Dear Ms. Kaplan

The Bullying epidemic in American schools is something that needs to be addressed. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, one in five students is a victim of bullying and it doesn’t seem like the public school system is doing much to stop it (NCES 5). Students fear for their safety and as a result many victims of bullying skip class to avoid it, negatively impacting their education. These bullies obviously have some sort of issues with themselves, and in turn pick on innocent kids that just happen to be the odd one out. These victims don’t deserve to be subjected to this unwarranted hatred, and it is the responsibility of Americans to do something about it.

Primary targets of bullying are the children that are “the odd one out”. Sometimes this is the “weird” kid, sometimes the “dumb” kid, the “smart” kid, or whatever minority kid exists in the class (Education PAR 6). These kids that are “foreign” to the majority population need to be understood. These kids that are bullied because they’re a different color need to be understood. The bullies single out the person that is different and then inflict the harsh words and jokes on them. These kids that are bullied because they’re gay need to be understood. Children are afraid to report bullies in fear of being labeled a “snitch”, and in an environment that fosters such behavior, students can’t learn as well as they normally should. Victims can’t fight back in fear of being reprimanded as a result of “zero-tolerance” policies in schools. It’s worth mentioning that “zero-tolerance” policies have failed to lower any sort of statistic involving violence in public schools (NCES). Something must be done to protect the victims and to help shift the climate of these schools to cater towards learning and not fear. That is why we must divide students into categories based off of race and sexuality and place them into different schools. If minority groups can’t be bullied if they are no longer minority groups. This kids can have completely equal educations, just in separate, safer environments.

Hatred and conflict in history almost always stem from misunderstanding a minority group. Slavery existed because the rich white men did not acknowledge that these black slaves were people, just the same as them. The Cold War and Red Scare were results of a fear and lack of understanding of a differing form of government. Islamophobia exists because these scared people don’t realize that a large group of people isn’t responsible for the actions of a few. If these conflicting beliefs and groups were never intertwined, there would have been no stage for the segregation and division to occur. Humans have historically been too boneheaded to ever consider a differing viewpoint to their own. People know that their opinion is right, so there’s no point in considering anything else, right? It’s better to preach your opinion and demonize the views of others instead of trying to understand groups. Liberals know how to run a government better than conservatives do. Conservatives know how to run a government better than conservatives do. Black people are all thugs. White people are all racists. What’s the point in trying to mend tension between groups when you can just separate them? No more conflict will arise when the schools become separated. There will be no odd man out to pick on, there will be no kid that’s a different color. Everybody will be the same, so there will be nobody to make fun of.

As seen throughout society and history, humans are too stupid to ever consider what someone of a differing belief or social groups thinks. Anyone that thinks something else is obviously wrong, and the only solution is to make sure that they know that. As a result of this general incompetence, the most effective fix will be to simply separate every social group. The issue of bullying can be simply eradicated through a little bit of segregation. Never again will a child feel attacked or too afraid to come to school. Never again will people have to leave the echo chamber that exists between their ears.