social revolution (827)

Bullying has always been an issue with adolescents. The introduction of technology and the shows depicting “mean girls” warped the minds of the youth to think that this behavior is okay. Adolescents are so vulnerable during their teenager years that it is easy to make someone feel low. Girls and boys pick and tear at their peers until they have no other choice but to end it all. This sickens me as I watch people around me make fun of others for something they can’t change, but what also bothers me is the way the adults in our lives handle this. Instead of a whole school assembly to teach us to be “kind”, we are in need of a huge social revolution if we want to create a better society to eliminate bullying and suicide.

                Social media was the catalyst and we were the chemicals. Introduction of social media was meant to connect with others, share ideas, and know what’s going on in the world around us. Adolescents use it in a satanic way; bashing others with words typed by fingers because they think they are protected by a screen. They do it to get likes or favorites, anything to get people laughing and gain followers. What no one really thinks about is the person on the other side of the screen. It is fairly easy to type out “You’re ugly” and hit send without batting an eye. If you were face to face with this person, though, would you still hurl nasty words at them? Probably not. Hurting feelings is the last thing on people’s minds when throwing mean words at a screen. These people are cowards; they have enough power and strength to type out words thinking that they have the false protection of the electronics’ screen. I will not act like I am innocent, I have too fallen victim to the false satisfaction of saying mean words through social media, but I have never been so hurtful to another individual that they feel like their only way out is to take their own life. Wake up, people! Do we not see the problem with being so lenient on the adolescents that chose to use hate speech for fun on social media? This past month we have lost one of our own. Another face eliminated from the hallway, another person eliminated from the football game crowd, another friend eliminated from the slumber parties.  There are positives to social media, as it connects the whole world, but the exposure and freedom that adolescents have on these sites without consequences is astonishing.

                When something bad happens, adults feel as though we need an intervention. They host assemblies and try buckling down on bullying to preach kindness, but the affect is limited. If these reactions worked, why is the suicide rate still counting and the average age for suicides getting lower? A few words scolding us to be kind to everybody won’t help, we need complete social destruction so we can build a better us. Schools are not taking this issue as serious as is needed to prevent and that in its own also needs a makeover. No more mean words, no more hitting, no more body shaming, no more exclusion. There are harassment signs hung up around the school that state that there are always people here willing to help you. Although this may be good to know, we are not being picked on by a bully at recess anymore. It is the laughing. It is the gossiping. It is the way other’s look at you at school. It is walking the halls alone because you have no one. All of this is built up on an individual until they can’t take it anymore. Instead of preaching kindness, the administration needs to teach it. In a certain way that hits home to all to stop this massacre by words. It is always preached that we need to leave a better earth for our children, but what about leaving better children for our earth.

                You never know what someone is going through so why be an extra problem for a person to worry about. Adolescents need to start worrying about what people think of their character rather than appearance because beauty gets you a long way but character keeps you there. A beautiful face without a beautiful personality is a masterpiece painted on a napkin. We must teach our kids to be kind and start it from the home. Teach them that personality always comes first. Parents need to teach their children earlier how to respect one another so they can grow off of love instead of hate. It should be planted in the home and blossomed through our peers and teachers. One thing my mother taught me that I will never forget is that the homecoming queen is never the one with the pretty appearance, it is the girl who was beautiful to everybody inside and out.