Letter to a Playground Bully by Andrea Gibson

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Recommended: Essay on Bullying Literature Review

Andrea Gibson’s’ poem ‘Letter to the Playground Bully’ is an unforgettable poem about bullying. She cleverly crafts a poem from the perspective of an 8 and a half year old girl who is trying to confront the playground bully through a letter. The poem’s sole purpose is to expose the hardships and reality for victims of bullying. She achieves this by making the speaker a younger version of herself. She wrote this poem in order to perform in front of high school and elementary school students to try and stop bullying. Gibson explores unfamiliar territory related to bullying in a straightforward, sweet, yet different approach.

Andrea Gibson has been on the receiving end and on the defender’s side of bullying. ‘Letter to the Playground bully’ is a summation of her past and other people’s reality. Gibson is well known for her powerful spoken word poetry on “war, class, gender, bullying, white privilege, sexuality, love, and spirituality.” (Gibson, Bio) Gibson is also an activist in several groups and an active member of the LGBT community. Most of her poems are written in order to express the many daily struggles members of the LGBT community share. This poem in particular was based off bullying and the lack of a safe environment established in schools. Gibson wrote this poem to read in elementary and high schools. The speaker in the poem was based off of a younger version of her. Every conclusion and memory that the speaker stated was consistent and flowed smoothly the same childlike way a child’s mind works.

Gibson begins her poem, “Letter to the playground bully’ through feeble attempts at trying to justify the bully’s behavior. She appeals first to the audience’s genuine anger towards bullies “maybe you’ve bee...

... middle of paper ...

...led out by the bully because of their vulnerability. Most bullies have anger and frustration built up inside of them that they release on others whether it stems from abuse or family problems. It’s important for them to know that they’re not alone and making other people suffer is not the way to deal with their problems. Bullying victims and bullies both may develop lasting damage from the incidents. Bullies often develop criminal behavior while victims develop emotional scars. Letter to the Playground Bully is a poem that speaks volumes in so little words. Gibson has achieved the impossible by reaching out to people of all ages, exposing the harsh reality of bullying and gathering more people to fight the cause.

Works Cited

Gibson, Andrea. "Bio." 09 December 2010. Andrea Gibson. 10 april 2014.

—. "Poems." 09 December 2010. Andrea Gibson. 10 april 2014.

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