I’m sure many of us on the internet and in our personal conversations with students have heard the comment “bring back bullying” – or something along the lines of it. This comment is something that people say to someone who doesn’t fit into the societal standards put on us; someone who doesn’t fit the “norm.”
You’ll often see this specific phrase in comment sections if the creator is doing something considered “weird” or “cringe.”
It’s a comment teachers often look over or don’t pay much attention to when a student says it. That shouldn’t be the case.
According to a staff member on campus, when people say these kinds of things, it is all out of “insecurity and fear of low self-esteem; hurt people hurt other people.”
“I think the issue is that people think bad behavior can get ‘bullied’ out of people, through public shaming, but the problem is we aren’t tackling the root of the issues that lead to bad/inappropriate behavior to begin with” said another staff member.
Though sometimes people can think it’s a joke or a funny comment to make about someone and that it doesn’t have any effect on people seriously. That’s where people are usually very wrong.
According to the same staff member, the comment is “awful and very dangerous and normalizes bullying behavior. It can build resilience, but you shouldn’t have to experience something like that to build resilience.”
Students should also be aware of the repercussions if they ignore this or decide to partake in a conversation about bringing back bullying. It can often lead to students feeling isolated or causing them to hide who they are in order to prevent themselves from being targeted and bullied. Bullying is something that shouldn’t be joked about. Even if someone is clearly joking, it should be taken seriously, because another person joking about someone’s trauma and/or experiences within the field of bullying, can undermine anything they went through and overcame by being bullied.
Being weird and different is what makes us uniquely human and we shouldn’t want to try and change what makes us who we are. We as humans should learn to embrace and celebrate what is different about each other instead of being weirded out or shunning them from society. Every scar, every disability, every color, every height, every weight, every mistake, every accomplishment is what makes us who we are.
We should be proud of our differences, and glorifying bullying is the exact opposite of that. It undermines our ability to be comfortable in our own skin. Celebrating our own unique attributes should be encouraged, and not shamed.
“Bring back humanity.”