Bullying ENDS NOW

By Georgia Trevor

Bullying is a form of aggressive behavior that is intentional, hurtful, physical, psychological, and/or threatening and persistent. There is an imbalance of strength; power and dominance. The problem occurs when this is a continuous situation that doesn’t stop as generations evolve. Bullying hurts and worst instance, it kills.

   Did you know that Bully victims are between 2 to 9 times more likely to consider suicide than non-victims, according to studies by Yale University?

   According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of bullying 

   25% of teachers see nothing wrong with bullying or putdowns and consequently intervene in only 4% of bullying incidents.

   Children and adolescents who bully thrive on controlling or dominating others.  They have often been the victims of physical abuse or bullying themselves.

I’m sure many have heard about the Canadian teenager, Amanda Todd who sadly was bullied so much, it’s reported that she committed suicide. Mind you, before her death, she had tried consuming bleach. She was rushed to the hospital to get it pumped out of her body. When she recovered, nasty remarks on her facebook page about how she should try harder to kill herself or try the same action again because she clearly hadn’t done it right were all over her wall.

I guess my real question is, when will this cycle stop? Why can’t bullying go away as fast as seasonal fashion? Bullying hurts. It leaves scars, whether visibly seen, or not. That doesn’t stop the pain from being any less. Whether it’s physical, verbal, cyber, whatever! It’s hateful and it gets its point across. Being bullied is a silent cry because no one sees it sometimes but those tears are as real as the pain inflicted because of it.

I once was a victim of bullying some odd years ago. It was hurtful, discouraging and it left me feeling alone because no one could relate or cared to understand that I couldn’t just tell the people off. They always came back. From my situation, those very bullies either apologized later on as the years passed and I became my own person WITH A VOICE, or they are actually good buds of mine. Ironic. Though the wounds healed, I still have this strong hate for bullying. It’s always done to those who are different or just can’t stand up for themselves. It’s so unfair!

But what’s happening now is, it’s getting the attention that’s necessary. There’s hotlines, sites and even well-known celebrities speaking on how bullying needs to stop! Positive things like that really have an impact on youth.

“It gets better. It seems hard, you know, I think being different is always gonna be a tough climb. There's always gonna be people that are scared of it. But at the end of the day you give those bullies, those people, that are so ignorant, if you give them the power to affect you, you're letting them win. And they don't deserve that. What you're doing by being yourself is you're keeping it real, and you're being really brave.” -Adam Lambert

Whoever said bullying was cool must not have been!

Sites for encouragement:

www.pacer.org/bullying

www.dig4kids.org/Bully-Prevention

www.lighthouse-services.com/

www.cyberbullyhotline.com

Don’t Be About It, TWEET About It

By: Georgia Trevor

I'd rather," deadpans Philippa Grogan, 16, "give up, like, a kidney than my phone. How did you manage before? Carrier pigeons? Letters? Going round each others' houses on BIKES?" This is an excerpt from the Guardian News online which caught my attention. What the girl said was basically how many teens these days think and strongly feel. Our phones are our lives. Technology has made us anti social in many ways.

Walking Avila University’s campus is pretty much as follows: Students walking, earphones in, phones out either changing the song or on some sort of social network, whether it be Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, etc. This is my generation. This is what happens when technology upgrades and we become a product of being raised by technology.

 This somewhat interests me.

 Did you know that it starts as young as age twelve that kids own a phone? When I was twelve, I was fighting my big brother to get off of the computer so I can PAINT ON OUR COMPUTER SCREEN THINGY MAJIG!

 “I have a phone, Ipod and this house computer might as well be mine. I’m the only one who knows how to work it forreal. I have Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. I have a lot to say and all of my friends have one,” Serina Trevor, 8^th grader stated to me, as if it were a no-brainer question I asked.

 According to Guardian News, more than 80% of phone-owning teens also use them to take pictures (and 64% to share those pictures with others). Sixty percent listen to music on them, 46% play games, 32% swap videos and 23% access social networking sites!

 According to Jonathan McKee, author, and president of The Source for Youth Ministry kids declared that teens are now soaking in 10 hours and 45 minutes per day of media in a mere 7 hours and 38 minutes. (This requires multitasking. In other words, they are listening to iTunes while browsing the web, all while the TV is on in the background.)

 Me, myself, I wake up and check my phone as if it were the daily news. I check my texts first, go to Twitter, then Instagram then Facebook. I’m sure to have a couple notifications I NEED to check. This is life. I rather text you than call you or talk to you in person. I usually have nothing to say in person if you’re just a social media “friend.” If you aren’t my parents, family members, best friend or a special someone, there is NO reason for you to call me. This is just how I feel. So to sum it up, media is ruling many other teens’ lives and I’m not ashamed to say mine as well.

 We are the technology generation.

 “We live in a society exquisitely dependent on science and technology, in which hardly anyone knows anything about science and technology.” -Carl Sagan

 Technology has made us anti social in many ways.

Our Generation Got It Wrong

 By: Georgia Trevor

"Our generation really does seem to have priorities messed up. It's sad because it's a way of life now for us, sadly," Longview student, Kara Fatseas stated about how she thinks our generation is today.

Alexis Lampkin states "I'm in no place to talk but I see the big picture and I realize things that mattereed then, is irrelevant now because we belieieve it's our "right". Like it wasn't fought for back then."

So I’m sittin here thinking, man are we messed up. You see, I happen to live in a world that’s corrupt; just my luck. What I mean to say is that things are twisted in today’s day and age. For further understanding, let me try to elaborate. Let me set the scene:

A girl gets pregnant, in her early teens. She was the whole package; with a mouth so mean, a body like no other and a swagger so unseen. So it’s only right that she got all the looks, mind on the irrelevant instead of on the books. Until she meets this guy that tells her blissful lies. But she can’t see as far as the eye. So with the guy, she furthers their relation. She’s convinced that she’s in love; she’s never felt this type of sensation. Couple months later, she’s feeling uneasy. Her body’s feeling different and her stomach’s feeling queasy. You see, that very same guy, that caught baby girl’s eye, took something of hers you can’t just go out and buy. So now she’s pregnant with a baby that ole dude is saying maybe to. “How could it be mine when I strapped up, boo? You trynna set me up, I ain’t no foo!” He’s saying everything she’d never expected him to. “What do you mean you don’t know if it’s by you? You trynna leave me on my own?!? Remember it took two!” So now a single mother out there on her own. Friends abandoned her and her parents disowned, with no one but herself, she’s out there all alone. Sadly, this is pretty normal for us today; a tragedy. But it’s the truth when you wanna be “grown” and end up losing your youth casually.

My Generation Got It Wrong.

A young kid, no older than one six, got a couple things in his bag and I ain’t talkin about tricks. Instead of making it on time to class, first block, he’s outside of the school, slingin rocks. Eyes roaming round while he’s grippin on his glock. Mama never cared and Daddy was never there. Teacher gave him false hopes, dealing with the cards he was dealt; unfair. Street smart; can’t learn what he knows from sittin at no desk and in no seat. Money is what he’s after, the root of all evil; greed. He’s got to live, and a nigga’s gotta eat. Sadly, this is reality, money over everything; a young brotha’s mentality. This is how you get respect. They believe these fallacies! When in all actuality, you go and live by the streets; you die by em, a casualty.

My Generation Got It Wrong.

Since when was it cool to cut up in school. When did being a man consist of carrying round a tool? Why are girls so thirsty for attention? Feeling psyched up for a measly little twitter mention? Clothes, close to none. Hitting up clubs, getting the wrong type of publicity is their idea of fun? Bad bitch is what they aim for. They don’t see that they’ve reached the status of a whore. Then when they want love the same dudes that left them feelin used got the real ladies cuffed. When are we gonna break this chain? All of this ignorance is enough to drive a person insane. We’ve taken stupidity to a whole new level. Damaging the minds of angels and shaking hands with the devil. Disguised to believe things in this world are possible; land of the free. Feeble minded people not caring to see, this world was never for us but those in the past fought for what we now have; we owe those that made history. Instead you smoke weed and drinking Amsterdam. Broadcasting it, uploading pictures on Instagram.  Fresh outfits and pictures of your money you got stashed have made their way to becoming your facebook stat. Stupid dude, the government controls everything! Or did you not know. Or were you living by this stupid motto they call Y.O.L.O!?

My Generation Got It Wrong.

Now I’m not trynna preach like I’m looking down on those who live like this. Make no mistake, I made sure to look at myself, I’m no hypocrite. I just happen to observe my environment. I’m not trying to be too old before I can enjoy my retirement. I know where I came from and where I plan to go. I’m writing this in hopes that you can walk with me the same road. I know I still have ways ahead but I can’t turn back to this world that’s dead. I don’t want to be another statistic. I’m trynna express the urgency in this 911 emergency situation. It’s logistics. My generation is broken, who’s trying to join me to fix it?

My Generation Got It Wrong.

"You guys are our future. Sadly, that scares me. Terribly." -Linda Trevor