Bullying

Apparently, bullying has become a big problem in schools all around the United States.

All around the news, you hear stories about people getting bullied. It usually does not end well. People are committing suicide, dropping out of school, or taking up drugs and alcohol. Bullying is something that is a problem that people are trying to fix. However, how realistic is it that you will be able to stop all bullying in all schools? We need to figure out a practical way to take care of this, without going overboard.

Recently, the Democrat and Chronicle has covered a lot of bullying stories. See the following pages for full stories:

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             One girl did not invite some people to a get together. This angered them to the point of angry hate texts. They did not care that this severely damaged her life. Also, some people made a fake face book profile, claiming it was hers, and said really damaging things.

            Another story includes a young girl who was bullied on the bus. She did not want to go on a date with a boy, because she was not allowed to date. Him and his friends decided to physically bully her. She had bruises and actually split her chin.

            One more instance of bullying in school included a older teenage girl who was in high school. People would say awful things about her, and she just had to deal with it. She was also physically bullied, but the school did nothing about it. They claimed there was not enough evidence. This drove her to drinking and drugs.

 

These are only three examples of bullying.

This happens everyday, all over the USA.

     Here at Bishop Kearney, we do not have a lot of bullying. When Mr. Miller, our Dean of Students, was asked what he saw here at Kearney, he had an interesting response. 

  "...Think back 20 to 30 years ago...bullies did things like take your lunch money...we don't have that here. Bullying has changed to cyber bullying, emotional bullying, and verbal bullying..."

     This can be seen on things like face book, text messages, voice mails, emails, etc.

Here is a quote taken from Bishop Kearney's site that talks about bullying.

"Bishop Kearney prohibits reprisal or retaliation against any person who reports an act of harassment or bullying. The consequences and appropriate remedial action for a person who engages in reprisal or retaliation shall be determined by the administrator after consideration of the nature, severity, and circumstances of the act."
"Bishop Kearney prohibits any person from falsely accusing another as a means of harassment or bullying. The consequences and appropriate remedial action for a person found to have falsely accused another as a means of harassment or bullying may range from positive behavioral interventions up to and including suspension or expulsion."

Bullying should not, and is not, be tolerated in a learning environment.

Recently, Lady Gaga has been FREAKING OUT about bullying. It is nice to see that celebrities that do not have many problems in their life are caring about today's youth and well-being. 

One of her main focuses is on a child named Jamey Rodemeyer, a young student who took his own life due to bullying. See this page to watch some videos about Jamey. 

Jamey was a boy who was bullied for being Gay. For some reason, people do not understand that being gay is alright. Why dis they have to bully him? Why did they push him to the point of killing himself? Personally, I think Jamey could have gotten help. He did not have to take his life. There are many options of counseling, switching schools, etc.

Lady Gaga also met with the president to talk about how bullying should be illegal. She also dedicated a song to him during a concert. She was his favorite artist. "...You're not a victim..." she announced.

 

Quotes about bullying from fellow classmates:
"If hurtful words or hurtful fists are coming at you everyday, it is bullying."- Zondra A.

"Love lights more fires then hate can extinguish"- Ella Wheeler-Eilcox (Quoted by Linzey Z.)

"nbd? Lol calling somebody a bully isn't nbd! Read the discussion board on turnitin! Words hurt… lol ;)" -Cam B.

"like people bully to make themselves feel better. they put others down to boost their confidence" - Anna B.