“With great power come great responsibilities.” Of course, everyone knows it come from Uncle Ben, but I feel not a lot of people understand the meaning behind this great sentence. This is shown through the absurd violence in school.
CBC survey reveals 40% of boys are physically assaulted at school. Why is that? Well, when you are in high school you are also your teenage years, also know as the years of “who even am I?” School as a concept is a mini society, and everyone tries to find their place. But since they do not know how, they revert to the most primal behavior, the stronger is the alpha. To prove themselves, they need to beat someone else, and it is natural to go for the weak one. In those situations, everyone like to blame the adults. But I strongly believe it is the role of the students to do something. They need to be able to fix their own problem, that is what it means to be a functional human being.
One of the ways, to put it blunt, is to become strong. If you are not weak, you will not be the victim anymore. When I say to be stronger I do not specifically mean become a bodybuilder, even if it can be one way, but to develop a redeeming quality. Preferably you want something to go with your passion, if you like music learn an instrument, if you love writing develop a book. It can be anything, but what is important after that, is to make friends who have the same interests. Once you have done those two things, I am not saying it will be easy, you will not see the bullies the same ways. You become over them. You have people that love you for what you are, which develop a presence of confidence around you that stop most bullies.
You probably think I do not know what I am talking about. There is this kid who got bullied because he was smart and small, it was not going well for him. Then he started karate and eventually stop being a victim. The story is simplified but the elements are there. He found something that he was good at and find a place where he belongs. It took that victim persona out of him.
The second way is for the strong to deal with the strong. There is no doubt that a hierarchy exist between students. The higher you go the more power you gain, but more responsibilities come with it. Kilmartin describes that one of the aspects of being a man is status and achievement. I believe we can take it further; a man is defined by what he does with the status and achievement that he gains. Personally, a lot of my school friends while I was in high school never got into problems because they knew me. I have a strong personality in general and luckily I have what it takes to back it up. If someone harmed one of my friends, they would have to answer to me. And in my school everyone knew me. In the high school hierarchy, I was high, I did not bully but helped people. The best way to go higher in life is not by crushing others, but by helping everyone climb.
In his chapter on relationships, Kilmartin stated this: “Friendship is probably the most common form of relationship.” Being the most common, it is important to carefully choose our friends. Even more important in school since we will see them almost every day. Good friends can help develop in the beautiful butterfly you can become, just like bad friends can bring out the worst demon that sleep inside you. I am sure that a lot of bullies do not want to act mean, but feel pressure to do so. They also need our help.
In conclusion, people often criticism he adults for not believing them or not acting. Since we, the students, are the closest to the situations we need to act for us. There is no one better to act that one who saw the crime with his own eyes.
Lovers and Fighters | Section 22 