Anti-Bullying Programs are Not Enough

I am one of the many concerned about the rise in school shootings and teen suicide, but I can't help feeling like the anti bullying tactics, while well meant, are not addressing the whole problem and thus making it worse.

      This is an entitled generation. I don't mean just kids or just teens or just young adults, this whole country is entitled as hell. We all want to blame someone else for our problems. When a teen commits suicide after being bullied the bully is blamed, the bully's parents, the victim's parents, maybe even the community or the crime rate or even drugs are to blame. It seems unrealistic and a very entitled point of view to say that anyone else is responsible for a teen taking their own life. 

       We are all free to have our own emotions and we are all free to make our own choices. I believe in consequences. We need to teach our peers and the children of our communities not just to be in control of their actions and not terrorize other people, but to be in control of their emotions and not allow others to dampen our spirits. If you are bullied at school there are teachers and other students to talk to about it. If you are bullied on facebook, stop logging in. If your choices bring you face to face with this person who taunts you then think of alternate routes. If the negativity is not avoidable then change the way you handle it. Someone only continues pestering because they get a reaction and they get away with it. Stop giving them the satisfaction of seeing you post about how bad your day was. Stop crying and getting mad because thats what they want. 

       I learned a wonderful tool in highschool. We are 70% water. I am a body of water, I choose to remain clear, letting clean water flow through me to wash away murk and fallen leaves. A rock thrown into a pool causes ripples that stretch thin and dissapear, they do not leave a mark. We have to learn not to accept negativity. It is your decision to be happy or sad, no one can decide for you. If i feel under stress simply imagine my body as a clear pool, allowing negativity to pass. 

       I am sad for the lives that are lost, and I agree we should do all we can to let people know their choices. We should do our best to treat eachother kindly and reach out to those who are not. If you take your own life it is no one's fault but your own and instead of punishing your enemy you are hurting everyone else. Killing yourself may be a month of fame but choosing to be a happy person can last a lifetime. 

       This is not my most positive post, but i believe in the simplicity of self governing. If i do not voice my opinion of the world I cannot expect it to change. People would like you to believe your voice or opinion only matters as a checkmark on a ballet but it is much more effective to talk to the people in your community about things you each feel are important, this is the self sufficent way of changing your environment. You can do better than voting, act on your beliefs.