Will B.

My heart broke when I heard the news about Avery Green and the reason behind it. When will enough be enough when it comes to bullying? There should be zero tolerance when it comes to this and possibly criminal charges if it comes to that. With the whole “woke” movement and safety campaign to prevent school shootings, you would think they could crack down on the bullying as well. I know it can be hard to catch it sometimes but when a complaint is lodged at school it needs to be taken very seriously. The days of hazing other students until they break should be long retired.

There is a big difference between joking around and roasting a friend and daily harassment against students who may not fit into the cookie-cutter mold of the perfect student athlete. I took great pride in sticking up for those being bullied around me when I was in school and I think we need more students standing up for the students who are being harassed. I don’t have all the answers but I think zero tolerance for bullying is the first step.

Some statistics on bullying from Pacer. org: “One out of every five (20.2%) students report being bullied, Of those students who reported being bullied, 13% were made fun of, called names, or insulted; 13% were the subject of rumors; 5% were pushed, shoved, tripped, or spit on; and 5% were excluded from activities on purpose, Bullied students reported that bullying occurred in the following places: the hallway or stairwell at school (43%), inside the classroom (42%), in the cafeteria (27%), outside on school grounds (22%), online or by text (15%), in the bathroom or locker room (12%), and on the school bus (8%), 46% of bullied students report notifying an adult at school about the incident, the reasons for being bullied reported most often by students include physical appearance, race/ethnicity, gender, disability, religion, sexual orientation.” According to these statistics, most of these areas can be easily monitored.

Some of the effects of being bullied include: increased risk for depression, anxiety, sleep difficulties, lower academic achievement, and dropping out of school. A study performed by Yale University found that at least half of suicides by teens are caused by bullying. It costs absolutely nothing to be nice to those around us: a kind word, a hug or even a smile can change someone’s day completely and much more so for teens going through emotional issues. I would ask anyone reading this to please call Olney ISD and ask what is being done to stop bullying at our schools. The number is 940-564-3519. Take it one step further and please attend a school board meeting and raise the issue of bullying.

This is Will B saying, please stop teaching children that bullying and hazing is okay.