Bullycide: A Deadly Epidemic
Corey Johnson
Scottsboro High School
Scottsboro, AL
Teenagers die every day.
They drive carelessly into oncoming traffic and swerve to their deaths. They smoke and inhale anything they can get their curious little hands on. Any drug and alcohol product that’s available they snort and pass out until they are cold and lifeless. They shoot their mouths off in high school halls and end up being attacked with weapons as acts of revenge. A subject to shed light on however, is death by bullying. I call it “bullycide.”
What don’t teenagers die of? Pretty much nothing.
In order to commit bullycide, one must have someone that despises him or her, not feel safe at school, be the targets of social attacks both offline and online, lack self-esteem and confidence, and to make it solidify it, they often kill themselves.
It sounds so simple.
I consider bullycide to be an epidemic in today’s youth. It was viral in the generation before me, my generation now, and it will be viral to the generation that will succeed mine. There is just no getting away from it, it seems like. That’s why many traditional adults say, “Oh, big deal. Everyone experiences teasing a little in school. It’s normal. It’s a part of growing up.”
Really?
There is nothing normal about being shunned by your peers and treated like a parasite based on your differences. Nothing normal at all!
“Harmless” taunting and name-calling can easily blossom into acts of hatred and violence, which can ultimately lead to suicide. It’s a cliché that rumors and drama begin in hallow halls of high schools everywhere, yet it is true most of the time. I don’t want to go all psychological and descriptive on teenage thinking patterns, but the jest is simply: survival of the fittest. It you’re not the top dog, fight to be the top dog. The most popular way of bringing down the top dog this year is to ruin his or her social status, by starting rumors.
When I mentioned an online presence that many teenagers have I was referring to sites like Facebook, Twitter, Formspring, and Tumblr where the number of profiles are in the hundreds of millions. It’s just as easy to call someone “fatso” or “queer” in an IM chat online as it is to do it face to face in a school hallway, if not easier. There’s just no getting away from it anymore. There is no refuge or sanctuary. I consider this aspect one of the multiple cons of social networking in the twenty-first century.
Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University college student, jumped off the George Washington Bridge on the Hudson River in New Jersey in September of 2010. Why did he do it? He was secretly recorded, by his roommate, having an intimate moment with another male student. He was continually harassed about it afterwards, leading him to plunge to his death. He died from bullycide.
According to iSAFE, an organization dedicated to Internet safety education, 42 percent of teenagers have been subjected to online bullying. Of those, 58 percent have not told their parents about being bullied.
There’s always someone you can tell. You don’t have to give up your life in order to be rid of bullies. Sure, you might be miserable now and be a lone wolf in terms of friend count, but your life won’t always be like it is in high school.
This is my personal plea to anyone who’s considering ending their life due to bullying or harassment: There are better days ahead for you, dear. You’re different for a reason. Be proud of your diversity and not following the status quo. When you receive your diploma and go off into the big, blue world you’ll have the opportunity to make yourself anew, and to do what you love. There are words to be written. There are songs to be sung. There are new people for you out there that won’t care for your differences, and there are people out there that will love you for your differences.
Teenagers die every day. You don’t have to.
Scottsboro High School
Scottsboro, AL
Teenagers die every day.
They drive carelessly into oncoming traffic and swerve to their deaths. They smoke and inhale anything they can get their curious little hands on. Any drug and alcohol product that’s available they snort and pass out until they are cold and lifeless. They shoot their mouths off in high school halls and end up being attacked with weapons as acts of revenge. A subject to shed light on however, is death by bullying. I call it “bullycide.”
What don’t teenagers die of? Pretty much nothing.
In order to commit bullycide, one must have someone that despises him or her, not feel safe at school, be the targets of social attacks both offline and online, lack self-esteem and confidence, and to make it solidify it, they often kill themselves.
It sounds so simple.
I consider bullycide to be an epidemic in today’s youth. It was viral in the generation before me, my generation now, and it will be viral to the generation that will succeed mine. There is just no getting away from it, it seems like. That’s why many traditional adults say, “Oh, big deal. Everyone experiences teasing a little in school. It’s normal. It’s a part of growing up.”
Really?
There is nothing normal about being shunned by your peers and treated like a parasite based on your differences. Nothing normal at all!
“Harmless” taunting and name-calling can easily blossom into acts of hatred and violence, which can ultimately lead to suicide. It’s a cliché that rumors and drama begin in hallow halls of high schools everywhere, yet it is true most of the time. I don’t want to go all psychological and descriptive on teenage thinking patterns, but the jest is simply: survival of the fittest. It you’re not the top dog, fight to be the top dog. The most popular way of bringing down the top dog this year is to ruin his or her social status, by starting rumors.
When I mentioned an online presence that many teenagers have I was referring to sites like Facebook, Twitter, Formspring, and Tumblr where the number of profiles are in the hundreds of millions. It’s just as easy to call someone “fatso” or “queer” in an IM chat online as it is to do it face to face in a school hallway, if not easier. There’s just no getting away from it anymore. There is no refuge or sanctuary. I consider this aspect one of the multiple cons of social networking in the twenty-first century.
Tyler Clementi, a Rutgers University college student, jumped off the George Washington Bridge on the Hudson River in New Jersey in September of 2010. Why did he do it? He was secretly recorded, by his roommate, having an intimate moment with another male student. He was continually harassed about it afterwards, leading him to plunge to his death. He died from bullycide.
According to iSAFE, an organization dedicated to Internet safety education, 42 percent of teenagers have been subjected to online bullying. Of those, 58 percent have not told their parents about being bullied.
There’s always someone you can tell. You don’t have to give up your life in order to be rid of bullies. Sure, you might be miserable now and be a lone wolf in terms of friend count, but your life won’t always be like it is in high school.
This is my personal plea to anyone who’s considering ending their life due to bullying or harassment: There are better days ahead for you, dear. You’re different for a reason. Be proud of your diversity and not following the status quo. When you receive your diploma and go off into the big, blue world you’ll have the opportunity to make yourself anew, and to do what you love. There are words to be written. There are songs to be sung. There are new people for you out there that won’t care for your differences, and there are people out there that will love you for your differences.
Teenagers die every day. You don’t have to.
To see the original post, click here.