Bullying Let’s Stop A Bullet Together

Biting

Ugly

Limiting

Lies

Yielding

Inappropriate

Nonsensical

Gossip

Bottled up

Unrelenting

Loose lips

Leaving, loneliness

Yesterdays

Injury

Never

Gone

Basically

Unnecessary,

Letting

Love

Yearn

Infecting

Nothing

Gained

Bullying is becoming an epidemic. The ill effects are now hitting every population, starting as young as pre-school. These victims have limited resources to process both the bullet's consequences and impact. Bullying is altering our playgrounds. Are they a place for imaginary play or a maze through a living nightmare?

So, why do we do it? What does anyone accomplish by tearing down another person? Why can’t we see we all have our part in bullying?

• Do we say nothing, standby in silence?
• Do we know we should speak up but are thankful not to be the target?
• Are we even aware that we are tormenting when bullying?
• Can bullying be an overt action?
• Can it be covert?
• Maybe it’s a mean look or a slight glare. A feeling left to go wild and poison so many allowing rapid growth? I suppose it depends on your bullet of choice.
• Could it be a spark of our inadequacy, fearing we must take the attention off our imperfections?
• Did we want to stop potential damage after the fact?
• Is it possible that once we released the bullet, we wanted to jump in front of it before it landed on its target, but it was too late?

Often we plan to stop it and don’t know how to get trapped in our web. Struggling in pain, we can not untangle the vicious threads of our constant banter.

How about we try to be more aware of its sting? What if we pray together to make it an offense of the past? Should we put a seatbelt on bullying before someone else gets hurt?

As a society, we have vigilance on the child safety seat with car seat inspections before taking our little ones home from the hospital. Once they’re home, we forget to educate the need for safety in the community. We are holding little ones and everyone accountable for not being bullies.

Little comments start passed off as humor. Negativity gains more attention as we distract from face-to-face interaction and disappear into technology. People forget the impact of a look or a sneer as no one is looking at the heart. We are busy preening for the Selfie, retouching the friend photo, and lying to ourselves that we still seek community and closeness.

Loneliness is a casualty of this technological separation and bitterness roots. Then its seeds grow rampant with thistle and bind in hurt, revenge, and eventual attack. Whether conscious or conditioned to the societal norm of making fun, putting down, or trying to feel better about ourselves, the truth is we take attention off of our weakness to self-preserve. Deep down, there is a distinct uneasiness, as it never releases pain when we harm another but perpetuates more suffering.

While we are a society of hurting people, when does it stop? Though it may seem frivolous in a world of temptation and evil, the random act of kindness can become an epidemic if we attend to it half as much as social media, phones, and the nightly news. While not all information is wrong, it appears the world and people focus on that which is sensational and dramatized. Separation aims to arouse adverse reactions, as opposed to the positive spin or attempt to make the world driven toward genuine kindness.

We don’t want to lose anyone else to bullying, and we don’t want you to be its next victim. There needs to be a call to kindness and being present and thinking before speaking or reacting—attention to the aftermath of the bullet of bullying, either overtly or covert.

What if instead of knocking someone down, we help to pick someone up? How about we all work on treating others as we should, with kindness and acceptance? Could we learn from our mistakes and hold one another accountable not with a judging eye but with a forgiving heart?

You may be the bully or the target, but believe it or not, you are a sinner in this life, so my guess is you’ve been both. We can change this; learn a new way, a better, more loving, and honest way. A Godly-centered way would be an impressive start. He forgives one day at a time with a clean slate, no matter what we have done. He died for us, so no one else has to. We have to keep learning to live like HIM. Luke 6:31 do to others as would have them do to you. Let's STOP A BULLET together!