There I was, junior year, sitting with my boyfriend Ryan by the ceramics hallway classroom for lunch. The hall stood empty as everyone was in the lunch room or in class. Ryan and I were on our phones trying our best not to notice the girl who had been giving us a hard time. As we tried to keep conversation we were interrupted by Emma.

“Keep looking at me, I dare you keep looking at me,” Emma says while calling out insults. 

“Can’t you just leave us alone? We want nothing to do with you,” I responded as Emma continued walking towards us. 

The bell for the seventh period rang. I frantically ask Mr. Rumohr, the ceramics teacher, “Did you happen to hear what just went down out there literally a minute ago?” 

“No, what happened?” Mr. Rumohr asked. He assured me that he would notify Ms. Gordon, our assistant principal. 

Not much was done. I knew this was wrong. I was fuming; nobody should have to deal with this. I decided to contact the school board. Admittedly my email was very lengthy, I had a lot to say. With every hour that passed, I thought of all kids who have to deal with a lot worse. I had it easy compared to what some of these kids do to each other these days. 

“Nobody should have to fear coming to school everyday. This isn’t right. I respect what you guys do for our school however the way this is being handled is out of line. Nothing positive will happen if this isn’t taken seriously,” I wrote in my email.

To the board members my email was a wake up call. The board reinforced their bullying policy and made all teachers aware of where these incidents cross a line. I hope the school continues to do this and become more strict as bullying still affects me to this day however I’m grateful with how they spoke out about it. Speaking out about it not only helped me out, but has helped others understand their rights as a student regarding bullying.