Man In the Mirror

Early this morning, a tragedy struck Marion, Indiana. A 14 year-old girl committed suicide at her middle school during a break from ISTEP testing. If I were to look into any other career besides Child Life, it would be Grief Counseling. Naturally, not knowing much about it - I surfed the internet frantically looking for more information about this poor, beautiful girl. I couldn't find much, except for some threads of parents bashing the school administration for not having a handle on the school's bullying policy.

I think that the teachers do play a part in helping to stop bullying among children but I truly feel that it is more the responsibility of the parents above anyone else. Parents should be talking to their kids about bullying and the effects that can come from it. The popular nursery rhyme that all of us have heard growing up 

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me," 

tells children that physical violence hurts others but words have no effect. I don't know what genius came up with this rhyme, but they were wrong. Words can destroy my self-esteem and self-worth more than anything. You can blame that on the fact that I'm a girl and girls can be extra sensitive to "mere name-calling," but I guarantee that there are plenty of boys too that are deeply burdened by hurtful words.

The things you say make a lasting impression on others. Be careful what you say, because something that you may not have thought was significant, could destroy someone mentally. And before you know it, that person could be gone. Maybe not by suicide, but some other form of tragedy.

And regardless if that tragedy happens to be suicide or not, you're going to think about how you made an impact on that person's life. You're going to think about the last thing you said to that person. Was it kind, thoughtful words? Or did you unintentionally cause them pain? The stop to bullying begins with you. As Michael Jackson says, 

"I'm starting with the man in the mirror. I'm asking him to change his ways. And no message could have been any clearer, because if you wanna make the world a better place, take a look at yourself, and then make a change." 

Taking the extra time to tell someone they look pretty, that their artwork you've seen them doodling in the margins of their class notes are really excellent, that their strength is inspiring, that they're loved... could save a life. 

It starts with you.

I also highly recommend you to watch this video. Yes, it's a little long but it made a lasting impression on me to the point where I've had this bookmarked on my computer for the past 5 months. I've only ever bookmarked 4 other websites. So you know it's worth the watch!

Click Here for the video!

Stay Beautiful <3