The other day I witnessed a very disturbing incident in my graphics class. Kelan Graddy was just minding his own business trying to become the best Pokémon trainer he could be, when out of nowhere Rory&Todd approached him and began talking poke-crap to him. How could Kelan claim to love Pokémon and yet forsake the original game for the newer and bastardized version of their beloved game? Soon, it was an all-out nerd shake down. It started with a verbal attack, and when Kelan tried to defend himself, it started to get physical. There were pocket protectors everywhere, and when Rory pulled out a compass, everyone knew it had gone too far. While this story sounds bizarre and extreme, if I were to replace the nerds Rory&Todd with the jocks Camren&Drew, no one would have doubted it for a second. And sadly, no one probably would have done a thing about it. According to a study conducted by the National Education Association in 2010, 77% of students have been bullied at some point during their school career. While bullying is by no means a new problem, statistics show that it is only getting worse, which is why I have chosen this issue for my speech. So today, we will explore out bully mentality by first looking at the problem itself, followed by what is happening and then what we can do to help stop this issue.

Now that you know what exactly is happening, I’ll teach you about the effects of bullying. According to Dan Olweus, students who are bullied often experience low self-esteem, health problems, bad grades, depression and suicidal thoughts. A new review of studies from Yale has found signs of a distinct connection between being bullied and suicide. One major example of bullying resulting in suicide is the story of Phoebe Prince. Phoebe, according to Fox News, came to America from Ireland for her freshman year of high school. Phoebe endured name calling, threats, and exclusion; not only in person but by text and Facebook as well. Two days before her new school’s big dance, Phoebe hung herself in her closet. Normally, you would think her tormentors would regret their actions at this point, right? Wrong. After her death, they wrote “accomplished” on her Facebook, wall. CBS News has confirmed that, although they felt no remorse, Phoebe’s 9 tormentors did pay for what they had done. Two boys faced charges of statutory rape, and the 7 girls faced charges ranging from disturbing a school assembly to stalking, to violation of civil rights and criminal harassment. No school officials were charged with anything, but authorities said they knew and did nothing about it. Which, in my opinion, makes them just as responsible. I mean, if I’m babysitting and I witness Joey superglue his sister to a sit and spin, I can’t just tell the parents, “I didn’t do it, that future felon you call your son did!” No, just like administrators at a school, it is my job to prevent this if I’m aware it’s happening. It is this; “I don’t want to get involved” mentality that allows incidents like Phoebe’s to escalate. Now that you know what’s happening, and how bad the effects really can be, I’ll tell you want you can do to help stop this.

When I say the word bully, certain images come to mind, and none of them are all that dire. In our society, the term bullying seems to have the connotation of harmless teasing. Jock depantses mathlete, mathlete in turn depantses anime kid, who in turn puts pants on his gerbil so he can continue the trend. But bullying is anything but harmless. According to empowered.com, 71% of students sat that bullying is a problem at their school. The popular kids are no longer just picking on the nerds because of their pocket protectors. Dr. Michael Carson explains that bullies lash out at anyone they perceive to be different. These differences can range from ethnicity, to physical appearance, sexual orientation, and even over the sci-fi franchise of your choice. The CBS News of December 2, 2011 reports that Carrie Fisher of