Bullying stinks. At least that is what I have been told all my life. From the second I walked through the doors of my kindergarten class to now in high school teachers, administrators, students and even celebrities have told me that bullying is not right and that no one should have to deal with it. I personally only remember one true time when I was bullied, and that was in kindergarten when everyone was rude to everybody else. I admit I still have a grudge towards the kids who bullied me, but it is something that has made me who I am today. You will often hear that bullying builds character, and it does, but you will then turn around and find people arguing that bulling is evil. So whose opinion are you supposed to listen to? Through life experiences, people will probably lean to one side or the other. This creates a divide in the subject that will bring up many heated debates and cause much controversy.
Firstly, there is the topic of all the publicity that bullying gets. Famous singer Taylor Swift has said that she was bullied in her childhood and explains this has helped contribute to her success by making her strive for greatness. There have been many others who have followed in her footsteps by saying they were bullied at some point in their life. This brings up the question, does bullying create greatness? Does it give people a chance to prove their adversaries wrong? If bullying contributes to celebrities becoming who they are, then why is it so bad? It is bad because society says so. We have fallen into the trap of 'drinking the Kool-Aid.' We hear an opinion, and instantly believe that this is correct because it comes from someone we respect, like Taylor Swift. When people hear the words, 'bullying is bad,' it is usually from someone they listen to often, or someone that they believe has correct judgment. But they have to remember that it is just an opinion. They do not have to believe that bullying is terrible just because someone else says it is. Of course bullying is not great, but should it get all the attention it does? Bullying is here to stay. It is human nature to pick on someone who is different. People have created a belief that bullying should be rid from this world. They have come to think that kids picking on other kids is a crisis that needs to be stopped. But think about it for a second, that is what kids do, they pick on each other. Bullying is something that can never truly go away.
Truth is, bullying really is bad. It's bad for the bullied and the bullies. It not only lowers the self-esteem of the victim, but bullying will leave the inflictor with the knowledge that they were once a terrible person. But when bullying gives people the desire to prove others wrong and strive for greatness, can it really be all that bad? Bullying does build character. It can give someone the chance to prove that they are better than the one inflicting the bullying. People who are against bullying will say that it can lead to the victim becoming emotionally impaired by their tormentors, yet there are ways to counteract the bullying weather it is mental or physical. Mental bullying is when one person uses words to aggravate someone else, but words cannot physically hurt you in any way possible. The only person that can use these words to hurt you, is yourself. If you let what other people say hurt you, then that is the point when bullying actually takes place. Just because someone says it, does not mean it is true. Next is physical bullying. This is somewhat harder to avoid than mental bullying, but there is a way. Physical bullying can range from a shove in the hallway, to getting beaten up when none of the teachers are around. Often, mental bullying leads to physical bullying in that the person being tormented lets the words hurt them. So, if you remember that words cannot hurt you unless you let them, you are already one step ahead of the game. Yet sometimes the confrontation can get out of hand and the tormenting can turn physical. This is when you should find someone and tell them your situation. The best person you can tell is a friend. Teachers and adults will usually make it worse by getting too involved in the situation. A friend can be with you constantly and help you when something goes wrong. This way bullying can be avoided. When I was young, I was bullied by some students in my kindergarten class. It was only mental bullying, but I let their words hurt me and get under my skin. Finally one day I stopped caring about what they said and ignored their rude comments. At the time I did not realize it, but I had just created my solution to bullying, because once I started to ignore the tormenting, I felt better about myself and was able to actually make friends. This grew into my belief of not caring about what other people said unless it was against my family of friends. The main idea to remember is that words are only a weapon if you let them.
Bullying can be avoided, and is not the plague on America that everyone believes it is. From all the publicity it gets, you might begin to feel you are being billed into hating bullying. This happens because people who try to get rid of bullying are so focused on their mission that they will argue with anyone who disagrees with him. The argument that bullying is bad can be counteracted with how it can be avoided and ignored. Words can only hurt you if you let them, and just because someone says it, does not mean they are right. Looking at bullying from a different angle can reveal that this topic is not what it is all cut out to be. I have survived bullying by ignoring the taunting and believing that nothing anyone says against me is true. Even though bullying can hurt, we cannot get rid of it since it is human nature. Bullying is something everyone goes through and can give people a chance to prove their adversaries wrong. This leads to the conclusion that bullying is just something that happens and should be ignored.