STUDENTS LEARN COMPASSION DURING ANTI-BULLYING WEEK
BY DANA COLLINS
Every day, whether you know it or not people are being
bullied. At Shanghai Livingston American School, we
dedicated an entire week to support "Slashing out
Bullying," also called the “Anti-bullying week,” During
the Anti Bullying week we tried to make people feel
more comfortable and supported. By participating in
this week, people made an effort to help students who
are being bullied or have been bullied, to feel
supported by all their teachers and peers. Every day of
the Anti-Bullying week, we were supposed to wear a
certain kind or color of clothing: Tuesday was sweats
day, Wednesday was blue day, Thursday was sports
day, and Friday was black and red day; and we did all
this to bring people together.
Mina Marinkovic, a junior at SLAS, commented on what
she would do if she was being bullied, She replied, "I
would never be bullied, I would go talk to that person
to make them stop, if that didn't work, then I would
talk to a teacher." She also said, “Bullying is just wrong.
People shouldn't be mistreated like that."
Bullying is when a person or a group of people is trying
to hurt or control another person. Bullying tactics
includes: hitting, kicking, slapping, and making
someone do something that they don't want to do.
Nevertheless, bullying can also be verbal: calling
people names, threatening, gossiping, can all make
someone feel insecure. If someone is being bullied,
they should not keep it a secret, instead they should
immediately go to talk to someone whom they can
trust, like a teacher, a friend or a parent. Bullies are can
be bigger and stronger than the person being bullied,
and they do it to feel as if they have more power, either
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socially or for personal reasons, bullies actually might
have been bullied themselves, or made to think that
they have no power which leads them to want to control
or hurt other people to achieve it. On the other hand,
there is another type of bullying called cyber bulling;
which is when someone is being threatened, made fun
of, or humiliated online. Cyber bullying is a matter that
should not be taken lightly, since it happens every day,
and basically no one does anything to stop it. Therefore,
it is very common among students. Bullying can have
serious effects on people, and can cause them to end
up having some serious problems. People that have
been bullied are usually socially withdrawn and lack
certain social skills as they might be too scared to meet
new people.
Tsubasa Kazari described how he feels about bullying,
he responded, "I think bullying is wrong, and I think no
one should go through something like that." He also
added “I think all bullies should be stopped, so that
people don't have to deal with that kind of stress and
so that everyone can get along."
The Anti-bullying week was indeed a success; everyone
supported the cause and contributed to the activity of
“Slashing out Bullying.” Hopefully, the students of SLAS
will feel more comfortable because students and
teachers have shown that they support the cause, and
will try their best to make sure that the school is safe
from bullying of any sort. Bullies should all take a hard
look at what they're doing, and how they're making
others feel, to understand that no one should be forced
to feel scared or unhappy because of someone else's
insecurities.