Why Do They Do This?

The usual question to bullies is always, “Why do you do this?” According to Rachel Rettner, bullies analyze themselves in a disapproving point of view (Rettner). They choose to intimidate those who are different from them so they seem more dominate. From where I stand as a Preschool Aide, I see young children that ridicule what they don’t understand. I believe bullies harass those they don’t understand. Bullies should recognize what they are doing and have harsher penalties.

When I was in grade school at Sacred Heart in Rich Fountain, we had a small class of ten. The private, parochial school was mixed with different school districts including Linn, Fatima, and Owensville. In my class there was one boy from Owensville. Because we didn’t grow up with him he was “weird” to us. Somewhere in the first few years we made a game called “Lester Germs,” an imitation of someone having “coodies.” He eventually became distant to the rest of us. It ended a few years before 5th grade. It wasn’t until I was older that I actually realized we were bullying Lester. To this day I don’t believe he lives up to his full potential, however, spending the past four years with brand new people gave him a fresh start. Whether or not he is comfortable with himself after all these years, the guilt still irks me. Because he lives so far away, I can’t apologize or become friends again. I will probably never see Lester again. My punishment is to live with this guilt for the rest of my life.

For some of those who are bullied, their life ends in disaster. They feel no one will ever like them and they harm themselves in suicides or self-mutilation. Stories as such cover the news and media to make awareness of the matter, but for some it doesn’t touch because i...

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...h a zero tolerance policy and the students be explained to what could happen if the crime was innocently committed. I believe these simple steps would effectively drop bullying in schools.

Works Cited

Pickhardt PhD, Carl. Why Good Kids Act Cruel-The Hidden Truth About the Pre-Teen Years. Sourcebooks, Inc., 2010. 284. Print.

ProQuest Staff. "At Issue: Zero-Tolerance Policies." ProQuest LLC. 2011: n.pag. SIRS Researcher. Web. 01 May 2011.

Rettner, Rachel. "Bullies on Bullying: Why We Bully." Live Science 26 August 2010: n. pag. Web. 1 May 2011. .

Swearer, Susan M. "5 Myths About Bullying." Washington Post. 02 Jan 2011: B.3. SIRS Researcher. Web. 01 May 2011.

Vatz, Richard E., and Lee S. Weinberg. "Bullying by Any Other Name..." USA Today (Farmingdale). Sep 2010: 55-56. SIRS Researcher. Web. 01 May 2011.