Fwump!
The punch to my back didn’t hurt, but I feigned great suffering just to appease big Ray.
He was pursuing me for a week in school after I spit an eraser at him (through a hollow pen). The pellet-sized eraser hit him on the cheek and stayed there for a few seconds before he brushed it away.
Did I have a death wish or what? This guy was the biggest kid in school, with a growing chip on his shoulder. But fortunately I was the fleetest of foot and always slipped his grasp, until that morning when he caught me unaware at my locker.
A wave of relief suddenly washed over me at that moment because I knew the terror had come to an end. I actually got off easy that day since there were bullies in my school whom Ray was afraid of. They could have easily (and happily) used Ray’s cheek as a mop to clean yesterday’s grit off the floor.
While teachers had their eye on these incidents, they didn’t appear too concerned. They would either tell us to “get back to class” or send the bully to the principal’s office where the strap awaited.
The downtrodden never breathed a word of their victimization for fear of getting thumped even harder the next time. That’s just the way it was.
Fortunately, times and attitudes have changed and bullying is treated more seriously today because of its devastating effects.
Back then it was only physical. Now it’s more psychological courtesy of cyberbullying.
One of the keys to stop bullying is intervention. Statistics show that when peers intervene on behalf of the victim, the bullying stops in less than 10 seconds more than 50 per cent of the time. But even though bystanders don’t like to watch bullying, less than 20 per cent try to stop it because they don’t know what to do.
It only takes one comment from a bystander to break the flow of bullying, and it gives other bystanders the will to support the victim too.
Until peers stand up, bullies will continue to hurt others.
Parents need to monitor their children and recognize the signs and symptoms of bullying.
Last month a Grade 7 student submitted a letter to www.stopabully.ca and indicated she had suicidal thoughts due to constant bullying.
She wrote: “Can anyone please help me? I swear I think I need to see a psychiatrist. I want to ask my parents but I can’t; they would think I was insane.”
The website above allows youth to report any bullying incident, which will be acted on. The Kids Help Phone number is 1-800-668-6868.
Lyonel Doherty, Editor
