is one of the staff members who goes out of his way to help fight bullying at LHS.