The old adage “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” cannot be further from the truth, especially in today’s society. Everyone has his or her own experience of some form of bullying. For some, it may begin early in middle school or even later on in high school, like myself. Victims are no longer just the typical school nerds, but can be anyone who refuses to conform to the expected social behaviors like drinking, going to “those” parties, or sexual promiscuity. Whether the bullying is being sent through phones or social websites, or passed between students during class, it is traumatizing to the victim in a magnificent way. As technology continually advances and it becomes a necessity to keep up with the ever-changing world, teenagers turn to Facebook and Twitter to express their anger or hatred for another peer; in other words, cyberbullying has sharply increased compared to face-to-face bullying. A major difference between the two is with cyber bullying, the security of home is utterly destroyed because bolted doors and locked windows cannot keep a cyber bully from entering a victim’s dwelling place.


Ever since that day in February when several girls on my cheer squad verbally attacked me in the locker room for not covering up the previous weekend’s immoral activities, and when the unbelievable things were broadcasted about me on a social networking site were brought to my attention, I have had to reevaluate everything and everyone around me. After that day, I began questioning all friendships and found myself having a difficult time confiding in anyone including my boyfriend. Thankfully I had the trust of two special friends and my parents to turn to when I was made an outcast walking down the heavily populated hallways, the crowded locker room, and having to be the subject of snickering and ridicule by my peers in cheer. I realized the week before spring break how badly I had allowed these girls to affect how I lived. Knowing I could potentially see them in public, I avoided going anywhere alone, in fear that I would be attacked somehow again.


During the following weeks, I made the difficult decision to decide to move on and no longer just sit and do absolutely anything. My English teacher, Mrs. Fritz, told me to read Jodee Blanco’s memoir Please Stop Laughing at Me…, and it changed my outlook on my situation, and led me to recall my own experience in this essay. Blanco experienced bullying throughout most of her school life and her perseverance inspired me to stand firm in my morals. Through all the ups and downs, I realized who my true friends are and whom I could trust and count on.

In order to stop bullying of any kind, teenagers need to be aware of how their words affect another peer and think about how it would feel if someone was targeting them.