voicethread

Have you ever wondered how you would feel if someone acted violently against you verbally or physically ?

Statistics about bullying in our country Greece, show that almost 50% of students in secondary education have experienced psychological violence, while about 70% have been verbally and physically  abused. When students were asked the reason for their behavior, nearly 25 % said that they felt strong when they acted like that.  60%  of them did not even consider their behavior violent or they were not responsible enough to face the consequences of their actions.

I was hanging out with a girl  named Maria an immigrant from another country and I experienced through her all the bad time she had when other classmates of ours treated her as if she was a piece of garbage, calling her names, making fun of her appearance and her not very stylish way of dressing. Maria felt isolated and too scared to talk about it,  not even to me. So I had to do something for her; I took the risk without her permission and I addressed the headmaster. He immediately took action and solved the problem. It took a lot of time before she felt safe and comfortable again with us and herself.  Such an experience is just one of the thousands happening at schools not only in Greece but the whole world.

Why is it so difficult  for us to accept someone the way they are?

There is no place for bullying or any kind of violence in the country that gave birth to democracy and inspired equality of rights and privileges.

Verbal harassment, threat, physical assault or generally abusing someone is like stealing from  them the right of self- expression,  or even stealing their voice!  What makes us unique is our different traits, such as gender, origin, colour or values!

So our message to the world is: Bullying is a disease which is not contagious! It depends on each one of us if  we are infected or not. DON’T ALLOW THE VIRUS TO SPREAD EVEN MORE. FACE YOUR FEARS, TALK ABOUT IT AND DEFEND BEING DIFFERENT. THIS IS WHAT BEING STRONG REALLY MEANS!