Where It All Started

Where It All Started

Whether its because of the pigment of your skin,

The person that you call god,  

The gender you love,

Or a unique trait that defines you as a human,

Every person at one point

Has felt words of cruelty.

But why?

Uniqueness has become a tool of hate for the perpetrators.

Our historical textbooks in class are filled,

The timelines of hate and bullying throughout the pages.

Page 56 may talk about the segregation of races,

The white supremacists, the KKK,

The separate bathrooms and water fountains.

Because of the idea that someone with darker skin was a lesser,

Less worthy, less intelligent.

Page 78 may talk about the Holocaust,

Adolf Hitler and the Final Solution.

The want to liquidate all Jews in Europe

The killing of almost 6 million Jewish men, women, and children

But why?

Because of their beliefs, their religion, and their culture?

My own great-grandfather slowly watched his family diminish,

In the concentration camps, being gassed and starved.

Now with only memories of torture and cruelty filling his brain.

Bullying comes in all different forms,

whether its an attack on entire race,  a religious group,

Or just one kid,

In the hallways of a high school being picked on because he is gay.

Over time this world has evolved,

Things have changed and improved,

But some things have continued to reappear

Bullying, Hate, and Disrespect.

Our own president,

Barack Obama,

Has heard car doors lock as he crossed the street as a child

But why?

Because of the color of his skin.

But the most dangerous tool of all today is,

The keyboard of a computer.

The cyberbullying today has pushed kids to do extremes.

The cyberbullying has taken childrens’ lives.

Rebecca Sedwick, 12 years old,

Bullied by girls in her own grade,

Was forced to believe that taken her own life,

Was easier than dealing with the hate that she received.

And this is just one tragic story,

Technology has become a dangerous tool,

An easy way for perpetrators to make their attacks.

Hiding behind the screens of their computers,

Making threats and harassing the victims,

Because in the end, its easier to type a message,

Then to say it to someone’s face.

Elizabeth Savannah Grady

The luscious angel with a powerful soul,

Filled with wisdom of 1,000 years,

Has felt the beatings thrash against her body and mind,

As the vicious words left her classmates mouths.

Tearing her down to almost nothing.

Forcing her into a corner of darkness,

Forcing her to believe that what they say, just may be true.

Staying home from school because of the perpetual fear.

Just one beautiful soul,

Along with 160,000 other children everyday,

Staying home from school because of the hate from their peers (Barkhorn).

Forcing them to miss out on their educations.

For some,

The only thing in their lives to look forward to everyday.

But why?

To make the bullies feel stronger, more beautiful?

The irony that has existed for hundreds of years,

Making one feel less, to make one feel better.

The Children

Society’s perception and pressure are just as harmful as another one’s words

The Childrens’ minds have become bullies to themselves

Criticizing their every move,

Constantly telling themselves that they are not good enough,

That they will not succeed, that they are not worthy.

The narcissistic society with the masses

Constantly chasing an idea of perfection

Has become a bully to childrens’ minds as well.

Feeling the need to creep around on their tiptoes,

Afraid to make a mark too deep, that one may see

Because they feel like the world will forever criticize

Their every marking on this earth.