2005_Human Rights Comm Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

. . Excerpts from 2005 Human Rights Commission's Essays Student Stories of Bullying and Discrimination Bullying A girl my age's parents had just gotten a divorce and ever since the incident their family had been pretty low on money, not being able to pay for new clothes or a splurge to the mall's food court like many of the other kids in our class are able to do. So one day as she was witnessed to have worn out shoes and ragged clothing, some boys in her class began calling her poor and dirty. I was waiting for the bus to arrive...I went over and joined in a conversation with Jennifer when this other girl came over. ..Jennifer got mad because she didn't like her I guess... The girl said she can talk to whoever she wants and said that her volleyball team wins most of their games and stuff. Jennifer got really mad at this and started making fun of how fat she was and how bad at volleyball she was, because she was not on the A team like Jennifer was. She also said stuff like the only reason they win is because she is so fat and every step she takes the other team falls over. There is a girl at my school who most people would consider obese. Kids in my school are always cracking jokes about her like "Follow the herd. She is the herd." I have never gone through a school day without witnessing some sort of bias toward a fellow student, never. Whether it is name-calling, physical bullying, or teasing, I see it every day. Maybe it's a friend, somebody I know, or someone I've never seen before, maybe it is even myself; I am constantly seeing this unfairness toward others. I don't understand how people can think it is cool to do such things. What makes people so malicious? Even I have been made fun of at school. It can be anything from being called a weakling to a nerd. Why people always need to pick on someone; I don' know. People can go from being your friend one minute to being your enemy the next. It seems to depend on whom that person is hanging out with. Some of my friends will all of a sudden change their personality when they are around a certain person. Kids shouldn't need to go through so much torment at school. Discrimination is really just treating someone badly because they are different from you in some way. If you look at discrimination this way many of us have experienced being discriminated. You could be teased because of the shirt you have on, the glasses you have to wear or the braces on your teeth. You could have been fun of because you are too short, too tall, too heavy or too skinny. Discrimination can include being teased for not being smart enough, being too smart or a geek. There are too many ways people can be discriminated to list here. Kids who feel they have more power pick on others daily. A kid may be too short, too tall, too skinny, or too fat and even if they are a kind, funny, loving person, they are picked on. . Whether it's someone calling them names or pushing them around in the hallway.