"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me." We all have heard this saying, and we all have probably said it in our lifetime. But, did we really mean it? Can words never hurt us? .
Throughout history of the schooling of children, there have been bullies and their victims. There are many speculations as to why children become bullies. Some believe these children have low self-esteems; while on another extreme, others believe these children are merely acting upon what they see at home. This makes one wonder if bullies are victims as well. Maybe they are; maybe they are not. .
Regardless of why children become bullies, that is what they are, and they are wreaking havoc on their victims. Some of these children begin believing it is their fault that they are being singled out for torment. They feel they need to change who they are as to fit in better. Some become very depressed about their lives and begin wishing for better lives or even contemplate or succeed suicide. These children do not deserve to be put through this type of torture. Whether it is verbal or physical, it is torture. .
Being a substitute teacher, I have seen many instances of children being under the attack of bullies. I have also witnessed the reactions on the faces of their victims during the altercations and afterwards. While gazing upon the faces of the victims, I have seen the pain they were put through. I empathized with what they were feeling. It was not something those children who were unaware of their futures and what they would become should have had to go through. It was not their fault, and they were not asking for those atrocities to be put upon them. Still, the bullies singled out those children and made their young lives a living hell. .
Are the bullies aware of what they are doing to their victims, or do they even care? I, for one, have not stood-by and watched as it happened.