Focus on bullying

This blog was originally meant to be for Web 2.0 related tools and ideas. I'm finding that I am learning more about other things as I go along. There are wonderful resources out there for many things, and recently what I have been finding revolves around once central theme...

Bullying.

It seems to be a fact of life. I was bullied in elementary school. It carried on into junior high. Then I had a light bulb moment. Why was I trying so hard to please everyone? It wasn't making me happy. I stopped caring what other people thought, and amazingly enough the bullying stopped.

OK...I have to admit that back then we didn't call it being bullied. I was being picked on, teased. It was really only bad for 6th grade when I changed schools and knew one other person. I realized later that it was because the girls were jealous. I was an "early bloomer" at a time when the girls were all really interested in boys. I was uncomfortable with my new body, and it made me an easy target. It could have been much worse.

On the other hand, I watched my best friend...who is still my best friend...be relentlessly, mercilessly bullied. She was always heavy, even when we met in 4th grade. The bullying happened at home, by a younger, thinner sister. The bullying happened at school...every day that I can remember. I can remember things hitting a low point the night that I rushed over to her house in Junior High to make sure that she didn't hurt herself. It's too bad. If they had given her a chance, they would have seen just how great a friend she could be.

I know that this still happens today in our schools. I see it, and hear it at work in the school. Sometimes the kids don't even realize that is what it is. "I was just kidding", "She knows I didn't mean it", "we're friends". The reasons can be just as varied...how they look, how much they weigh, what nationality they are , what religion they are, what sexual orientation they have. None of it should matter, and I'm glad that the world is starting to really take notice.

That brings me back to where I started...

First, it was No Name-Calling Week in January. The following week was The Great Kindness Challenge. Today I learned about http://nobullying.com/. This is a great site put together in the UK. The theme is universal and so are the resources. There are sections for teens, teachers & parents. The topics run from cyberbullying to bullying in schools, peer bullying to bullying of teachers by students. They recently (Jan. 22) started a new campaign on Twitter, Facebook, and other Social Networking sites called Enough is Enough. http://nobullying.com/enoughisenough/. This has videos that are being collected of kids that have been bullied. A safe place to tell their stories and support each other. What a great idea! Maybe just one kid will see this and realize that they really aren't alone. Others have been bullied, and others have come out the other side stronger. Hopefully it will touch many others. It's touched me...