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Health & Fitness

Solution to Bullying Must be Drawn Up by Students

With the recent shooting at Chardon High School, where does the blame lie and how do we solve the growing epidemic?

Chardon High School adds itself to an ever-growing list of schools that have fallen victim to gun violence. Whether the blame rests on bullying or a difficult upbringing, there remains a growing concern of the effect of bullying in high schools.

To begin to understand the problem of bullying, students must look in the mirror. As much as bullying is a problem with students picking on those who they deem as misfits.

More than anything, this epidemic comes down to the inaction of students. Students who see bullies torment the life of fellow peers; students who remain silent when they see the bullied visibly upset; students who look away when they now they are in the position to stop the harassment.

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But, why? Why do we refuse to help when we now the implications of our inaction?

Are the bullied not the same students who rise and say the Pledge of Allegiance alongside us in the morning? Are they not the same students who come to school to simply strive to obtain academic excellence in hopes of a better future? Are they not the same individuals who don the same colors and cheer beside fellow peers at Friday night football games?

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Regardless of these truths, we are left unfazed.

Our inaction allows for these shootings to occur. We’ve allowed the likes of Columbine to repeat itself over and over again. Those who don’t learn the first, second, third, or  fourth time are doomed to repeat these mistakes the following time.

And that is where students find themselves in current times.

It’s not a matter of feeling the pain or despair of the bullied. It’s the fact that within our mindset we have silenced our conscience and within our body, we have allowed our hearts to harden with indifference.

There has to be a change in our mindset; something has to click.

Until students change the way they carry themselves, then stories like Chardon will continue to plague headlines. One would think the growing concern of school shootings would change our behavior, but it looks to have not.

Naturally, there are going to be divisions within schools. There are going to be cliques that come to define us in high school, but to allow this in-group bias to excuse bullying of fellow students is absolutely unacceptable.

Solving this issue is a solution students must draw up. The longer it takes, the more we will see students lead to believe violence is their only means of bettering their situation.

Whether it be a shooting similar to the one we recently witnessed at Chardon High School or suicides of 10-year old Ashlynn Conner, 14-year old Phillip Parker, or 15-year old Phoebe Prince, bullying is the creating a harbor of hate and vengeance among American school children.

The bullied must understand their circumstances do not define them; it is the manner in which they deal with it that defines them. By resorting to violence, these victims are lowering themselves to the same level as their bullies.

The problem is what can we expect from individuals whose cries go unanswered; who have seen their peers turn a blind eye towards their torment and kept quiet when all they needed was a voice to tell them things would brighten up?

Schools need to implement measures to better allow bully victims to seek proper guidance and assistance. There has to be more emphasis placed on teachers and students to make sure bullies are properly punished and this epidemic eradicated from schools.

School systems need to promote an environment that allows for an acceptance of the diverse range of students schools house today. With proper oversight and enforcement of anti-bully measures, maybe then will see the outcome we all desire.

The only problem is what I write are simply words. The effect it will have will ultimately be decided by the public. The moment we choose to realize our efficacy and our ability to solve the issue of bullying, that is the moment we will see less headlines of shootings at what was supposed a tolerant institution.

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