Dear future president,

Bullying is a big issue and must be stopped. Some reasons that children are bullied are because of personal looks, body shape, the way they talk or do things, and race. Just because they are different in some sort of way.

Many people are affected by bullying. Kids are bullied in schools and don’t know what to do about it. Some tell their parents, who at times don’t know what to do about it, and some don’t dare tell their parents. The teachers don’t notice it sometimes and it can go unreported for a very long time. Kids are mentally and/or physically bullied constantly and don’t want to tell anyone because they think that it will just get worse. Or they may think that their parents will think they are taking it too far, or being a baby about it and should just “man up.” This is not the case, and this should never be said, if you tell the victim to man up, they may do something to the bully that will hurt that person even more. The bully may want to do more, and it will get much worse. Bystanders don’t want to do anything because they think that they will get bullied also. It also affects how the children are doing in school work, they can’t seem to concentrate and lose interest in doing schoolwork. Also, anyone that the person being bullied knows can be affected and hurt because bullying makes kids want to commit suicide. And many do, 4,400 students commit suicide each year because of being constantly bullied.

Kids don't even want to show up for school because they are being bullied so often. Over 160,000 students each day miss school because they are scared they will be bullied. An estimated 22% of students report bullying each school year, this number would be much higher when account for the number of cases that go unreported. Cyberbullying is also a rising problem, 14.8% of reports are from online. This number is going to keep growing rapidly in the future because of all the new social media sites such as- Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Instagram, and so many others. Kids are making fake accounts just for bullying. It is so much easier to say something mean to someone looking at a screen rather than face to face. Which is why you should not believe everything that is put on those social media sites. Those who are bullied want to dropout to get out of bullying, not school. They may have enjoyed school, but can't stand going anymore because of constantly being bullied, 10% of students who drop out, drop out because of bullying. They feel like they are worth nothing and shouldn’t be here. I have experienced bullying and it is a terrible feeling. You feel not wanted and you don’t know what to do. But I know what you should do, you must tell someone you trust and solve the problem, it will only get worse if you hide it. Tell someone right away before anything really bad could happen. It is not always the bully’s fault though. It could also be the victim’s fault. They could have done a sort of bullying to someone else, or the person who is bullying them now. They might have been able to prevent it. They may have made the bully mad, and that made them start to get bullied,

There are laws that require schools to set policies, but they just don’t seem to do as much as they should. Which is why we should do more to try to stop bullying. We should make bullying a crime, and punish bullies in harsher ways. They should be punished more, and give those who report it rewards. They should also punish those who know about it, and don't report it, if the bullying could have stopped at an earlier time because they knew, they should be punished. It will make them want to report it and make the bullying stop. You could also fine the parents of the bullies. It is no different than the parents paying for something that the child broke in a store. They should fine the parents and the parents can get in on it too!!! We could also educate the teachers more about it, and give them classes to help them detect bullying easier! And one very important thing, educate the kids very well. The bully will listen to another student more than anyone else, if students can do something effective, we must make sure that they do!

We can change for the better. We do it all the time, and our children are better at it than we are. They make the most impact on the bully and the victim. Parents, teachers, neighbors, and bus drivers can all do their part to raise children who see themselves as saving lives. That is what we are striving for.

Ashayla

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