Bullying is a wide-spread issue in middle and high schools across the country. Everyone knows the ‘school bully’ or the kid to stay away from; needless to say, no one likes him or her. Some people say that these people bully other people because they can’t find happiness in their own lives, or that they think they are funny because they pick on smaller, younger kids. They don’t realize they aren’t cool for doing it; they are just plain rude.

Many people when they hear the word bully think of the kid who takes their lunch money, or the kid who shoves them in a trashcan. But when I hear the word bully, I think of someone who doesn’t have a successful future to look towards; someone who will be working for me one day. When I see a bully, I simply walk away. I don’t get involved with them and their senselessness.

Bullying isn’t going to get you anywhere in the future. When you are applying to colleges or for a job, will you put bullying kids in school on your application? I didn’t think you would. Kids should stop bullying, not only for the kids who are being affected by their actions, but for themselves. Some simply don’t understand they are hurting themselves more than others.

For the kids that are being bullied; through words, actions, or both, they need to stand up for themselves. Some kids don’t know they have a guidance counselor or someone to go to about bullies; teachers need to inform their students about these resources. Some bullies completely take away another kid’s confidence and kids don’t go for things they can achieve, like being on a sports team, running for student government, and so on. Everyone deserves a chance at what they want and deserve, but some kids don’t because bullies tell them not to, or they take away their self-confidence.

Bullying, within itself, needs to be addressed at a higher level in schools. I’ve only been at my school since last September, but we have never had any assembly or anything about bullying; not to say it goes on a lot at our school. Some schools I’ve visited, for one reason or another, have had posters about bullying and so on; but from what I hear from friends and family, not many schools have assemblies or talks in the classrooms about bullying. Schools need to address it whether it’s a school-wide assembly or just a five minute talk during homeroom, one class at a time.

So all in all, bullying is just simply wrong. There isn’t a better way to describe it; it needs to be stopped and brought up in schools across the country. It should be mandatory to have an assembly, at least once a year in all schools; public, charter, and private. We can stop bullying, if we take the right steps, but it’ll only work if we stand together.