November Blog Post

“Bullying”

When we first think of a bully, we don’t make the connection of it being a family member, we usually think of it being someone who picks on you or maybe even beats you up at school, but in reality a bully can be anyone. Before we all left for Thanksgiving Break, we discussed in class the presence of “bullies” and “family bullies”. They have become a serious problem in our generation today, I don’t know exactly why, but it has. I think part of that is because schools don’t really enforce a safe environment for kids, by this I mean, they do not have control over every student at the school and teachers don’t emphasize that it isn’t tolerated. Also some students experience a tough living situation where their parents can be abusive verbally and they think that it is okay to act like that with the people around you.

Growing up, I have had situations where I have been bullied by classmates, my brothers, and even my father. Classmates can be more of an understandable situation rather than family members. Being the youngest child in the family, odds are you are going to get picked on a lot for a lot of different things, but never once did I think it could get physically aggressive. One minute you could be playing around and then the next, you could be bleeding from your nose or have bruises all over your body because play was turned into fighting. This happened a lot between my older brothers and I. But when it came to my dad, it was a completely different story.

Your parents always expect the best out of you and you definitely don’t want to disappoint them. Well my dad was a hard ass when I was in high school. When my dad was my age, he was a 5 star athlete in football, track, and basketball, was All-American honors, in band, choir…etc. He carried that reputation with him when he got to college and became 2x All-American in track and qualified for the Olympic Trials after his junior season. Because he had this big reputation, he expected a lot out of me, considering I was his only child that had a chance at doing what he did. It was a lot of pressure for high schooler to receive. It almost felt like it was a life or death situation if I didn’t succeed, so I tried my best and worked my ass off, but when I failed it went downhill. My father would say things to me like you will never be good enough or make it to the big leagues if you continue to do things like this. It was mentally draining for me to hear that because then I started to feel worthless and like I really wouldn’t be good enough for anything I set my mind to.

After this, that is when I learned that bullies can literally be anyone, so when we discussed this in class it brought me back to high school. If you were bullied, don’t feel alone because believe me, everyone has been bullied at least once in their life. Families and the relationships around you have a huge impact on how you act towards other people.