Candid Conversations with Connie, Volume 2 by Kathy Buchanan

Author:Kathy Buchanan
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781624054372
Publisher: Focus on the Family
Published: 2015-03-01T00:00:00+00:00

Uh-oh . . . Are You a Bully?

Sometimes you can become a bully without even realizing it. Maybe you started making fun of someone with your friends at the lunch table one day. You all laughed—and it didn’t seem like the person noticed. But then your teasing became more obvious and more frequent. Eventually you got to the point where you thought that some people didn’t have feelings. That they didn’t matter.

But if you’re treating others in a way you wouldn’t want to be treated, you are being a bully. It’s not funny. It’s not harmless. It’s cruel. Or maybe you’re just one of the innocent bystanders. Sure, your friends might pick on people, but you don’t participate. You watch it happen, but you’re not really doing anything wrong. Right?

Not quite. Katrina told me that in high school, 25 percent of girls are being bullied.[6] From everyone I’ve talked to, it seems that only 15 percent do the bullying. That leaves 60 percent of us in the middle, choosing to either do nothing or stand up for what’s right. Sure, it’s easiest to ignore bullying and just not do anything. After all, if we did say something, people might turn on us.

Yep, it’s scary to stand up for someone being bullied. But it’s what Jesus did. Again and again and again. And once you stand up, it’s likely others who have witnessed the bullying and feel the same way you do will have the courage to speak up. Maybe voicing your opinion will make it easier for others to follow along.

I wish I could tell you I always stood up for the kid getting picked on. But I didn’t. And the main reason was peer pressure from my friends. It’s a pretty embarrassing story, but I’ll tell you about it in the next chapter.

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