I Am Somebody

The next time you consider rifling through my gym locker and kidnap my clothes; forcing me to scurry around the gym in front of everyone hunting them down before the bell rings...remember that I am a daughter.  The next time you choose to draw unkind pictures of me, pointing out every one of my 'flaws'...remember that I am a sister.  When you orchestrate a mass exodus the next time I enter a room...remember that I am a friend.  

It is distressing to hear how someone as young as eleven decided that suicide was their only option.  It is worrisome to see a child as young as fourteen believing that frightening her tormentors with a gun is her only option to end her emotional turmoil.  Have you experienced repetitive mistreatment by others?  If not, are you capable of fully understanding the limits that are reached when one who has decides to inflict violence upon themselves and/or others? 

Have you ever been verbally abused by others?  If not, would you want to be forced to shake hands with your abuser and act as if what s/he has done is all water under the bridge?  How would you feel if you were reprimanded for not wanting to accept (yet another) apology from your abuser?  Then why would we expect abused children to do just that?  And how can we live with ourselves knowing that we bullied a victimized child into accepting an insincere apology from their perpetrator? 

If you are one of the unfortunate 13 million children who has been bullied this past year you understand more fully what Tyler, Ty, Kelby, Alex, and Ja'Meya have experienced and subsequently feel.  If you are one who has been fortunate enough to not experience this then you should walk a couple of hours in their shoes.  If you are someone who has been unkind, cruel, or abusive towards someone else, spend a couple of hours in the lives of your victims.  See the film Bully. 

This video was created by my 3rd graders about three years ago.