In November of last year,  a 10 year old girl  in Aurora, Colorado hung herself in her bedroom closet. Last month, an 8 year old boy in Cincinnati, Ohio hung  himself with a necktie. Their names were Ashawnty Davis and Gabriel Taye and they have something in common. They  were both being bullied.

Bullying has been happening since the beginning of time. The majority of people have experienced a form of bullying, whether they realized it or not. Bullying doesn’t always mean physical there is also verbal and cyber bullying. It has to be addressed that everybody reacts to situations differently. Some things that don’t impact you, can have a major impact on someone else. The definition of bullying is interpreted in different ways by different people, but it can still have the same effect. Bullying is when you “use superior strength or influence to intimidate someone, typically to force him or her to do what one wants.”

Eleanor Roosevelt students explain what bullying is to them. Senior Christopher Person says, “Bullying is harassing [or] tormenting a person for no reason or just because you want to.” Freshman Kayla Fenstermacher says, “Another form of bullying is when someone tries to intimidate someone to do something they don’t want to do.” Junior Taylor McCormick in response said, “I think it’s terrible how people feel the need to pick on someone lesser than them. It’s just ridiculous how people could be so cruel and have no remorse in what they say out their mouths.”

Although there are different opinions on what merits the label of bullying, it can be agreed that there are steps that need to be taken to prevent it. As a generation attempting to better the future, it is the job of bystanders to speak up. It is a shame that kids as young as 8 and 10 are getting bullied to the point where they do not want to live anymore. Something’s got to give.