“I asked them to stop. Was my stern, annoyed tone not enough to tip them off of the way I cringe at the subject. At first, I thought it was only immature, or, rather, inconsiderate. Then, I realized that if I did not stop it, they would persist in this behaviour. Yes, I understand it is innocent fun, a joke, no offense intended. So, I tried again to ask them to stop, but something went wrong.

I looked at them and my heart started racing; I could feel myself losing control. Quickly, I made the decision to leave the room because I could feel the anger and fear rising within me. Recognizing the signs, I separated myself from the situation and tried to calm down. The nervousness welled up within me and shook me to the very core. Once I finally managed to settle down, I turned around and went back to the classroom. I kept my eyes downcast and walked over to my seat. Class was about to start, and I put it in the back of my mind. Gradually, the pain died away, but the thoughts behind the pain are ever-present.”
Some may judge and some may not. Those who truly do know the meaning of camaraderie and civility will not jump to unnecessary conclusions filled with falsehoods, nor will they allow such falsehoods to ensnare them. In regard to those who support the spread of these lies, you should not allow what they may or may not be saying about you to dominate your own convictions. The words of others can hurt and cut deeper than any knife. The words of others can ruin the way you see the world or dash you into the darkest of depressions; do not allow them to control you in this way because what they think has no real impact on who you really are.
However, why would anyone want to inflict such unhappiness on another or unintentionally suggest some lie, which leads to unnecessary confrontation, in the first place? Surely, when people understand that the spread of thoughtless words can greatly harm those around them, they will not judge others without knowing the truth; perhaps they would not assert their own baseless opinions over the realities lived by others every day. If and when people truly understand, then the truth would be a principle that we could all live with happily; if people could understand this principle, life would prove much more enjoyable to everyone.
Each situation is different, influenced by some outside factors and brought about by a series of different experiences. Should we not seek to curb the influence these actions have on people’s lives; should we not try to help others move past the difficulties thrown across their paths everyday? Truly, we should want to help lead the march against these callous comments. Why? We would want someone to intervene on our behalf, whether to defend us against another or just to stand up for what is right.
At the same time, one cannot stand up against a problem if he or she contributes to that problem him or herself. One cannot in all honesty act differently in different situations because of the environment or the people involved (like standing up for a friend who is being teased, but then teasing someone else you barely even know). Most assuredly, one would call that hypocrisy, and it would diminish the integrity of such an admirable cause and its proponents.
With all this in mind, I think it safe to say that one of the largest problems in our communities is the tendency to gossip and spread rumors. At first, it seems like a harmless, common thing that everyone participates in, that is, until someone gets hurt. You see, the problem with gossip is that there is always the threat of a someone misconstruing your words, without any attempt to correct the situation. In regard to gossip, people do not check the truth behind the statement; they simply allow the rumor to spread, until it has been accepted as truth. No attempt is made to find out the actual facts behind the rumors or to confront the person or persons in question. After a few days or weeks or even months, the person who is the object of the rumor and gossip may hear about it. They may be hurt and wonder how on earth such an absurdity about them could spread without their knowing about it; they may be angry and use that irrational energy to mend the situation them self, while only making matters worse; they may be sad and cry because matters have spun so far out of control they do not how to fix it, and it may in fact have reached a point where it’s beyond control. Hey, they may even be indifferent and dismiss it all. In reality, we cannot tell what a person’s reaction to gossip spread about them may be; we cannot tell whether what we consider as harmless fun may drive them to drastic measures, such as suicide or drugs or a number of other things. Words can hurt and cut deeper than any knife; we should not create an environment, intentionally or unintentionally, in which the threat of hurting another in any way for any length of time exists.