my final speech- Spencer Parsons

Believe it or not, I was a pretty small guy in middle school. I know you can’t exactly tell that now, but its true. Now, whether or not you would consider that an unappealing trait, my friends never let me forget it. I was so short that I would stand on my tiptoes in pictures, put tissues in my shoes during school dances, and sometimes-even address the layout of the ground in front of me so I would be standing on the highest point for conversations. Maybe I let it bother me too much, but I always wanted to be taller and over 90 pounds. Now you would not say I was bullied for this, but you could say I was exposed for something I was self-conscious about. Today I am going to talk about a more serious case, and that is real bullying. Sometimes resulting in the third leading cause of death in teenagers, suicide. Bullying disturbs too many teens and there is something that we can do about it. Through the implementation of laws, attempts to stand up for one another, and more stringent force to combat bullying by schools, we can crack down on this progressing contamination.

In the documentary appropriately titled, Bully, several cases of in-school teasing are brought out in the open so people can get a true feeling for the victims. It begins with the story of a young boy named Tyler Long, who was pushed by classmates to the point of suicide. When his parents, in their time of grief, saw the school brush this matter off their shoulders, they began to fight back. They teamed up with another family whose son committed suicide due to bullying, and together created a facebook page called Stand for the Silent. This went viral and is now used as recognition material for teenagers who commit suicide, which is far too often the result of bullying. In this case specifically, Tyler’s school tried to hide this matter and move on to avoid negative attention, but this only further tarnished the school’s reputation. Tyler’s parents spoke out to the media and said that the school was doing nothing when Tyler was constantly beat in the face by fellow students in front of teachers in the hallway. The fact that the school system does nothing is mind-boggling. People afflicted by bullying need someone they can turn to. Had the school been there to support Tyler, the end result might not have been so heartbreaking. According to a study done at Yale University, victims of bullying are 5 times more likely to commit suicide than the average teen. How do we combat this statistic? By addressing the root of the problem, the school systems inability to spot and properly address bullying.

In the state of North Carolina, it is illegal for a game of bingo to last more than 5 hours. In Georgia, it is prohibited for chickens to cross the road. Not sure if anyone would be interested in this purchase, but in Texas it is illegal to sell your eyeballs. So what is the point of Texas than? Is there any reason for it to even exist as a state? In Rhode Island, you aren’t allowed to sell both toothpaste and a toothbrush to the same person, on a Sunday. That’s oddly specific. The point I’m trying to make here is that these are actually state and federal laws, but guess how many laws directly address bullying in schools? Ill give you a hint, it’s the same number as the amount of eyeballs sold in Texas in the past year. So how is a teenager supposed to be protected when we are more worried about making sure that citizens of Wyoming don’t take a picture of a rabbit between the months of January and April without an official permit? While these laws might seem so outrageously funny, it truly shows things that we are prioritizing. Sure, there may be some laws that can get to teasing in schools through a series of implications. But we shouldn’t have to dig that far to help prevent suicide through federal laws. Because if we were in Washington right now, you could be fined on the spot if you harassed bigfoot. He’s a big ugly creature with zero talents. Its so great to be a Kentuckian because I can harass bigfoot. Joking aside, I want you to think about this scenario, there is a kid in your high school and everyday he is harassed. Other children beat him up and call him a fag to his face because of his sexual orientation. It becomes so bad that teachers have to act as bodyguards for him in the hallway just so he can get to and from classes without being attacked by four or five other boys. His friends create a support page for him on some form of social media, but it is quickly hacked by the bullies. He can’t escape from this torture so he decides to hang himself in his garage at age 14. That boys name was KJ, and he died in the spring of 2014. The question I would like to raise to you in this situation is should those bullies be considered criminals. Isn’t it pretty easy to say that they were the cause of his death? Is it too far to say that these boys killed KJ? Federal law doesn’t directly state this, but should it? I don’t see any reason why not. 

Now I bring the problem to you, to me, to second hour English class. To the entire junior class at Henry Clay, even the whole school. And you too Mr. Logsdon and the other faculty that work here. Without laws, and sufficient support from the management at schools, what can we do? Ill tell you what. We can live everyday thinking about ideas expressed in this poster created by an anit-bullying organization called Mean stinks.  “I will stand up for someone today”. Its that simple. Now I know we don’t see cases of bullying in our school that reflect suicidal behavior, but they are out there. According to the CDC, 4,400 young people die annually from suicide, and it is the third leading cause of teenage death. To further amplify those numbers, 14% of students in high school have thoughts of suicide, and 7 percent make actual attempts of suicide. If you think on average and cohesively throughout the school, 14% means that someone in this classroom has had thoughts of suicide at some point in high school. For those of you who have taken psychology we learned about the bystander affect. According to psychology today, it is defines as, “ occurring when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in a certain situation.” (p. 1) This is why one person can’t go about solving this problem alone. If you and your friends see an actual case of bullying, help together. I know that if I walked into a harsh situation, that I would have difficulty intervening by myself because if it had to get physical im not an intimidating person. Maybe big foot could do it alone, but he’s not smart enough. We aren’t in Washington are we? No. ok. But, if others wont follow at first, they will if you step up and just protect someone. You might not think of it this way, but you could be indirectly saving someone’s life, and that’s a pretty cool concept.

In the words of Caddy shack, “ The Zen Philosopher Basho once wrote, ‘a flute with no holes, is not a flute. And a donut with no holes, is a Danish’ He was a funny guy.” (pp 6) A victim of bullying with no support is still bullied. But a victim, who is helped by someone, is saved. You were an essential guy.

Works Cited

"Psychology Today." : Health, Help, Happiness + Find a Therapist. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

"The 22 Most Ridiculous US Laws Still in Effect Today. #10 Is Just Crazy... LOL!" Just Something Creative. N.p., 28 Oct. 2015. Web. 13 Dec. 2015.

Caddyshack. "Quotes." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 13 Dec. 2015

Bully, Anti -. "Bullying and Suicide." Web log post. - Bullying Statistics. Infolinks, 2013 Web. 26 June 2015.

"Poster Downloads Bully-proof Your Walls, Lockers... Mean Stinks." Mean Stinks. N.p., 2014. Web. 26 June 2015.

Bully. Dir. Lee Hirsch and Cynthia Lowen. Perf. Ja'Meya Jackson and Kelby Johnson.  IMDB, 2011. Documentary.

Bazelon, Emily. Sticks and Stones: Defeating the Culture of Bullying and Rediscovering the Power of Character and Empathy. New York: Random House, 2013. Print.