Last summer I went to Austin, Texas for the Interscholastic Press Conference (ILPC) held at UT. There was a speaker there, I don’t remember her name, but I remember she had a cool sounding accent, and she traveled across the country speaking against bullying and cyber bullying. She talked about people who had committed suicide because of bullying, showing slide shows with the kid’s faces. And it was effective, because it made them real. It wasn’t just a story she was telling, it was all real. She spoke for, if I remember correctly, two hours. Not one second of it was boring. The point she made that was the most memorable was this:
When it comes to bullying, there are no bystanders. In other words, sitting there watching someone be bullied is no worse than bullying someone. “Either you are part of the problem or part of the solution.” You might think that it’s not your job to take a stand against bullying, but it is. It is everyone’s job as a human being. If you see someone getting bullied, say something. Do everything in your power to make them stop, without becoming a bully yourself. It can be scary, standing up against someone. But you don’t have to be scared; you have others on your side. So do the right thing, and be a part of the solution. Remember, when it comes to bullying, there are no bystanders.
