Bullying, it’s just another part of the wonderful experience of high schools. It's about the ignorance and incomprehensibility of teenagers. You all know the speakers that come to school and talk about the new epidemic, "Cyber bullying"?

Bullying? Cyber bullying? I really wish they'd come up with a new term because it just makes teenagers think of a big kid in elementary school picking on a smaller kid for his lunch money.

But I guess it fits, because that's what bullying is: immaturity. Students pick on a person they don't know or barely even know. For what? A cheap laugh with your friends?

High school students see everyone else as different. And different scares and intimidates kids. Innately, students want to belong to a group of kids, that most of the time, doesn’t even like each other. They can't understand individuality. They can’t find themselves. And they are unable to communicate positively.

It’s funny— the young years pours out creativity. But then suddenly adolescences hits and everyone is too afraid to be themselves. They're afraid to be that one kid who stands out, the one kid that makes people look twice and the one kid who knows him or herself. Because why? The answer: They don't want to be bullied. That's their worst nightmare. That's when they think to themselves and say, Well, why do people do it? That's where it really gets me.

You are accepted into a group. Congratulations! High school isn't so scary for you anymore. You’re walking with them. There's a kid walking in the hallway, or the lunch room, where ever. This person looks different. Or at least different from the people you hang out with.
Someone whispers. They're pointing out the kid, saying something bad about his or her appearance. Ha, god, it's always about the appearance. Why? Because they don't know them, that's why. Friends would never bully friends.

You say something and your friend says something. You finally get the courage to yell something because you're in a big group. You say it, and then there's no turning back. The damage is done. Yeah, you laugh with your friends. It's really funny seeing someone anonymous hurt—someone who isn't widely accepted, and someone who isn't popular enough.

So, you're laughing with your friends. And they don't say a word; maybe they even pretend they didn't even hear it. Why? Because you're in a big group of people you call friends.

And to the different kid, all they see is enemies, people they don't want to ever see again in their lives. They could stand up for themselves.
But what're they going to do? It's just them, up against this big group. Think about if it were just you in the hallway; you wouldn't say anything to the different kid. Hell, you may even strike up a conversation with them. But when you're in a group, it's different. That’s what peer pressure is.

None of your group even knows why you all did it. Well most of the time they’re trying to unconsciously raise their self esteem. So what happened to the different kid? Well, they have to deal with their own shot self-esteem, self-hatred, a chance of depression, and even suicide. And hey, guess what? You just ruined their day. Maybe even their week? But for what? For a cheap f***ing laugh with these people you call friends?

But hey it doesn't stop there; this cheap laugh with your friends could go on for days, weeks, even months, until it stops getting f***ing funny. This is where the suicide comes in. You and your friends have made their lives miserable; they don't even want to go to school.
They keep telling their parents they’re sick. But they’re the kind of sick you don't understand. It’s a diagnosis of depression. And this ultimately leads to what? Cutting? Overeating? Suicide? You hear about it all the time, kids killing themselves from bullying. But no…that would never happen at your school. This is where the incomprehensibility and ignorance comes in.

Bullies—you included—don’t realize what you're doing to this person. You forget about it as soon as the laughter stops and the different kid walks away. You start a new conversation and it's like it never happened.

Teenagers, for the most part, are so ignorant about their actions and what the outcomes can be. You could have been the nicest kid in the world and have a great conscious. But not when you’re around what you think are good friends. That's peer pressure. You don't know it happens, you don't even think about it. So, you had this cheap laugh with your friends. You might've even raised your own self esteem, but you ruined a kid’s day…maybe even his life.

Welcome to high school. Now let's all make it a little easier for one other.