Teen Activism
- Jack Griffin
- Mar 6, 2017
- 5 min read
Chapter 1
Teen Activism
Have you ever felt like there’s something you wanted to stand up for? It doesn’t matter what age, race or gender you are. You can change the world. Teen activists are inspirational because they are positive, stubborn and strong.
Even though there are many negative things happening in teen activists’ lives they still manage to be positive. For example, Malala Yousafzai. She witnessed school bombings and public executions and she still managed to have a positive attitude. She even forgave the Taliban, a group of terrorists, that shot her in the head! It takes a lot to have a positive attitude.
A lot of people may think that stubbornness is a bad thing but it can also be a good thing. All teen activists need to be stubborn. Alex Lin, an activist for e-waste said, “Every journey starts with a single step.” That’s basically saying we need to have patience. Not everyone will listen in the beginning. It takes hard work and stubbornness to be an activist, especially a teen activist.For instance, say somebody told an aspiring activist that they can’t do anything. Would they listen? Not if they were a true activist. Never stop trying.
Because of the external influences of the teen activists they became stronger. Not on the outside, but in. The influences range from being bullied to actually being the bully. Everyone has a reason behind why they do something, and it’s not always for the reason people think.
Being a teen activist is harder than it seems. It takes a lot of hard work. Remember that teen activists are positive, stubborn and strong. I challenge you to stand up for what you believe in and do something about it.
Chapter 2
Bullying
According to Google, a bully is, “a person who uses strength or power to harm or intimidate those who are weaker.” What’s good about being a bully? Sure, you’re showing that you’re strong, but you’re beating up someone weaker than you. What does that prove? Bullying is immoral because it causes depression, changes people’s lives forever, and changes the bully’s life too.
Bully victims are more likely to be depressed. Bullystatistics.org states that suicide is the third leading death of young people and there are 4,400 deaths per year. Many teens are bullied because of their weight, physical appearances or hobbies and activities. Depression is not limited to face-to-face bullying though. According to the Cyber Bullying Research Center, victims of cyber bullying are more likely to have low self-esteem and suicidal thoughts. Just remember that there are other options.
Being bullied can change your life forever. Many victims drop hobbies and activities they loved before being bullied. “A person who is bullied may become an adult who finds it hard to trust others, has problems making or keeping friends and lacks in confidence and self-worth,” reads barnardos.ie, a teen-help website for bullying. Being bullied can change a life forever.
Bullying not only affects the victim, but the actual bully too. Kids who bullies are more likely to:
Abuse alcohol and other drugs as adolescents and as adults
Get into fights, vandalize property and drop out of school
Have criminal convictions and traffic citations as an adult.
Also, the position can change. One day, you could be the bully. The next, you’re lying flat on your back on the playground. Bullying affects the bully in a negative way too.
Wow. Pretty sad, huh? All those suicides and cruelness. Imagine if there was a perfect society. There’s no bullying, everyone’s happy, no war; seems impossible, right? Remember that bullying is immoral because it causes depression, can change lives, and it affects the bully too. Do something about bullying. Stand up for the right thing.
Chapter 3
The Bully Project
There is a project that is out there to stop bullying. It is fitly named, The BULLY Project. The BULLY Project focuses around a film called “Bully”, a documentary that follows real children that were really bullied. The BULLY Project uses that movie that they made to showcase the horrors of bullying and what we can do to stop it.
Bully (2011)
“Bully” follows Alex, 14, a boy who gets beaten and teased on the bus for his physical appearance; Ja’meye, 14, who brings a gun to school to scare away her bullies; Kelby, 16, a star athlete who is bullied because of her sexual orientation; and worst of all, two boys, 12 and 17, who commit suicide to escape the pain. “Bully” originally got an “R” rating because of the violence and language, but there was a petition going around to change the rating to “PG-13” because this is real stuff that happens in people's’ lives. They were still one vote short for the petition and decided to release it into theaters as not rated. They later got enough votes to change it to “PG-13”. Over 10 million kids have seen this movie as part of the project.
The BULLY Project Movement
As I said earlier, the project focuses around the movie. In the beginning though, they were focused on educating kids. They realized that they shouldn’t only target kids. They realized that they were missing the opportunity to also educate adults. Along with children, The BULLY Project impacts children and adults in the school community in over 3,000 cities and 7 countries. Support your local BULLY Project!
All in all, The BULLY Project is a great way to stand up against bullying. If you haven’t seen the movie, see it! It’s a great movie that shows what really happens in bullying situations. See the links down below for the Bully movie trailer and The BULLY Project homepage.
Links
Chapter 4
What You Can Do
Don’t just stand there. Help! You can make a difference, no matter how small. It’s like a ripple effect. If you stand up for someone, someone might see you and do the same, then the next person, and so on. You can stop bullying.
Most kids don’t want to tell someone that there’s bullying going on for fear that they will be a “tattle-tale”. There is in fact a difference between TELLING and TATTLING. Telling is to protect someone from being hurt and tattling is to get someone in trouble. It is COMPLETELY okay to tell on a bully because someone could and probably will get hurt.
Another reason that kids are scared to tell on bullies is that they don’t want to get beat up. Well, if they tell on the bully, the bully will get in trouble, learn their lesson and stop bullying. There is absolutely no reason to be afraid!
There are many different ways to help bullying come to an end. You could join your local bullying project. You could make an article and put it in the paper. You could make a speech. You could make flyers. There are endless possibilities! Remember, you can make a difference.
I challenge you to make a difference. Tell your friends, family, teachers; heck, you could tell your pets! The best way to get information around is to tell people at school. Word will get around quickly! Remember, you CAN make a difference!
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