No one should feel like this. No one should have these thoughts. No one should be alone.

Day after day, week after week, he was bullied. He was picked on. He never fit in. Kids at school made fun of his hair, his clothes, and his speech. Everyday at recess kids chased him around the playset calling him names and trashing his life.

“Wait, what did you say?”
“I can’t understand you!”
“Where do you shop? Does your Mommy dress you?”
He constantly felt that he wasn’t good enough. He didn’t fit in. And he didn’t want to come to school.
Kids are judgemental, especially middle school students. But soon kids stepped in to help the boy. They went up to the group of bullies and said, “How would you feel if someone was doing this to you?”
“This needs to stop.”
“You’re turning this boy’s life into hell with all the harsh remarks. Do you think you’re cool hurting someone else?”
“If you guys don’t stop we are going to bring in a teacher.”

This boy saw the way his peers stood up for him. After, he said,“Thank you guys! That really means a lot. Thanks for sticking up for me.” He felt good knowing he wasn’t on his own.

It took the bullies awhile to catch on, but thankfully they did.Their message hit that group. The bullies were doing it because of boredom. As soon as they realized the bullying was poison, their behavior came to a halt. Due to the way they tormented him, it took him awhile to be okay. But once he learned that he wasn’t worthless or weird, everything was okay again. He was finally content with who he was.

This bullying happened in seventh grade at Swallow Elementary. I felt terrible for the kid who was bullied, but I didn’t know how to step in and help. The individuals who stood up for him did an astounding thing. They put bullying to end. They weren’t just bystanders. They did something about it. And they taught me a lesson: we can all stop bullying in our schools if we just stand and speak up.

To stop bullying, it’s not just up to those who are bullied. Bystanders are part of it as well — just like in this story. The people who step in can be the difference in ending bullying and making our schools better places..
Everyone should learn from this bullying experience, and show people that an effort can and should be made to stop these bad habits.