Portraits

two

"All the hardest, coldest people you meet were once as soft as water. And that's the tragedy of living." - Iain Thomas

Bullying seminars in high school are completely useless.

Do you idiots really think that a thirty minute power-point and a few "touching" videos are going to make this stop?

It will never stop.

Bullying seminars are a fucking joke. The teachers ask the same questions and the kids know the answers, they never change.

"What is bullying?" They ask.

"Bullying is repetitively picking on someone to a point that it makes them feel unwanted or neglected." They recite it just like they've heard it.

"What do you do when you see bullying?" They ask.

"Report it, or stop it." They reply.

I can't believe that the teachers or administrators think this is effective. These kids just want to get out of here and move on with their lives. Bullying still happens no matter what they say. It will always be here.

A power-point isn't going to save us.

What really gets me is that the kids who answer these questions are the ones who do the bullying. You know what it is, you said the definition. You know when to stop, you said so. You know when enough is enough, you know what's going to happen to them if you keep doing it, yet you're still going to walk out those doors and bully someone.

You're going to forget all of this because you don't care, and you're going to cause someone pain and you won't care.

You won't notice.

A power-point won't make them notice.

Teachers don't know this, but kids these days have a secret.

They don't bully the way they think they will.

Teachers think that bullying is black and white; you'll know when it's happening and when you see it you'll know. But you won't.

He'll be teasing and tugging her hair, and she'll smile and swat his hand away - if only you knew - he's been doing that for weeks and she's thinking about chopping it off.

She'll be walking down the hallway and out of the corner of her eyes, she'll see a group of guys laughing and eyeing her - if only you knew - they'd been doing that for years, and she feels insecure about her looks. So much so that she started cutting her wrists a year ago and she never looks in the mirror anymore.

When the teacher leaves the room and the room is still quiet, he'll hear them talking about him - if only you knew - that wasn't the first time, and it surely wouldn't be the last.

Bullies have created shades of gray in between the lines of bullying, but it still hurts. It's still bullying, it's still causing teens to take their lives and think they're nothing.

Those same kids will walk out of here and do the same thing day after day until the next bullying seminar, and they'll know all the answers but it won't help a damn thing because they aren't listening.

They will keep on, they will never stop.

I would know.