Dear Freshmen:
On Tuesday or Wednesday of last week, we all attended the NAMES assembly. I attended the Wednesday one. The whole time I was there, I felt like I was in MTV’s reality series, If You Really Knew Me. If you don’t know the show yet, it’s about a team of adults who travel across America to different high schools and help raise awareness about how hurtful bullying is and also give the students a chance to open up about their personal problems and step outside their comfort zones. Anyways, I thought the NAMES assembly was kind of like our own, If You Really Knew Me. A lot of kids opened up and shared their stories about bullying during the open mic session. I think during that time a lot of our peers, including me, opened our eyes and realized, bullying is a problem and we can make a difference to fix it.
How can we make a difference? Well, we can all start small and shout out a good morning to people you pass by in the halls or even just a smile, just because it will brighten someone’s day. But there are also few big things you need to start doing, like stopping the name calling and verbal abuse.
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.” I think by now, we all know that this statement isn’t true. There’s absolutely no point in physical bullying, verbal bullying, indirect bullying (such as rumors) or cyber bullying. Why would anyone think it’s okay to purposely hurt somebody? No one needs extra problems like that, so I have an idea.
Let’s all vow together to stop any type of bullying and stand by each other throughout these four years. High school can be the best four years of your life or the worst. We all can make it the best, by making Niles West a safe and loving place. I vow to stop calling anyone words that can hurt and I vow to be nice to everyone I see and if I witness someone being bullied, I will stand up and do something.
From what I saw at the assembly, the class of 2014 can come together and make this school a great experience for anyone.
So tell me, what do you vow to stop doing, or even to start doing?
I’ll talk to you guys later, have a great day!
Sincerely,
Breana Brill
