¨You look like a fat cow in those jeans.”, “You should go home and drink some bleach.”, “The world would be a better place if you would just die already.” These are a few things kids all over America have heard, whether it’s been aimed at others or themselves. The truth is in today’s society, between 1 and 3 U.S. students say they have been bullied at school. As a result, depression and anxiety are more prominent adding yet another major issue in the next generation of our country. As this epidemic spreads in the U.S, the Four Way Test can prevent and eliminate, bullying, it’s ramifications, and suicide, my topic for today.
The first step of the Four Way Test, is to ask yourself, “Is it the truth?” We’ve all played the fun game of telephone, …show more content…
The definition of a bully is someone who abuses and mistreats a perceived power imbalance. I can’t stress to you enough how important it is we use this step in our own lives. Bullying never builds goodwill, and can ruin friendships that are no less than a brothership or sistership. When bullying takes place in a friendship it can be even more toxic. According to CNN, bullying among friends can be especially traumatic because it’s a betrayal by people in positions if trust. This is exactly what happened to Ally Del Monte. The teasing began in second grade when Ally began taking medication for a thyroid disease and gained sixty pounds. Boys banned her from the jungle gym in fear she would break it, and girls laughed at her big jackets and called fat, ugly and weird. She stated, “At first I didn’t consider it bullying because the people treating me like this were supposed to be my friends. That’s how I perceived myself because that’s what they were telling me.” It's a recurring theme in movies and pop culture, best shown in the 2004 film "Mean Girls." Bullying among friends, also known as relational bullying, grows from a natural tendency to develop an identity based on your friends. Young people often join groups defined by who's included or excluded, but it crosses the line when it becomes a sustained campaign to hurt someone who's not currently in. “And while bullying awareness has risen in the last few years, bullying among friends remains hard to detect. It's subtler than insults and punches between children who obviously don't get along”, said Lynn Bravewomon, coordinator of the Hayward Unified School District's Safe and Inclusive Schools Program in California. It can take the form of spreading rumors or belittling someone over things as simple as their clothes. It can look like teasing over race, gender or how well they perform in school or sports.
The first step of the Four Way Test, is to ask yourself, “Is it the truth?” We’ve all played the fun game of telephone, …show more content…
The definition of a bully is someone who abuses and mistreats a perceived power imbalance. I can’t stress to you enough how important it is we use this step in our own lives. Bullying never builds goodwill, and can ruin friendships that are no less than a brothership or sistership. When bullying takes place in a friendship it can be even more toxic. According to CNN, bullying among friends can be especially traumatic because it’s a betrayal by people in positions if trust. This is exactly what happened to Ally Del Monte. The teasing began in second grade when Ally began taking medication for a thyroid disease and gained sixty pounds. Boys banned her from the jungle gym in fear she would break it, and girls laughed at her big jackets and called fat, ugly and weird. She stated, “At first I didn’t consider it bullying because the people treating me like this were supposed to be my friends. That’s how I perceived myself because that’s what they were telling me.” It's a recurring theme in movies and pop culture, best shown in the 2004 film "Mean Girls." Bullying among friends, also known as relational bullying, grows from a natural tendency to develop an identity based on your friends. Young people often join groups defined by who's included or excluded, but it crosses the line when it becomes a sustained campaign to hurt someone who's not currently in. “And while bullying awareness has risen in the last few years, bullying among friends remains hard to detect. It's subtler than insults and punches between children who obviously don't get along”, said Lynn Bravewomon, coordinator of the Hayward Unified School District's Safe and Inclusive Schools Program in California. It can take the form of spreading rumors or belittling someone over things as simple as their clothes. It can look like teasing over race, gender or how well they perform in school or sports.