According to the center for disease control and protection,or the CDC, suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people. In a study conducted by Yale University, bully victims were found to be between 2 and 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victim. Whenever something causes people to take their own lives you now it's inhumane and must be stopped. As my friend Margaret K says "Bullying, no matter what kind,should never be tolerated or laughed off as a joke. It can have serious and lasting effects on it's victims."
We all dread that time of day when our alarm clock goes off, you've got to leave your cozy comfy nest of a bed, and you know your going to start another day. Sometimes it's difficult to get up and get started, we can all understand that.Now imagine this. In addition to all the things I just mentioned, when you wake up you know that you are going to have a bad day. You know that when you wake up your going to be bullied. You know that when you try to do what makes you happy other are going to ruin it for you, and therefore deprive it of its joy. This was what was experienced by Sierra Hixenbaugh,16, a high school student who hanged herself Friday in her Cape Coral home.
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| Sierra Hixanbaugh/special to the News-Press |
Trying to understand why someone would kill themselves is a task next to impossible. They must be so hopeless that they take away their only chance to ever be happy. According to Sierras friends bullying was the cause of Sierra feeling this way.
Now you would assume that the people that participated in the bullying of Sierra would feel guilt beyond measure. Even after her death though, awful and vicious remarks were made about her expense online by people using fake screen names. This is disgusting, and it goes to show that bullying can be fought with no rule or punishment. It only proves that these kids have deep rooted moral issues, and it's reasons like this why fighting bullying is so difficult.
One place that's had extreme difficulty fighting bullying is Ladue High. Recently teachers at Ladue were surprised to find students passing around a "senior list" during lunch. A Senior list is a vulgar and sometimes obscene list that characterizes body parts,sexual habits and hygiene of selected girls in a high school. The teacher though, were not surprised by the distribution of this list, they were most surprised to see it passed around during lunch. Some teachers said that the list has been around for at least ten years. The districts communications director, Susan Dielmann said that the district employs numerous programs designed to to teach students to make good choices. She said "That;s really all we can do, guide children to make the best choices they can".
This is something that I partially agree with. You can't just punish people on things such as bullying, because we've gotten to the point where the kids are aware of the consequences and just don't care. That is why I personally believe that we do need to fight bullying by educating the young and creating a safe environment where people won't be afraid to say no to peer pressure. However when something like this has been going on for ten years, it's clear your doing something wrong.
One case of bullying that I found particularly interesting occurred at Fossil ridge High school. The reason that I found this incident interesting was because the bully was a teacher! The school received several complaints from parents about their kids being bullied by the schools band director, Mike Sisco. It began when a student leader in the class was bullying a certain section of students. Chris Wetzel , a parent of one of the kids bullied, complained to Sisco about the problem. Sisco handled the problem and the bully was punished. The the parent claimed that the bullying persisted and he complained to administration. They replied to Wetzel and said they were investigating the student and Sisco's actions. That was the day that Wetzel claims Sisco intimidated his son for going to administration. Other complaints about Sisco claimed that Wetzel picked on students in front of the class. So to sum things up, last Friday, after further investigations, Sisco stepped down as band director and has received a job at another school.
This story just goes to show that bullying can come in many forms. After reading about this I was left with one question, why would some other school hire this guy?
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| Mike Sisco, former band director at Fossil ridge |
One year ago yesterday, Amherst's Jamey Rodemeyer took his own life at the age of 14. His parents still feel the pain from the incident but they say they can find some peace in the memorial garden in their Backyard. Jamey was bullied constantly by his peers for being gay.
Just as a side note I'd like to say this is something I will never understand. In my personal opinion I can't understand how people can be so anti-gay. I just don't understand why it bothers people so much, but thats an argument for another day.
Jamey idolized the pop star Lady Gaga, and days after Jamey's death she stepped forward to stand up against bullying. Jamey's sister, Alyssa, helped launch GaGa's Born this Way foundation. The Rodemeyers have been avid anti-bully protesters ever since Jamey's passing. They have participated in Suicide prevention walks, New York City's gay pride parade, and even some national talk shows. "We have vowed to do this until we die, because everybody deserves a fighting chance out here" said Jamey's mother, Tracy. As Tracy said Jamey's passing truly has "sparked a revolution".
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| Jamey Rodemeyer |
From my personal experience I have never seen bullying to this level. It could be because the school I attend has a very strict policy regarding these issues. As our code of conduct says "refusing to tolerate harassment or bullying is expected of all members of the Kearney community...and may result in expulsion". Even though you may not have been affected by bullying personally, we should all recognize it's destructiveness and try to put a stop to it. As my friend Mike C says "bullying is never cool".
