Celebration of Youth Essay-Bullying

Essay I wrote for a contest that I thought I did pretty decent on.

“She cuts herself,” or “She’s not a virgin.” These were just some of the things I heard during my seventh and eighth grade year. Don’t know who started them, but they hurt.  Some still hurt today.  How did they start?  The world may never know.

I know a girl who was in my second grade class. She was from Venezuela, and had an accent and didn't speak English well. Being second grade kids, we thought it was strange to hear an accent like hers. So, we bullied her for having an accent. I saw her crying in the bathroom one day, so I asked her what was wrong. She said that people were making fun of her for accent and her culture.

Then when I got to middle school, there were so many kids there,  I didn't know what to do. Kids from my school and from many other schools around the district came to that middle school. When I got there, I didn't know who to sit with, or who to talk to. So I tried to meet some new people, but also stick to some of the kids I already knew. Not much happened in sixth grade, so let’s skip to seventh.

In seventh grade, I met some new friends and new teachers. I also started questioning my sexuality. I had had boyfriends in the past, but I realized I had a crush on one of my best girlfriends. I had known her for a long time, but I didn't know whether to tell her or to keep it all locked inside. I thought if she was really my friend, she would accept me for who I was. And that’s where it all started.

By now, I had found a group of friends that were new to me. I thought I knew them well enough to tell them. I remember sitting at the circular table in the cafeteria, and all of us sitting there quietly after I told them. Across the table, one of my friends gave me a dirty look, like I had done something wrong.

The next day in the cafeteria, I got to the table and my normal spot was taken by another girl. I asked her to get up, because that’s where I normally sat. She looked me straight in the eye and told me no. I didn't think much of it at the time, so I went back the next day. The same thing happened. So I decided to stop bothering.

After this, it took me a couple weeks to find out where to sit. Should I sit with the kids I knew, but weren't really friends with?  Or with the kids who seemed really nice, but I didn't really know? I’m pretty social, so I went to the kids who were strangers to me. That went well, and some of us are still friends today.

Then there are the rumors. I don’t know who started them, and most likely never will. They hurt at the time, but are important to the story. One day, one of my best friends came up to me and told me there were rumors going around about me. I asked what the rumors were about. She said she wasn't positive about who said it, but that she heard someone say I was “sleeping around”. I also heard a rumor about being an “emo b***h” because I had cutting problems. These rumors led me to crying almost every day in class and out.

My experiences with bullying have led me to believe that you should treat others the way you want to be treated, and that equality for all people is very important. I was also taught by my experiences that you should never truly trust people without getting to know them. My experiences may not have been the best, but they make me who I am today.

 

Author's Note

Sorry about posting a boring essay, but I think this is an okay essay that has a good cause.