Bullying

I've experienced bullying, as shameful as it is, on both sides. My middle school years I was a dick, in high school I was thrown to the other side of the roles. It is a horrible thing to do and experience, and can lead to some drastic actions taken by those who are bullied and those who bully.

Bullying isn't without its source, and the kids can't be blamed for the entire weight of bullying. Society in general plays a major role in it.

Watching public television (that with commercials) gives us an overview of what kids today are trying to live up to, Nike ads promote the $180 pair of shoes, Levi ads promote $75 pairs of jeans, Beats promotes their headphones. All of this is implanted into kids minds as being the 'cool' thing to do, and in many of their minds they must conform and everyone else should conform.

Conformity is a major part of all parts of the world. In the United States it was forced in the 1900s with the fight against anarchistic ideas, everyone mustn't have anarchistic views or they were separated from the others in extreme conditions. Throughout history we can see it happening time and time again, just in today's world it isn't focused on something like the black/white separation; it is focused on fashion, music, items, speaking, sexual orientation, etc. We may be able to lessen the differences such as sexual orientation or speaking, but as long as we are in a free market based world, the judgement based on fashion, music, or items will not cease.

It can't be expected that bullying will stop, it won't unless we somehow change the human nature of conformity. We can, perhaps, educated parents on teaching their children to better manage being bullied (don't deal with it themselves), the consequences of being in the role of the bully, and the reasons for bullying to be an occurrence.