So, today I had chapter-per usual on Sundays-and we just happened to have a short program about bullying presented to us by our very own Vice President of Member Development. Now, this is the second chapter all semester that I had attended so I guess it was my luck to stumble into this particular one. This particular program especially hit home with me because, unfortunately, my Little has been being bullied by a certain infamous duo. (It's shameful to say, but yes, now we have girls like that in my sorority.) However, I feel our VP didn't do the subject justice. For one thing, she somewhat blew it off to be a joke. It's honestly not funny. You hear stories on the news all the time about bullying and how negatively it affects people, sometimes pushing them to harming themselves or suicide-horror stories and claims-making, causing bullying to be a social problem; Dr. Schwabe should be proud! I was also a little irked by the fact that our dear VP honestly didn't know what she was talking about-one of my biggest pet peeves, don't talk about something you know nothing about or at least don't talk extensively about it so you don't make an ass out of yourself. I'm sorry, but venting my negative feelings on this blog-about a person that is-is not bullying them, even if they do read this and realize it is about them. Bullying is something intentionally done to hurt someone either mentally or physically. It's like the difference between violence and aggression. Violence is just causing harm, whether it is intentional or not; aggression is the intentional use of violence. Not all violence is aggression, but all aggression is violent. Bullying is "aggressive", while venting can be "violent". Also, and I'm sorry if you feel differently but, I think that anyone who believes private consultation with a bully will resolve the issue is extremely naive. I feel "bullies" should be confronted in a public place so they can have the pressure put on them, by having an audience, to discontinue any reprehensible behavior. Our VP claimed that public confrontation wasn't a good idea as it didn't allow for a normal reaction/response from said bully because they would act differently due to having an audience in response to my suggestion of a public confrontation. THAT'S THE ENTIRE POINT! It's invoking pathos into the audience which in turn invokes pathos into said "bully" because they now fear the negative judgment of their peers that comes with the label of a bully. I don't believe that one should stoop to an aggressor's level, but I also don't believe in standing around and taking abuse from someone. Sometimes, you don't have to take the highest road possible to be the bigger person. I believe that in a situation like bullying, one should be worried most about effectively resolving the issue, regardless of how the "bully" feels about it. Don't get me wrong, I don't believe in the ideology of "an eye for an eye"-it only makes the whole world blind-but if someone is disrespecting you and is showing blatant disregard of how their actions/words effect others, than it should be brought to their attention in a way that will make them see the error of their ways and at the same time force them to face the consequences of their actions.
This kind of thing always gets me riled up. I cannot stand injustice of any kind. It literally boils my blood. I'm just not the type of person to sit back and watch others get hurt. A Prime example would be when I confronted one of my close friends in the sorority because her actions were hurting other sisters-and at this point I'm done with her because she has continued to act in a way that is hurting people so she's either really fucking stupid, or has no regard for sisterhood, or friendship for that matter; stupid or selfish I want nothing to do with it. I don't care if I'm best friends with a person, if you do wrong, I will bring it to light and I will demand that it be fixed. At this age you know what's right and what's wrong, no matter WHAT state you're in-trust me, I've been in plenty of other "states" to know this is true. If you're willing to do what's wrong, you better be willing to deal with the consequences. We make decisions every day and we must live with the consequences of those decisions. There's no getting out of it.
