Four years ago, my hometown changed. The instantaneous effects were horrible. The lives of three children were lost, the high schoolers who were in the building were all forced to grow up too quickly, we were all faced with the realization of "Oh my gosh, this really did happen to us, in OUR hometown." And then we learned to deal with it. The long term effects have been more positive. My community came together to support the families and to support each other; we've taken on the fight against bullying and against school shootings. 

 

In my experience, bullying is something that is talked about in a very flippant and casual way. It's easy to ignore the situation and pretend it isn't happening. It's easy to say that getting teased is a part of growing up. The unfortunate reality is that most people don't know how to deal with bullying because it is uncomfortable. But it's an issue that needs to be dealt with and one that will need to be continually revisited. Continual bullying is detrimental to everyone involved, not just the one being bullied. If no one takes a stand and if no one faces the uncomfortable issues, it's a cycle that just keeps repeating.

 

Together we can accomplish a lot more than we could separately. Together we can take a stand against bullying. 

Ms. Caitlin Casavecchia