Bullying tends to exist in every school, and I am just now starting to see it. My school district is no exception to harassment. It has many students that are isolated throughout the school hours and bullied for just being different. My friends and I are not socially awkward, nor are we butterflies, but we seem to overlook everyone that doesn’t fit into our social clique. Empire High School seems to have people, including myself, who are ignorant to the existence of bullying in the school environment.      

The students in my school, ranging from 14 to 18 years old, know the definition of bullying but seem to ignore the different types occurring around them. Violence and bullying is: name-calling a new freshman; the invisibility of someone alone at a lunch table; and physical assault. Those targets feel the school society closing in on them just as much as someone who has trash dumped on them or is tripped in the halls. I found that in small ways, I, too, had been a bully. Giggling at people for their outfits or their obsession with a cartoon character is cruel. If they had only overheard me, they could have been crushed by my words.

Students of the school tell me, “I don’t see bullying as an issue, because I never witness it happening in our school.” This is not entirely their fault. Most students have a group of friends that they have known for most of their lives. These people only see and speak with their friends throughout the day. They keep in the comfort zone that they’re familiar with. This leaves little time to notice the silent student that sits alone at lunch or the kids in the halls being laughed at for their style. Many students of my school, however, told me that they had experiences with torment. They felt depressed and alone because there was no one to comfort them after their ordeal. Most tried to overcome it, but the memory of complete helplessness still haunts them.

If a large percentage of children are picked on, it shows that violence and name-calling do happen in our school and our district. The fact that it isn’t being noticed is concerning. It is obvious when you take a glance around during lunch or at the end of the day. It is the subtle bullying that is hard to spot, and most don’t even take the time to glance up from their cell phones or homework to see it. I know I didn’t.

People mostly think of physical abuse when imagining others being purposefully bothered with violence or loud insults. Everyone sees when someone is knocked down or punched in the face, but this doesn’t happen often at Empire. If we start to notice the loneliness and hurt of the victims, we may be able to change something with our knowledge. Kids spend most of their day in the school environment, and if the students and staff of Empire took some of this time to help the others who needed it, the school could be more united.

Teachers, please encourage your students to help someone when you see them in need of a friend. Students, be active in trying to make friends with someone who has few. Administrators, participate by creating events that give students the opportunity to talk about their problems with peers and teachers. If we did something as simple and easy as this, some students who used to shy away from society would look forward to the school day, instead of being afraid. School should be a source of inspiration as well as security for all students.
 

Taylor Rosenow
Sophomore
Empire High School