Someone asked me recently why I wrote this one, back in March, and I think it was to end the stigma. I'd been talking to a friend about the subject and we had it in common. I've met soooo many people who've experienced bullying yet it's like a dirty secret no one wants to broadcast and why should they? It's a confidence stealer and everyone wants to feel good about themselves, not crap. But if we shouted it from the rooftops, could we change it? I still read in the media about teenagers committing suicide because of bullying, feeling they had no one to turn to. If we could end the stigma and talk about it, and take it seriously and do something about it, perhaps more people would be saved and fewer lives would be damaged.
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A poem written for JD Mader's #2minutesgo challenge on his website, Unemployed Imagination. As usual, the title and prompt is from a line in his first story, although ironically there is a lot to say on this subject.
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A poem written for JD Mader's #2minutesgo challenge on his website, Unemployed Imagination. As usual, the title and prompt is from a line in his first story, although ironically there is a lot to say on this subject.
This one is on a subject I feel strongly about and I'll never understand: bullies and slanderers.
Like many people I've met in life, I experienced and saw bullying in my secondary school, and the teachers did nothing about it - one teacher turned a blind eye while another joined in by laughing, which basically was support for the bullies. Yep, it's hard to understand that choice. Luckily, I think this is changing as people become more aware of how destructive bullying can be, and teachers and parents should explain why it is wrong to kids.
But then kids are kids. Later they grow up and it's adult bullying for which there really is no excuse. I don't get it. Are they the school bullies who never grew out of it? What is missing in their life that they want to destroy someone else's, which is basically the end result. Is it because bullying gives their life meaning or they love the drama? Or do they enjoy watching someone else sink?
Couldn't they find themselves a hobby instead?
What kind of person orchestrates the ruin of someone they don't even know? And what kind of person then follows the bully and does exactly the same thing? Do they find it fun? Is it a game to them? If the bully/slanderer actually knew the psychological and physical impact on their "prey",
would they stop? I'd like to think so, but it seems empathy, sympathy and just plain kindness aren't universal.
Like many people I've met in life, I experienced and saw bullying in my secondary school, and the teachers did nothing about it - one teacher turned a blind eye while another joined in by laughing, which basically was support for the bullies. Yep, it's hard to understand that choice. Luckily, I think this is changing as people become more aware of how destructive bullying can be, and teachers and parents should explain why it is wrong to kids.
But then kids are kids. Later they grow up and it's adult bullying for which there really is no excuse. I don't get it. Are they the school bullies who never grew out of it? What is missing in their life that they want to destroy someone else's, which is basically the end result. Is it because bullying gives their life meaning or they love the drama? Or do they enjoy watching someone else sink?
Couldn't they find themselves a hobby instead?
What kind of person orchestrates the ruin of someone they don't even know? And what kind of person then follows the bully and does exactly the same thing? Do they find it fun? Is it a game to them? If the bully/slanderer actually knew the psychological and physical impact on their "prey",
would they stop? I'd like to think so, but it seems empathy, sympathy and just plain kindness aren't universal.
There is nothing to say (that hasn't been said before)
Nothing left to say
Or do
If no-one asks
You cannot defend
The sun sets
Upon nothing
An emptiness creeping
From anger seeping
A stasis
Substance stopped
An effigy
Of the person blinds
Living in denial
In a bid to ignore
Each and every day
The things heard
The things spread
The lies
Burning like a candle
Carried like a mantle
Dying in forever
Drifting on the wind
The words
Carried far
Until despair lingers
Turning light to dark
White to grey
Stealing hope
Confidence even
Without grace
No one asks
No one questions
Lifts a mirror up
To stark reality
Or even stops to think
It might not be true
Aggressively joining
The feeding frenzy
Without a care
Or a second thought
Aggressively joining
The feeding frenzy
Without a care
Or a second thought
To ask is too easy
And would deny
The rumour maker.copyright Vickie Johnstone
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