Demi Lovato recently said in an interview that her newest single “Sorry Not Sorry” is dedicated to her childhood bullies. She said the bullying was so bad she had to be homeschooled and that there was a petition being signed for her to take her own life. She was 12 then, she’s now 25, and to this day that type of bullying is still prominent.
What joy does it bring others to bring down another person? Bullying affects a person in every aspect of life. They will emotionally break down, they will mentally become depressed, they can socially isolate themselves, physically harm themselves…
What I’m trying to express is, bullying has not one positive outcome, why continue to do it? Whether it’s as small as judging a person by the way they are dressed to something as big as online shaming or physically hurting somebody else, bullying will always be wrong.
I want to bring light to this issue as it has dissolved from the public eye and many have seem to forgotten that bullying is still a huge issue. Well, I want to remind people that bullying is still alive, and it’s everywhere! With the internet, even cyberbullying has become a thing. You’ve seen all the movies (i.e Cyberbullying) you’ve watched all the shows (i,e 13 Reasons Why) however, it’s time to take action! I have a friend who was bullied nearly their entire time at school, I want to share their story because they deserve to get heard, they deserve to be the one who brings awareness to this issue, and because they have experienced nearly everything bad about bullying. The statistics on how bullying correlates with suicide and depression exists. I have tons of stories from many people on bullying and their thoughts on it, I knew somebody who went through bullying and sadly was not able to take it. I, too, have gone through bullying, I know firsthand this is an issue that should be taken lightly yet seriously. This is not a joke, this is not another “teen” thing, it happens to many people, of all color, age, gender, and sexual orientation. It can always happen to you.
I would personalize it by sharing my story because I too have been bullied… I have gone (and am going) through depression… I know what it feels like to hit rock bottom mentally. This is a story to tell, this isn’t one to get thought about and be done with. This will bring what most stories don’t have- reality. I want to be able to tell this story to have people listen, it isn’t all just television and media that is making all of this stuff up… it’s actually happening. It could be happening to someone you know or love, it’s probably happening to you. Don’t think for one second that you are alone. Bullying needs to end. This is a problem we can all fix, we need to unite together in this troubling time of having somebody like Donald Trump as our president, not shooting each other down. If you or anyone you know is a victim of bullying, please reach stopbullying.gov for help.