Bullying at High School and the effects I've observed it have

When you start at high school, it can be very daunting. You leave primary school where you've made friends and you pretty much start all over again at trying to make friends. Sometimes you fall into a group that look after you, sometimes you make your own group and sometimes you just have...no one. At high school, I was lucky to have many from my primary school already there. They were a few years higher, but they looked after me on breaks and introduced me to new people. I also made a friend or two to hang out with in classes. Many kids get bullied, and for me it wasn't all smooth sailing. I got bullied a bit by some students (even constantly throughout high school by my second bus driver) and I even had to get stitches at one point due to an altercation with another student. I found my group diminish quickly when my other friends in higher years all left. Just myself and my best friend. So it was nice when we had other students from various groups join us on breaks. Popular students cast out for the day, students with their only friends at home sick, whoever and whatever the problem was, we allowed them to join us so they weren't alone. I had a good primary school friend start at my high school. Within weeks of starting, the students were bullying him due to how different he was. It got to the point where myself, my best friend and another primary school friend looked after him, spending time with him on class breaks, defending him when other students picked on him in front of me. But as soon as he was in class, they started once more on him. I could see the affect all this was taking on him. From being a bright, bubbly guy with a lot of personality to being quiet and reserved. The vice principal asked me into multiple meetings to see if he could in any way try to help but the other students just always seemed to get away with it.

Eventually, my friend left high school. He had a few days at the high school in a program, but every time those same students saw him, they yelled abuse at him and picked on him. He dropped out and became completely forgotten to many. The ones who did try and help; a few teachers and the vice principal, asked for updates from me as I kept contact with him. Throughout it all, I recognized who I could go to if I required help with a situation like that if it ever occurred again. But I also couldn't help feeling like many people at the school let him down by not stepping in and doing something about the bullying.

All this set me up for the exact same thing, but with my best friends sister. She had it tough. We assisted her in finding friends and for the last two years we were at high school, those friends hung out with her a bit. My best friend, even though we weren't close at that time, we still tried to support her sister as much as we could.

She had it tough. We assisted her in finding friends and for the last two years we were at high school, those friends hung out with her a bit. My best friend, even though we weren't close at that time, we still tried to support her sister as much as we could. As soon as we left things spiraled. Her sister wouldn't be accepted into the other groups.

They picked on her because she couldn't do things as well as them. Told her she couldn't hang out with them because she was a loser and a no hoper. All this took a toll on this young girl. She collapsed a few times at school, with many students just laughing at her and walking away. She eventually wanted to leave and never come back, and that's exactly what she did. She might have been a bit shy starting at school, but that is nothing compared to how she is now. Those few years of high school really took a toll. Now, she doesn't get out of the house much, and she rarely socializes with people because she doesn't feel comfortable with others. Everything she enjoyed doing, is now limited or nonexistent because she is now is too scared of what others will say or do.

Some people don't realize the affects that words or actions have on others. I myself am even guilty of that. I self harmed and had anxiety attacks due to bullying and to cope I projected a lot of my anger from being bullied, onto other people. My own bullying turned into bullying others. It wasn't until I saw my friends lives being destroyed by bullying that I truly realized how much it can hurt a person. I am no saint and I occasionally can slip up. We aren't perfect, no one is. But if everyone is just a little kinder, a little more respectful and a little more aware of how others may be feeling or thinking of what others may be going through, the world might actually be a better place for many.