Has there been a Tom who nicknamed you a “Mama’s Boy” and ever since then trying to make fun of you, simply because you brought your own lunch box to school? Or perhaps a Jessie and her clique of mean girlfriends who had consistently made you run seemingly impossible errands for them, just for you to gain exclusive membership to join their BFFs club?  Well, call it a rite of passage if you would, as I believe that just about everyone has been bullied to some certain extent during some part of their lives.

Do you remember the stir created by the school boy in Sydney who retaliated towards his tormentor by body-slamming him to the ground? The video instantly became a hit on the Internet and the school boy was dubbed a hero, not because the global community endorses violence and brutality, but for the reason that of those being bullied and abused, few has the strength and courage to defy, somehow the young Casey Heynes begged to differ.

Thanks to the chivalry of fellow “Facebookers” who have strongly criticized the perpetrators and urged for the attention of the authorities, the rampant school bullies of SMK Raja Abdullah was ultimately brought to justice.

While the public’s exasperation over the matter is gradually subsiding, once again we’re appalled by the incident whereby a secondary school girl in Ampang was mobbed by a gang of bullies after allegedly blowing the whistle to the discipline master regarding her schoolmate’s truancy.

Don’t you agree with me that school bullies these days are getting more outrageous, that they made Tom and Jessie sounded exactly like angels? Please don’t feel overwhelmed with the bombardment of bullying cases in the newspapers lately as they are only new tunes added to a decades-old song.

Just imagine how many bully cases have been out there and not brought to the light of public, how many children have been weeping and shuddering in silent, long before Facebook has emerged to act as one of the effective platforms to bring these issues from school grounds to the cyberspace.

According to newspaper reports in a Chinese Daily, both the victims of the bullying cases which transpired recently had tentatively reported their predicament to their teachers, but to their despair their problems were not given attention.

Now this is peculiar, don’t you think that all the bullying cases actually spell one word in common? Well if you would ask me, negligence would be just the right word!

It could either be the negligence of the parents who failed to discover the bullying behavior in their children, the teachers who couldn’t care less about their students, the nonchalant schoolmates and regulation enforcers, or even you and me.

All too often we are obsessed with our respective priorities to poke a nose over others’ affair deemed as trivial, but has it ever cross our minds that our negligence might sometimes be lethal?

Just imagine how things would turn out so differently when somebody cares enough to show just a little bit more concern.

As your concern could easily empower the possible victims with the strength and courage to stand up for themselves, as you being a little more assertive could compel the authorities to recognize the urgency in the combating of the contemptible bullying cases. 

Remember, the rampant school bullies had all along been – and mind you, will continue to be – there, as long as the right thing is not done by the right people to counter this insidious societal ill.

(Source: sherilyn-tells-it-as-it-is.blogspot.com)