Bullying; a killer that must be taken down.

My concern with bullying is that not everyone that experiences it has been able to fight through it, the saddest part of it is that a lot of people's life has ended as a result of being a victim of bullying.

I really don't know what people derive from bullying others, some do it to earn respect, it is fun to some people, some use it to create fear in the mind of their victims, and so on. It doesn't make sense to me why a human would just want to hurt and make life inconvenient for another human, it is wrong. Many believe bullying is something we see among teens or youth only, it is true that we mostly see it among them but the truth is that even adults experience it in society, at work, and in other places.

It is rampant among teens and I will say some of them learned that violent acts from home, bullying have led to the loss of life globally. In some cases the victim had to end his or her life, while some lost their lives as a result of injuries sustained from bullying.

The case of the Nigerian teenager called Sylvester is an example of the results of bullying, the young boy lost his life to bullies. Too sad he gave his parent a hint by telling them he doesn't want to return to the same school where he was killed but they didn't pay attention to him.

I was a victim but not of a 1st degree bullying and had a taste of it in JSS 3, I had to join a new school due to a change of environment. We had some bad boys in class who took my quietness as a joke and took me as a target, they disturb the class and make life difficult for other students.

Whenever I get to school, my locker was always missing and it went on until I reported. They stopped and started picking fights with me, they will hide my bag at every chance they had, and the day I choose to fight them didn't end well because I faced one but ended up getting my ass kicked by six of them. I couldn't tell my mom because she will come and scatter the school the next day so I kept watching to get my revenge till we got into SS1.

On a Friday night, one of the older students in the commercial class came to a program in the church I was attending. He sighted me and we coincidentally played instruments together.

I got to school to continue a war against bullying on Monday, my chair was missing again. I went to meet those boys and they made a joke of me, I was so pissed but couldn't do anything. I was leaving the class to look for it when I found the guy we played instruments together at the vigil, he could figure out that something was wrong and asked me. I told him everything and he went with me because he was about 5 years older than us then, they were scared of him because he was a real bad boy too.

He warned them never to come near me again, I could have had to live with these guys which could have turned out to be something else for me. I left the school when another bullying case happened to a girl, my mom heard and withdrew me immediately from the school.

Many students weren't about to find a way out, I must say school and parents must be very observant with their kids. Sylvester had been experiencing torture before the last incident that led to his death, if only his parents took their time to ask why he didn't want to return to school.

It would be difficult for an individual especially a student to fight and get freedom from bullies, the school authorities must be involved. The case of bullying is beyond just flogging the culprits, the punishment should involve suspension and even law enforcement agencies if it is severe because cultism has found its way into junior school which has taken bullying to the next level.

A lot of schools have failed in tackling bullying because that's where it's been experienced most, they are more concerned about the money they make and turn a blind eye to bullying cases, some even go to the extent of covering things up because the parents of the culprits are influential and wealthy. I would have suggested that the government should have a body under the education system to take these cases up but I remembered that their purpose can be hijacked by the wealthy ones whose children are bully leaders.

Parents have a lot to do since the schools aren't of help these days, the best thing is for parents to dedicate time to their children. Be their best friends to the extent that they will be free to tell you everything they are going through, and always check up on them in school. It isn't about just paying school fees, we must be part of every inch of their lives.

We experience bullying in relationships today, in the social world, and even through social apps. It is a terrible thing and I hope it doesn't get terrible than what we have seen a few years back to date.

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