B U L L Y I N G (14)

 B U L L Y I N G

A childhood nightmare. Follows you wherever you go. Past, present, but never in the future. No matter how hard things get, no matter how much people might push you down. You are stronger than you think. You can get up, dust yourself off, and show those people what you are made of. 

Names can be said, and sometimes you get a talking to about what went wrong. Though that isn’t an easy fix for children to see themselves as stronger than their bullies. They need to know that they can fight for themselves too. Children are a lot stronger than they think they are. Most of the time, they don’t know just how strong they are. 

Though name calling or other forms of bullying are hard to escape. Life sometimes has them follow you around when all you wish is for them to go away. Remembering that those names can’t hurt you is the first step to showing that you can push them away. That nothing anyone ever says to you is powerful enough to break you down. 

           There is one other thing, and it's not just the action of bullying but the people. People who bully can be the same age as you or older, maybe younger too. Nothing stops someone from seeing that causing others some kind of emotional response. Because it might make them feel like a better person. That no one can tear them down just like they do others. But that's not the case. Because people are stronger than the person who hurts them; always. 

Those names might break me down, but you can come back stronger than ever. That is a promise you make to yourself. 

-JS