People need to realize the impact their actions and especially their words can have on society. Everyone knows the saying “sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me.” Far be it from the truth. If someone breaks your bones, your bones will heal. But if someone breaks your spirit with a harsh word, you may never be the same again.
In today’s schools, bullying is an epidemic and many times the school’s crackdown on bullying ends up punishing the victim rather than the bully because the victim retaliates.
Bullying victims have long been associated with being depressed, outcast and suicidal, all of which are very true. There is another association that is growing rapidly among those being bullied — self-harm. Self-harm is where someone cuts or hurts themselves to substitute physical pain for the unbearable emotional trauma they are going through. They do not do it for attention or because they are suicidal; they do it because it is a coping mechanism that provides short-term help.
If you are dealing with self-harm, talk to a close friend; they are there to help and be a shoulder to lean on in hard times.
