Draft on Author's Note

Bullying can take forms from name calling, theft of someone’s property, and being beaten up. Bullying someone can allows the victim to feel insecure about themselves. Some of these victims feel shy and scared, like they always have to be on guard. Bullying can affect everyone—those who are bullied, those who bully, and those who witness bullying. Bullying is linked to many negative outcomes including impacts on mental health, substance use, and suicide. People try to stop this, both the influences and effects of bullying,  they want people to stop bullying others.  But I think the problem is that people are not speaking up.

                                       

                   I was severely bullied in elementary school, and I did a mistake for not

speaking up for myself, or for anyone else. I chose to stay quiet thinking that if I didn’t, I’d only make it worse. I want this book to teach kids to speak up, and not do the same mistake I did years ago. In the article, Interview with a Bullying Victim by Carrie Goldman, it says, ‘’Kids tend to focus on something that stand out being ‘wrong’ ‘’. In other words, bullies focus on other people’s flaws, flaws that make them who they are. They say insults to you over and over again, and soon you start to believe them, thinking you’re not good enough. And then people start believing that covering up these flaws or even changing them is the only answer.This is what bullying leads up to: insecurity and self consciousness. But what many people don’t realize is that, bullies only focus on the flaws of other people to distract them from their own. They do this to feel good and so others won't suspect that its really them who's different. I also want readers to know that telling someone about it may not be the better option. You should tell someone if you are being bullied, but that option may not always work.  For example, in a speech given by  Natalie Farzaneh, it states that whenever Natalie went up to the teachers to try to get help, they kept saying  ‘No Natalie, don’t be ridiculous, everyone loves you’ or they’d say ‘Natalie, are you telling me lies just to get the other kids into trouble?’ . Some even say  ‘Go find some friends your own age, leave me alone to have my coffee.’  In the article, Interview with a Bullying Victim by Carrie Goldman, it says ‘’my parents told me to just ignore them, but ignoring name calling is very different from ignoring flat out violence to one's self.’’ This shows that speaking up and defending yourself is just the better option with telling someone about it.  

                     I want my readers to understand that bullying is not okay and neither is

staying quiet. You have to speak up, stand up, do everything in your power, to show them that hey have no right to hurt you. Speaking up is the answer for bullying, people will only treat you one way, and that's the way that you allow them.