en-us Copyright 2008 - All Rights Reserved. Sat, 25 May 2013 23:45:13 GMT 15 By Julissa Garcia & Joceline Blanco
Bullying has become a very serious issue not only at Morton but all over the world as well. Four hundred years ago the word "bully" meant friend, or family member; now we switched the meaning of it into a negative thing. Many people believe bullying is a "phase" that everybody goes through. Reality is, that's a lie; bullying can cause serious and lasting harm. Usually those who bully do it because they are insecure with themselves and they want themselves to feel interesting and powerful. Bullies believe that everybody has to belong to a certain group. You are either a rocker, emo, an athlete, a nerd, cool kid, or someone else. If you don't belong to any of those groups you are a loner, therefore you should be bullied. Society expects us to belong to a certain group. Teens need to realize that you have to be yourself even if you will be bullied for it. In a survey of 100 Morton students, 46 said they were bullied, and 44 admitted to being a bully (some of these students admitted to being bullied and a bully). According to the National Education Association, 160,000 American students miss school every day due to the fear of attack or intimidation by students. "It's cruel and inhumane to bully," senior Talina Vazquez said. Sophomore Ignacio David Ramirez is one of the many being bullied because of his sexual orientation. "Being gay made me feel that I wasn't part of humanity which lead me into depression," Ignacio said. Many kids believe that bullying isn't always that harmful to others. "Bullying is something I do when I'm bored," junior Erik Lagunas said. Assistant principal, Mr. Gamboa was bullied as a freshmen for being 5'2 and 115 pounds, which led him to making bad choices. "I can understand why people join groups that aren't necessarily healthy," Mr. Gamboa said. Bullying has become a natural part of society, but we have to realize that if we want change we have to change some of our thoughts and actions. "Bullying is never going to go away, it makes me feel superior and good inside," junior Alex Torres said. This issue with bullying has to come to an end before it's too late and something terrible happens. "It's wrong that bullies get sadistic pleasure in seeing people hurt," senior Guadalupe Loza said. In many cases, people are bullied because of their lifestyle. "I wasn't popular and I wasn't in the "in" crowd so I was bullied," junior Maria Tiscareno said. Years ago, Officer Luis Blanco came to Morton East where he met a girl that that was "emo" (emotional) and the "cool kids" made her life miserable. She later committed suicide. "A bully is a person that cries for attention and picks on the weak because he himself is weak," Officer Blanco said. Senior Gerardo Nava has been bullied for 7 years. He has been bullied by over 30 people in several schools. "Bullying changed me into a better and stronger person," Gerardo said. Some bullies feel guilt while the rest have no sympathy towards the situation/victims. "If someone complained about being bullied I would just tell them to man up," senior Miguel Sanchez said. One of our own teachers was bullied when she was in high school because of her looks and economic situation. "Someone once told me, ‘Life is all about how you deal with it,'; I try to live by that and always stay positive," the teacher said. Bullying is sometimes disguised as a joke, but it can still cause great harm. "Be careful what you say, jokes can be taken the wrong way," Talina said. If you are being bullied don't be afraid to speak out and seek help from any adult you trust. ]]> Tue, 20 Dec 2011 19:15:50 GMT