Stand Up

"The cruel words of one are nothing compared to the shouts of many."

♥

 I recently watched Anderson Cooper's special on bullying. Bullying has always been an social issue that I've held near my heart. I really want to see this one day become a problem that  isn't harming so many lives. I think that the solution begins with us. We need to stand up against bullying. We need to intervene when we can. We need to let people know that it's okay to tell someone that you're being bullied. We need to create more safe places. We need to stop blaming the victims. 

Let's talk about bullying. It's a real thing. The aftermath is very real. Bullying is leading to suicides, depression, self-harm, and eating disorders among many other things. The panel on Anderson Cooper's show brought up some really good points. Here are some of the points that really stuck out to me.

• Degrading people is never right.

How do people benefit from degrading people? There is no reward for making people feel bad. "The only time you should be looking down on someone is when you are helping them up."

• Bullying is 24 hours a day now.

Bullying goes beyond in-person interactions. Cyberbullying is just as real and it's effects are heard and seen all over the world. Be careful of what you say to people online. Don't let the veil of your computer screen be an excuse for you to degrade people. Just because they can't see you or hear you doesn't mean they can't be hurt by what you're saying.
If someone is bullying you online, report it. Block them. Tell someone. I know that it's harder online to report it but don't keep it to yourself. Let someone know what is going on.

• In 77% of bullying incidents, no bystanders intervene.

If you see bullying going on and you think that you can do something about it then you should stand up and do something about it. You know the saying, "If you see something, say something."

• Bullying will not help you achieve higher social status in the long run.

The reason a lot of people bully is because they think it will raise their social status. This isn't true. On Anderson Cooper's show, they did a study that reported bullying does not help people gain higher social status. There is no long term satisfaction from bullying. It won't make you feel better. Bullying someone will not improve your life.

• People care.

Don't you ever forget that there are people out there that care. There are people you can go to. While we still need to improve on our safe places as a society, there are people who care about your well being. Know that you can talk to me.

Look at this video of a news anchor publicly standing up to her bullies. Let this be a reminder that there a people willing to stand up against bullying. Let this be a reminder that bullying isn't just happening in one age group. Let this be a reminder that inspiration and hope can be found anywhere. Let this be a reminder that we all deserve to be respected and nothing should ever change that.