Not everybody is your friend

BY: MALLORY J.

Photography: Fair Use

It’s a Monday, early in the morning. The sun hasn’t risen yet. People are slowly making their way out of bed and to school. One student in particular, though, looks a bit tired. Just by looking at her, one would think she maybe stayed up later than she should have. But really, she was up all night consumed by the fear of seeing her bully.

By definition, bullying is using superior strength or influence to force a person to do what one wants. According to Shawn Beuscher, the Dean of Students at West Jefferson High School, bullying is a real problem in today’s world. “It’s a problem in society in general,” he says.

A female sophomore student at the school says, “It’s weird because middle school was when it was really bad because that’s when cliques started forming.” However, she thinks that these problems continue to exist in high school as well: “It’s still very separated and you can tell where the line is between people that are being genuinely kind versus people who are insincere and mean.”

When asked about her focus in school, the student felt like she was still able to complete homework, but might lose focus during class. “I’ve always tried to maintain a pretty steady level academic wise, but it did/does throw my focus off when things go wrong with the people around me,” she says. “That can get distracting, but personally it doesn’t affect my schoolwork, mostly just my presence in a school building.”

Another student has a different perspective based on his own experiences. He feels like these tribulations shouldn’t get in the way of his learning experience. “I like to say that I’m an outgoing person and that I can still focus and do whatever I can just to get away from the issue,” he says.

There are several different things people believe is the cause of bullying. Beuscher believes it’s insecurity. “They [the bullies] are wanting to make themselves feel good because there may be something they are going through.” One of the students believes it’s an issue of popularity. He says, “People just want to be popular and people think that if they do this [bullying] they’ll get something out of that.”

With social media being so prevalent in our society, cyberbullying is common occurrence. The problem is that people don’t know whether students should be punished for their online business. “If it’s outside of a school setting and it’s not creating any distractions here at school then it stays outside that setting,” Beuscher says. A student believes the same. She says, “If it’s something that was said during school hours or if it’s through school property, then definitely.”

Both Beuscher and students have a common piece of advice: tell somebody.

One student who has had experience with bullying says, “As long as somebody that’s a trusted adult knows, then it can be reported.” A different student, he says, “If you can’t talk to your parents, talk to an adult at school.” “We can’t attack things that we don’t know about,” Beuscher says. “Getting that information to me in some way is vital.”