On January 25th 2012, all students in Massachusetts will participate in a No Name Calling Day in which the kids will sign pledges not to name call or partake in bullying and also wear black to show commitment to "Black Out Bullying."
This day is to also remember those victims who have committed suicide after being bullied themselves. Too many teens have committed suicide since 2010, the most recent being a 15-year-old girl who threw herself in front of a bus in New York. And even then her Facebook page was filled with messages of hatred.
The campaign to end bullying doesn't just need to extend to kids. We as adults all need to take part in this so that we can show one another that we will not tolerate this behavior anymore and that while talking about it does have some effect. This will be a true sign of unity as a nation as well as to the social networking sites here most of the bullying takes place.
The time has come because every day some teen somewhere feels like a total outcast because they "aren't a typical teenager," which by 2012 standards is a wide spectrum, or they are questioning things in their lives that most often don't have answers to but are desperate and for some reason, these bullies feel the need to instead knock them down the ladder until they've fallen so far down there's not a possible chance of getting back up and they feel that the only way to escape is to kill themselves.
It's one thing when we were kids to be bullied on the playground where you had a fighting chance against these bullies but in the social network and throughout the Internet, it's not possible to fight back without being eaten alive.
We encourage the kids in our lives to speak what's on their minds but do we really listen? or even understand what's happening? We can monitor what's being said but only to a certain extent and even then we're left in the dark.
So what's the cure to this epidemic? Do we unplug the computers and TV hoping that will solve a piece of the problem or do we stand up together and say "You know what? I refuse to leave in fear and worry, I will stand up for those and myself around and not let this people bring me down."
Enough is enough. Too many teens have died and if we end this now, we may put this epidemic to rest for once and for all.
So I'm asking on January 25th, that everyone wear black and that we stand together to put an end to bullying.
Are you going to sit back and wait for the next teen to die or participate so that no teen ever feels the need to commit suicide again?