Bullying

When one person picks on another person weaker than him, he is called a bully. Bullying normally occurs in secondary schools. To me, a bully is a coward actually. He does not have the courage to fight someone his own size but in order to show that he has might, he picks on someone weaker than him, someone who cannot fight back. Bullying often occurs because the weaker party does not have the courage to stand up for his own right. He lets the bully do whatever he likes; thinking that it will all end soon and it will all be over. This is just his imagination. Once a bully realizes that this person is a good target, he will never let him off until the weaker party decides to fight back.

I know all this because I got bullied once when I was in kindergarten. I remembered once when we were in the playroom, I played by myself in a corner. I managed to build a building using building blocks. One of the bigger boys in the playroom saw what I had built and came towards me. I to the just wanted to admire my building but then I did not realize that he was holding what he was holding: a sword made of his share of building blocks. He came over and pushed down my building, saying that my building was so weak, so useless… I did not know then, I thought that he was only playing. So when he left, I built another building. When he came again, this time I stood in front of my building, demanding that he go back to his corner to play. Realizing that I was standing on my feet now, he left. I did not know then, that what he did was actually bullying. Until I realized it, we were already 12 years old. My primary school gave a talk on bullying and I realized that, I was indeed someone who had experienced bullying.

From then on, I had a firm stand against bullying, having being bullied once and experienced the feeling of it. Of course, I can still make fun of people, and occasionally, I may have crossed the line but upon realizing it, I will apologize. I apologize with sincerity, not just to get myself out of trouble. So whenever I realize that someone is bullied, I will step forward to help. So, I think that, bullying can be prevented if the weaker party realizes that he/she can actually stand up for himself. No one will bully him if he/she plays a part in helping himself. I also know that, when someone is bullied, he/she will tend to have a feeling of despair. Only by confronting the bully will he/she make that particular feeling disappear. He/she can needs courage from his friends. Therefore, your friends are very important in helping you with your courage.

Hung Bing Shen