Ministry Of Eccentricity

The Epidemic Of Bullying

Originally, my intention was to address bullying in my blog premiere, however, it was my believe then that the topic is one that many may fail to relate to, but, while watching reruns of the second season of The Glee Project, last night, I realized that every human has probably been touched by bullying in a way or another, either because of our race, religion, social position, financial position, the way we look or our sexual orientation!

Yes, I admit it, at points of life I was a bully, and at others, I was the victim. Since I go to experience this abominable act from both sides of the coin, I believe my perspective about is genuine.

I attended The Westminster School since Kindergarten and I, excuse my immodesty, was a star performer in terms of academics and extracurricular activities like debating, theater and music all along. For my primary and middle school years, that was enough to give me a popular, likeable personality. The mischievous edge helped as well.

During this part of my life, I was ruthless and pried upon people, always making mean little sarcastic comments but deep inside, I wasn’t the same person that was on the outside. I was actually leading a shadowed and jaded life marred by secrets and insecurities.

To be absolutely honest, in a majority of cases, it was a matter of jealousy that the other person posses a particular, materialistic or intangible asset that I didn’t whether it was an athletic, healthy body or simply a better speech for elocution day! In my defense, as the young tween I was, I never comprehended the magnitude of the damage that I inflicted upon a person simply by a comment, always taking things too lightly as a minor offence with neither a consequence nor a moral implication.

Change for me came in the form of Adel, a neanderthal of a human who was two years senior to me. This person was seated next to me by the bus conductor during Eighth grade. He managed to make my ride home a living hell on a daily basis, usually by just a couple of sarcastic comments only equivalent to the ones I made to others. Adel, along with my gradual exposure to the psychology of the bullying victim through TV Shows like Glee and campaigns like It GetsBetter slowly changed me.

I stepped into high school, a new and improved Adam, and was suddenly confronted by the different, eerie environment where my identity became a very heavy burden on my shoulders, and the next thing you know, I’m the victim! I don’t really need to elaborate on the emotional turmoil that a bullying victim goes through because a majority of us must have experienced it overtime.

Bullying is NOT a silly issue which should be neglected by you. It’s not only an epidemic that has struck a nation, but the world as a whole, so if you’re in a position of power, a bully or even a parent, you must take action in whatever applicable manner.

To conclude, here’s a message to all the bullying victims out there, you MUST speak out loud and express your distress to parents, teachers, your boss if it’s a work related issue or your bully himself, to quote the ingenuous Blaine Anderson from Glee, “Confront ‘em, Fight ‘em off!”. Remember, it is NOT your fault and while some may say its overrated, attempt fitting it, trust me, it helps, just make sure you don’t lose yourself along the way!