Eng 101-B20 - Old Testament Survey Essay

Essay 1: A Call for Action

Conner Mullett

ENG 101-B20

September 19, 2016

Gym class in middle school was always a solid buzzkill. There’s nothing like a crowd of sweaty middle school boys heading into the locker room after class! For me, this would have actually been a positive compared to what was actually happening after class in the locker room. In my middle school years, I was tortured during these times. These moments usually involved a circle of guys crowding around my locker and one of them beating the living tar out of me (excess body spray doesn’t sound so bad now). The sad part is bullying has reached a point where this example does not jump off the page. Today bullying can follow a student home through the crazy world of social media and wreck absolute havoc in a person’s life. I propose a call to action to stop bullying in its tracks. To combat the severity of bullying in schools, the people affected by it need to do a better job of watching, listening and acting.

In my experience in the locker room, the most horrifying sight was looking over at my gym teacher and seeing him look the other way. There I was right in front of his eyes taking a beating, and he did not even acknowledge me. Not only was I being completely pummeled, but I was also feeling neglected by the person who was put in charge of me. Teachers need to wake up! Teachers are required to do more than what their job title suggests. They are overseers of a classroom of students, and should therefore be more aware of what is taking place when they are teaching. Students also have a responsibility to take their eyes off of themselves and start looking outward. I cannot put into words how soul crushing it was to see my fellow peers not notice the torture I was enduring. If one student would have decided to step in or get my teacher, these occurrences could have been stopped.

Another frustrating element to being bullied, is when the student being bullied does not feel heard by the people around them. When I was being bullied, I was shockingly open about it. I was quick to call for aid. I remember telling my guidance counselor about my situation and him responding with a very dry “tell them it hurts your feelings.” This is absolutely unacceptable. In the history of bullies, I cannot think of one who actually cared for the feelings of the person they were bullying. However, I did not lose hope because surely my parents would listen and understand what I was going through. Not only did my parents not understand, they actually made me feel even worse by telling me to toughen up and have thicker skin. I do not mean to be rough on my father and mother, but they are called to much more than a response such as this. When a student is being bullied, the thing they need most is a supportive family to encourage them. Parents need to be vessels of support for their students, so that their child can face the day knowing they are heard by the people closest to them.