UNLV Student Student 1

Professor Kelly Stith

English 102

31 January 2020

The darkest society

When I was about four years old I had this Spiderman costume. This costume went

everywhere with me, except for school obviously, and when people asked my name I always

gave the same response: “I’m Peter Parker.” This was so innocent and cute that my parents let

me do it and I had no idea what I was doing, but it was fun. My love for Spiderman soon became

a fascination with another superhero of another universe; I began to love Batman. This shift

came so suddenly that I had no idea where it came from. Then, more recently, I looked at

everything and realized I have one thing in common with both super heros, I was bullied by my

peers and the only escape from that was to put on a mask and act like it didn’t bother me. With

that I began to learn that my switch wasn’t so sudden and, actually, came from myself being able

to relate with pain that only the dark knight could help with. The only escape from the bullying

was to help other people through tough times. Bullying has many consequences that tend to be

severe, has an impact on society and societal implications, as well as it has a negative effect on

the way adolescent’s minds are affected, however the light at the end of the tunnel is that there

are possible solutions that could act as a way to fight bullying.

Firstly,bullying has many social implications. This would leave many to wonder, what are

the social implications of bullying? Why does it matter? To answer this question we must first

look to the actual definition of bullying and not one from a dictionary. The idealism of bullying

is too intricate to actually be defined in its entirety, by a dictionary alone. According to

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stopbullying.gov, “Bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior among school aged children that

involves a real or perceived power imbalance. The behavior is repeated, or has the potential to be

repeated, over time. Both kids who are bullied and who bully others may have serious, lasting

problems'' (Public Affairs 1). Now bullying has a very dense definition according to the

government agency that is tasked with stopping it. They include later two factors that will help

unpack the definition; they say that there must be an “imbalance of power” and “repetition”

which makes sense. Firstly, an imbalance of power, whether it be monetary power or a sort of

political pull within the school, there has to be some sort of imbalance when it comes to bullying.

I was bullied for several years because I was bigger than the other kids, now this may seem to be

an imbalance in my favor however, these kids bullying me had much larger pull within the

school and were able to turn people on me that I believed to be friends of mine. The second part

is repetition and that is self-explanatory. Now that we have a definition, the next question is to

define the social implications of bullying. In other words, how do people see bullying? In their

2013 article, posted on CNN, entitled “Are we too quick to Cry Bully?” Jamie Grumbrecht states

“‘Bullying,’ some researchers say, has been misused and abused in the last few years -- too

casually uttered about every hurt, slight and fight, too frequently used in place of ‘teasing’ or

‘fighting,’ too often brought up before there's proof it happened.” This coming after a paragraph

about an upsurge in teen suicide being blamed on bullying in schools. Likewise, the government

launched several new anti-bullying programs at the time to combat the epidemic. Obviously, for

someone to take away their life there has to be some sort of imbalance in power, first off, and

this has to be something happening to them repetitively. Someone in their right mind would not

just go and take away the one life they are promised because someone without some power over
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them in some way said something mean to them once. It is illogical, to this I see what the other

side says. The largest argument for them is that the word “bullying” is misused and I agree to

some extent, however, when we are talking about suicide, the word is too soft. The social

implication of bullying that has to be pointed out is that people don’t see it as an issue. They see

every case of bullying as a “softball.” They go even as far as to say that bullying doesn’t exist,

which is something I have been told my entire life.

To further attack this, let's take a look into the mind of a bully and drive our Batmobile to

the scene of the crime and find the cause. So, what are the major causes of bullying? Many will

say that it is our racial divides caused by the politicians that we elect. But according to

lawnow.org “Many of today’s new technologies are designed for the sole purpose of facilitating

communication between individuals.” as we know humans are naturally evil. So the idea of

creating a machine that allows evil to interact without a face is the same idea as a criminal with a

mask robbing a bank. This bank robber, however, can’t be caught and only robs our emotional

bank to the point of no return because nobody ever wants to make a deposit that isn’t secure or

stable. This bank is usually hit by a “great depression” of sorts. But if you ask underground rap

star Token he will say that it is due to inaction in others. In his hit song about bullying called

“Exception” he talks about a young man named Andy. Andy is constantly bullied by the jocks

and popular kids. And, repeatedly, Token talks about how he is going to help Andy next time or

how he will stop the bullying. Token never does and notices that Andy doesn’t show up to school

one day and that is out of character for this kid as he loves the class. The boy comes in late and

then token proceeds to say:

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`As Andy walks through the door, he was shaking and crying As all heads slowly in sync

turned, he pauses Then pulls a pistol out of his front pocket The girls screamed, the boys sat

there terrified Nobody expected this but everyone knew the reason why And before anyone could

say something fully Within seconds, two bullets flew into his bullies More screams as the bodies

collapsed I felt I should say something cause I was the only one who had his back I said ‘It's over

Andy, they're dead! You had your wish!’ He turned to me and said ‘You? You were the third on

my list’”

And it ends with a gunshot. Because Token did not act, the bullies were able to continue

their rampage on one man for talking to himself and having some obvious mental issues. And the

idea that token never helped Andy, but said that he did is what our society does. We say we will

help and then don’t end up helping. If you ask rap star Eminem he would say that bullying is

caused by jealousy. In his hit song “Bully” Marshal says “And he just can't see that he's

manically depressed And in his jealousy and envy It just whirls him in a frenzy As he turns on

MTV and sees my face He don't exist in this world So he just twists and he twirls Spirals and

spins 'til he hurls himself into rage'' showing that, one more cause of bullying. If you ask any

psychologist, they will agree with both rap star’s theories on why bullies do so. My bullies,

however, only bullied me because I was weak.According to Bullying statistics.org there are

several causes of bullying. One being cultural or the fact that one culture is different than any

other and they are bullied for it. Another cause is institutional or the idea that people aren’t given

high expectations of how they treat each other. This means that at school the teachers and admin

don’t stop bullying. Or at home they aren’t treated with respect themselves. This leads into

another cause, which is power. Many bullies don’t have any power over their lives. These bullies
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are usually abused at home, and so they want control over something that they can have control

over,which,unfortunately, tends to be other people. This is the reason I was bullied because I

found out weeks later that one of the bullies had their girlfriend break up with them. Making

them feel helpless. One of my bullies had a grandparent die, and one was bullied himself.

Next, bullying can affect an adolescent mind in so many negative ways. As discussed

previously, the notion that bullying in society has been seen as nothing, not even a source of

depression and self-hatred for an adolescent or person in general is a valid and quite common

one. To this, there was a website established called “bullyonline.org” and they work profusely to

show the large part of the problem with bullying and what it can cause. Furthermore, on this

website is a page. They keep track of all people that have committed suicide or tried to because

of bullying. Upon looking further into a case of Bullycide, which is when someone is driven to

suicide from bullying, which will be known henceforth as the “ Wodhall” case. A twelve year old

boy named Steven Woodhall was put to a death sentence when he stepped into the halls of his

middle school. This boy was sentenced to death by bullycide and it was not fair at all. Being the

victim of countless acts of terrorism on the soul by my peers this story hit hard. Steven

committed suicide and his father ken stated that “he must have been going through hell” upon

learning about the suicide of his son ,who had hung himself with his brother’s tie that he used for

school. Ken Woodhall, at the ripe age of 47 years, committed suicide two weeks later by

hanging. Steven was not the only one and he was not the first nor the last to be given an unfair

trial by his peers and sentenced to death by bullycide. Darron steele, 15; Rodger Hilyard, 13;

Kelly Yeomans, 13; six year old stephen sandon; Lucy Forrester,16;Kelly farrar, 13;(“Bullycide

Memorial Page Cases of Bullycide A List of Children and Young People Who Have Lost Their
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Life or Been Driven to Suicide Because of Bullying at School or Bullying during Their School

Years.”) and thousands more yet to name have committed suicide. This was not the end that

anyone had in mind for their child, nor is it one that pleasures anyone to see. This was the end of

the lives of children aging anywhere from 5-20 years old. They had a whole life to live and it

was cut short. I remember the day where I was given the choice of a noose around my neck or to

use my voice for the benefit of children in this position. I chose the latter and it was not an easy

choice; choosing to live and help those stuck in that same position is always harder than ending

eleven years of torture. The days these kids committed suicide was not the day they died,

however. The day that these children died was the day their spirits broke, the day they died was

when they were no longer the loving, compassionate, and hopeful children they were at one time.

I should know because I was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) at the ripe

age of nineteen years. At nineteen years old I had a disease diagnosed to people that go to

another country, thousands of miles from their families, and experience the tragedies of war. I

had a disease we once knew as “shell shock” because the brutality you have to go through to be

diagnosed with this Mental illness is extraordinary. I have experienced a war within my lifetime,

a war on my peers and a war on myself. The bullets flying at me are the words of my peers, spat

by silver tongues and the grenades thrown by liars and haters. I have been manipulated and

knocked down my entire life, and when I say that I am told to just “get up” as though I can just

walk again magically. I understand the pain of these children’s lives’ however I was lucky to

escape death’s cold and icy grip. One that not many have been able to and some days I asked god

why this happened to me. Then I looked at the thousands that commit suicide every year from

bullying and realized that is why I am here. I am here to give hope and tell my story to others, I
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am here to let people know there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The mental issues an

adolescent can be left with are unfathomable and should never have to occur. PTSD to

depression to anxiety should never be in the record book for an adolescent; these diseases are the

villains of our story.

So now, we must turn on the bat signal and become the dark knight of our own story.

How can we as a society pick up a batarang and fix these problems? Well first off we can set up

support systems. Students are uncomfortable going to a counselor about problems like this.

Every person that has gone to a counselor with problems of depression and suicidal thoughts due

to this harassment are sent to a psych ward or a loony bin instead of them fixing the problem at

hand. And about two or three years ago, our state legislature passed a law. Everytime that a

student goes to the teacher and uses the word bully, they are to be sent immediately to the office.

(Eric Luchs)This was useless because students don’t trust the counselors and it only made them

trust teachers less. We need to support students through the arts. The band at my high school had

helped me through everything from harassment to breakups to my bout with depression.

secondly, We need to recognize this for what it is. This is harassment. Bullying is a weak word

and is more like an airsoft pellet. Yeah it hurts, but the word harassment is more like a bullet

from an AK47, it can kill you. And in the state of Nevada, the penalty for bullying is that a mark

goes on your record and you may not even sue the Bully’s parents.(Public Affairs) To where

Harassment, in Nevada, is punished by 6 months in jail for a misdemeanor or in the more serious

cases of stalking it is a Class C felony that carries 1 to 5 years in prison. As for the physical side

of things, which can be classified as Assault and Battery, it is punishable by 1 to 6 years in prison

and a $15,000 dollar fine. And when someone is driven to suicide these are treated as nothing in
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terms of bullying, but if we called it assisted suicide or manslaughter, or murder it would carry

punishments as heavy as 25 years to life. (Supreme court of Nevada). No, I’m not saying to put

children in jail, however it is necessary to treat these crimes that ruin lives as such. Serious

crimes call for serious punishments. We need to strengthen the power of the terms we use. When

i say bullying you think to put on a helmet and get out of my safe space because life sucks. But

harassment, that makes you think of what this truly is, a continuous use of harsh words and

physical abuse until someone breaks, and it's usually the innocent that do. And finally we can

look at people like Shane Koyczan, a canadian poet who has been bullied...no harassed all of his

life when he says:

“But I want to tell them that all of this is just debris left over when we finally decide to

smash all the things we thought we used to be, and if you can't see anything beautiful about

yourself, get a better mirror, look a little closer, stare a little longer, because there's something

inside you that made you keep trying despite everyone who told you to quit.

You built a cast around your broken heart and signed it yourself, ‘They were wrong.’

Because maybe you didn't belong to a group or a clique. Maybe they decided to pick you last for

basketball or everything. Maybe you used to bring bruises and broken teeth to show-and-tell, but

never told, because how can you hold your ground if everyone around you wants to bury you

beneath it? You have to believe that they were wrong. They have to be wrong”(Koyczan). All

three of the solutions provided can help to make the world a better place for future generations to

come.

To quote the greatest Batman of all time, Michael Keaton, “The night is darkest just

before the dawn, and I promise you, The dawn is coming”(Bestania team). In other words, we
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are in dark times right now. The suicide rates are going up and bullying has only increased

throughout the years, however, there is always a light at the end of the tunnel. We must stay

strong and protect each other, so that when a kid acts like Peter Parker or thrives to be Bruce

Wayne, we only encourage him rather than stand in his way. And with that, if a child looks up,

waiting for that caped crusader to show his mask, we can all wear the mask of a hero and stop

this problem one step at a time.

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Works Cited

-, Bestania Team, et al. “Best Batman Quotes - 13 Killer Dark Knight Sayings That Will Blow

Your Mind.” Bestania, 3 Sept. 2019, www.bestania.com/quotes/Batman/.

“Bullycide Memorial Page Cases of Bullycide A List of Children and Young People Who

Have Lost Their Life or Been Driven to Suicide Because of Bullying at School or Bullying

during Their School Years.” Bullycide Cases of Children and Young People Who Have

Lost Their Life or Committed Suicide Because of Bullying at School,

bullyonline.org/old/schoolbully/cases.htm.

“Eminem – Bully.” Genius, 7 Nov. 2003, genius.com/Eminem-bully-lyrics.

Luchs, Eric. Personal Interview. December 2018

Gumbrecht, Jamie. “Are We Too Quick to Cry 'Bully'?” CNN, Cable News Network, 8 Oct.

2013, www.cnn.com/2013/10/04/living/schools-bullying-definition-overuse/index.html.

J.D., Melissa Luhtanen. “Cyber Bullying: Bullying Through Technology.” LawNow

Magazine, Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta, 27 Nov. 2018,

www.lawnow.org/cyber-bullying-bullying-through-technology/.

Koyczan, Shane. “To This Day ... for the Bullied and Beautiful.” TED,

www.ted.com/talks/shane_koyczan_to_this_day_for_the_bullied_and_beautiful?language

=en.
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Public Affairs. “What Is Bullying.” StopBullying.gov, 5 Dec. 2019,

www.stopbullying.gov/bullying/what-is-bullying.

Public Affairs. “Nevada Anti-Bullying Laws & Policies.” StopBullying.gov, 4 Dec. 2019,

www.stopbullying.gov/resources/laws/nevada.

Supreme Court of Nevada Law Library, nvcourts.gov/LawLibrary/.

“Token – Exception.” Genius, 23 Sept. 2016, genius.com/Token-exception-lyrics.

“Why Do People Bully?” Bullying Statistics, 7 July 2015,

www.bullyingstatistics.org/content/why-do-people-bully.html.