Bullying

Just a report/editorial paper I had to finish for school. I switched it up a little bit. It used to be directed towards teen audiences. Maybe you can relate to it. I'm sure everyone should be able to relate to it, unless you've never ever attended school in your life.

Have you ever seen bullying or harassment going on? Did you do anything to try and stop it? With many issues in the world today, important problems that are going on in schools are not receiving as much attention as they should be. One of these problems would be bullying. Today, more kids than ever before are getting bullied. Most of the bullying goes on at school; a place kids and teens have to attend everyday. Whether it’s going on behind the scenes or in public, it’s there, and it needs to be stopped. These days, not enough is being done to prevent bullying. With everyone so busy and caught up in their own lives, people do not realize that bullying is a more serious issue than it is taken for.

Besides being able to cause physical problems, bullying can cause long-term severe psychological and emotional problems, like anxiety, depression, withdrawal, or a need for complete control. According to ScienceDaily.com, about 9 percent of students have a video game addiction, as a result of not being able to handle real-life situations due to bullies. Mark Dombeck, a specialist in psychology who was also bullied as a kid, says “Being the repetitive target of bullying damages your ability to view yourself as a desirable, capable and effective individual.” Many long term affects of bullying are not easily identified, therefore people take the issue very lightly. If the affects of bullying were easier to see, perhaps there would be more realization of how serious the issue is.

Bullying affects the everyday lives of students. Many students are being controlled by their fear of not fitting in. In many cases, not fitting in means getting bullied. Statistics on 4TroubledTeens.com, a website that focuses on issues teens deal with, show that every seven minutes a student gets bullied. 85% of the time other students do not interfere, for fear of making themselves a target. Bullying also interferes with academics. 8% of students miss at least one day of school a month to avoid bullying. Not only are parents of bullies and peers not doing enough to prevent bullying, but schools aren’t either. Many parents have been reported to taking their children out of school for home schooling, as a result of the school board not recognizing bullying as a serious problem. Should such action have to be taken to escape this harassment? Why is this harassment going on to this extent in the first place? In order to effectively prevent this problem, more than one group of people need to make an effort. Parents, teachers, and even peers need to step up to the plate, or else we will get nowhere in stopping this.

Many do not realize that the outcomes of bullying can be very severe. Edartical.com states that between 1994 and 1999, over 128 students committed homicide or suicide relating to school events. 28 of these students committed suicide. When bullying takes place, not only is the victim harmed, but in some cases the bully is put in danger as well. There has been many incidents where a victim of bullying has gone out seeking revenge towards their aggressor, and sometimes the revenge they choose to use is very dangerous. Many people do, in fact, know that bullying is going on. It does not affect their own lives though, so therefore the do not recognize it as a problem. If bullying continues to go on like this, we will just see worse results.

More of a stand needs to be taken against bullying, before the situation intensifies. With students having withdrawals, missed school days, and suicide attempts, this problem needs to stop. The chances are very high that you know someone that is getting bullied. Students should be able to go to school without fear, and receive their education in peace. If you see a bullying going on, please step up and help. We need to do more to fix this issue. By ignoring and avoiding this problem, it only gets worse.

Reasonable? I Think Not!

A few weeks ago at school my cell phone was taken away. The bell rang, signalling the end of lunch, and I started walking to 3rd. Without really thinking, I took my cell out of my pocket and called my dad to ask him if he was picking me up from school.

I was still outside, and I wasn't really paying attention until I heard someone call "Hey!" ...Who was she talking to? "HEY!! HEY YOU!" she practically screamed. I turned around and this 50-year-old looking teacher was practically screaming at me from across the campus.

When we made eye contact she beckoned for me to come over to her. I quickly hung up on my dad, which I apologized for later, and walked up to her. Before I could say anything, she held out her hand to me, signaling for me to give up my phone. I wasn't going to give up my baby that easily.

"I was only talking to my dad," I tried.

"Doesn't matter," she answered in a very mean way that almost hurt my feelings. I still didn't want to give her my phone. She still had her hand held out towards me.

"Are you serious? Even if it was my dad?" I wanted to argue with her but I restrained myself. Barely. I thought about running away, but she had a golf cart.

"It doesn't matter, it's the rules." The rule was that cellphones had to be off and out of sight during school hours. Whatever. I wasn't ticked off. Not yet.

Not until I gave her the my name and the phone, and then she just WALKED AWAY. She didn't say something like "Come get this after school" or anything, she just TOOK it and walked away. She didn't say anything! I just stood there, this poor little freshman, dumbfounded and clueless. I felt as if someone had just robbed me.

I eventually found out that I had to have my dad go in and get it, our I wouldn't be able to get it until the next school day (just my luck, it was a Friday. I would have to get it on Monday). So my dad went in and retrieved it, and I was assigned my very first Saturday school. Saturday school is a four hour detention that you have to attend from 7:55a.m. on Saturday until 12 noon. And that really made me mad. I wasn't even in class yet. I mean, I could understand an hour after school, but four hours on a Saturday for being caught talking to my dad while walking to class?

So today I was in advisement and someone passed me this sheet with a list of people who already had four or more hours of detention (we're not even two months into school). There was only three people on that list, myself included. Besides being mad about having to eventually serve the detention, I felt this weird thrill. Now I know why bad kids are bad. That's besides the point, though.

Anyways, is it really reasonable for me to get a FOUR hour detention for being caught using my cellphone while walking to class talking to my DAD? Remember, I wasn't in class or talking to a friend. I was talking to my dad. Just sounds ridiculous to me. I'd serve a one hour detention for this, but four?

Better Say Thanks

"Thank y-" "YOU'RE WELCOME."

If there's one thing that I've grown to hate oh so much as I've been growing up and developing my own views on things, it's when you hold a door open for someone and they don't say "thank you". I HATE it. I mean, I'm a nice kid. Kids, especially teenagers, don't hold the door open for people unless they parents tell them to, or something like that. I always do it. And today, I think I figured out the main reason why I always hold the door open for people.

I'd like to say I'm usually a polite person, but that's not why I hold the door open for people. It's almost like I hold the door open for people just to see if they actually do say thank you. And if they don't, I can get all ticked off and go bitch about it to my friends.

So that's why I hold the door open for people, I figured out. It's not because I'm polite, but it's because I want to see if someone has the guts to be so rude. It's almost like my own test on people. If they don't say "thank you", I say "you're welcome" anyways. And I make sure they hear it, and make my voice sound extremely annoyed. Which I am.

So this is what happened today that helped lead me to this whole conclusion. I was walking out of the student center at my high school, and saw some young women who looked like a teacher walking towards the door. I held it open for her. She said "Thank you" very politely and walked through. There was someone coming in a few seconds after her, and they didn't look like they knew each other. I figured it'd be rude of me to hold the door open for one person and not the other, so I waited an extra three seconds for this guy who looked like he was in his mid fifties maybe. He walked through the door and DIDN'T SAY THANKS. Can you believe it? I couldn't. Every time someone doesn't say thank you I can't believe it.

So I said "You're welcome" letting the annoyance in my voice show. I just can not believe people. They're so rude. Anyways, I was walking back to class all pissed off now. And that's when I realized, I just hold the door open for people so they can not say thank you, and I can have something to think about. It's kind of weird, and might not make sense.

One time though, I held the door open for some woman, and she walked through. Her thank you came late, and I didn't think she was going to say it at the time, so I said "You're welcome" at the same time she said thank you. I really sounded like a jerk. It was kind of weird. It just proved to me that I'm waiting for people to be rude to me, so I can somehow set them straight, even if it's something like this. I think it's because I've never gotten in a physical fight with anyone but my little brother, so I have this thing for wanting to make people act the way they should. It's hard to explain, and now it just looks like I want to get in a fight.

So, yeah. If you're one of these people that don't say thank you, watch out for me. I'll kill you.

WOOOOOOOOOO!



Yes we can!!

GO OBAMA! (Ha. Hahaha.)

My New Boyfriend

That's right, you read it correctly. I'm getting older and starting high school, so be prepared to meet the first of many boyfriends:



Yeah. That was when I first met him. It was like love at first sight, you know? That's what they say happens when you first meet your soulmate. Right when I saw him, I knew we had to have a picture together so I could remember the first day we met.



As you can see in this picture above, it is nighttime. I hung out with him all day. He seemed to be playing 'Hard-To-Get' for hours, so I just decided to play along. Yeah. It was the happiest day of my life.

We Have a Birthday!

and she is going to KILL me...

She is 14 today...

Happy Birthday to YOU!

Happy Birthday to YOU! 

Happy Birthday dear STUDENT!

Happy Birthday to YOU!

~Love you

Albertsons

I LOVE Albertsons. A LOT. You have no idea. But you will soon.

It is one of my favorites places to be. I feel so calm there. I've been shopping there for about 6 years now, but it can't just be any Albertsons. It has to be the one nearest to my house. I know where everything is there. Everything...

I can't even explain the feeling when I'm there. I haven't always liked it THIS much. I mean, I've always liked it. But I was thinking about it about a month and a half ago, and I just thought,"I really love Albertsons.." And ever since that exact thought it has been some sort of.. sanctuary for me. (Oh yeah, and I looked up "sanctuary" in the dictionary because I wasn't exactly sure what it meant and it means this:
1. a consecrated place where sacred objects are kept.
2. a shelter from danger or hardship. So yeah, the word sanctuary completely describes what Albertsons is to me)

I also have a lot of memories there. But I discovered something when I went there with my mom for the first time a few days ago. I can ONLY go with dad. Strictly. Mom, you did nothing wrong, but you ruined the Albertsons shopping routine for me. If you're the adult, you're supposed to push the cart. And we're always supposed to go from the left side of the store to the right. And we don't walk all the way down the isles.. because we just don't. And also, you stay at the top of the store. You just do. You didn't, but it's ok. I know that you and dad just shop differently.

Anyways, enough typing to my mom. Wow, I really didn't think I could make a post this long about Albertons. But I've become quite obsessed with it recently. I really love it. But I can only go there with my dad. It's like a father-daughter bonding thing that people wouldn't understand.
Anyways, I even went out of my way to find a picture of the exact Albertsons I'm talking about:

The Big ONE FOUR

Tehe, my birthday is coming up! In less than 3 weeks!! I'm gonna be the big ONE FOUR. YEAH!

Actually, I'm not really THAT excited. I mean, I'm excited, but I was more excited when I was turning 10. Birthdays aren't as exciting when you know you're getting old and saggy. Man, I really feel bad for people over 24. They must REALLY not look forward to their birthdays...

Anyways. I don't know what I'm gonna do to celebrate my birthday. I know that on the 15th (my birthday) I'm flying up to Northern California with my soccer team for a tournament. My first time on a plane. Woo hoo.

I know that I'm going to FORCE everyone I know to buy me presents. Not really force them, but guilt them into buying me stuff. I should really take advantage of situations like birthdays and Christmas to get free stuff. I'll just tell someone I know something like,"My birthday is coming up in like 3 weeks!" And they'll be like "Oh, wow, really?" And I'll be like,"Yeah, but I don't think I'm gonna get many presents.." And then be all sad for the rest of the day. And then they'll be like,"Aww, I'll get you a present you cute little girl."

Yeah, I have it all planned out, the conversation and everything. It'll work perfectly.

T, Stop Giving Me Nightmares!

So I had a dream about a week ago. It was about T's (Teeter) youngest daughter, whatever number she is.. 5 or 1.. Grr, this is gonna ruin the whole story because I'm not sure if T would let me use her name since she doesn't... I'll just call her "The Two Year Old".

Before I start explaining the dream, I'll have to tell you what I think caused the dream. Or actually, what I KNOW caused the dream.

We were all at the pool a few weeks ago when T was here, and long story short, I tipped T's two year old over on her head onto the concrete. Of course, it was an accident, and I immediately felt bad. I said "The two year old fell on her head" to T, who saw what happened. I wasn't trying to cover up that I did it, it's just the first thing I thought to say because she was starting to cry! I mean, she wasn't bleeding or anything, and she didn't cry for that long, but I felt really bad and was a little panicked (though I didn't show it). And T starts walking over and says "No she didn't, you tipped her on her head." And then I felt worse. Honestly, that kind of stuff makes me feel so bad.

So I had this dream about a week ago. Me, Steph, T and all her kids were in the 7-11 across the street from my house. From what I remember, monsters starting coming out of the sushi in the 7-11. They weren't attacking anyone, but for some reason they were dangerous and everyone had to run to their cars and escape. T got all her kids together, except her 2 year old, and we all ran to the car. Then, T turned to me when we got back to the car and said,"Where's _______? (the two year old)" and I said,"Didn't you get her?" And T got really mad at me and was like "You should have" and ran back in the store to get the two year old.

So now I'm haunted. I've had 2 other dreams about T, but I don't remember them. I did when I woke up, but you know how dreams just kind of fade away in your memory? Yeah. But not this one. I remember this one perfectly.

I'm definitely haunted.

She Broke My Heart

Ok, so I was playing my childish game, Neopets. I've had an account since I was 8 years old, that's like 6 years! And that's a long time for me, because you know, it's almost half my life currently. I just started playing the game again a few weeks ago after not playing for a year or more. I was online today and I saw someone who I used to talk to over the Internet when I was 8. I think it was her first time playing after not playing for 2 years or something like that, so I decided to "neo-mail" her and see if she remembered me.

She does remember me. I'm actually happy that she does because when I was 8, I really looked up to her because she was a "cool teenager" in my opinion (she was 14 at the time). So we talked for about 10 minutes about just.. I don't know, we talked about how we don't remember what we used to talk about, how old we are now, blah blah blah. I wasn't really sure if she even wanted to talk to me though. I wanted to talk to her, but I would be ok if she stopped talking to me because she might have been bored with the conversation or something. I wouldn't blame her though, because it was sorta like talking to a stranger since we don't remember what we used to talk about.

Boy, was I wrong. She suddenly just didn't reply to me, and I was devastated. Ok, not devastated, but I was quite sad. Actually, I still am quite sad because this all took place about 30 minutes ago. Why am I sad if I said it was like talking to a stranger? Well, because I thought she was so cool when I was younger! She was a big part of my young life. I mean.. I don't know how to explain it. She was one of the first people I even talked to over the Internet. She was older than me, and I remember that I did enjoy talking to her. Ok, to sum it all up because I feel like I'm confusing myself here, so I must be confusing whoever is reading this, (Jeez, do I use a lot of commas??) I REALLY looked up to her. And the childish part of my brain STILL looks up to her for some reason. And when she didn't reply to me (I'll admit it, I kept refreshing the page hoping she would. But after 10 minutes I knew it was over) it was like a smack in the face! It was like "I don't want to have anything to do with you anymore, you loser!"

I know I'm being childish here, and that maybe she just went to get some food or decided to watch TV.... Or absolutely hates me. Whatever. I'm over it...

Really.. I'm over it.....

...

Mmmm... Doughnuts.

Read title above please.

Learning the Guitar

Ok, so I'm learning the guitar. And I gotta say, my fingers are SORE. The guitar is so much harder to play than I thought it would be! I really admire guitarists now.

There were many things I didn't even think about when I watched someone play a guitar. I didn't think about how hard they had to press the strings down on the fret. If you don't press down hard enough, the string makes this horrible vibraty sound. I also didn't think about how much their thumb must hurt from plucking the guitar strings, especially if they're not using a pick. I didn't think about how much their back must hurt if they're sitting down. Especially since I'm a beginner, I have to lean over this huge acoustic guitar to see if I'm pressing the right strings. After about 20 minutes of playing my back feels pretty stiff.

But I must say, I am really starting to like the guitar. Even though I really suck... I mean REALLY suck at the guitar right now, I still enjoy playing it. I like playing it more than the piano. And I definitely won't let anyone hear me play until I'm good enough. Which will be soon. :]

Vent

This is a poem I made within 10 minutes as a quick vent. Sorry if you don't understand it.



Have you even gone outside today?
And yet one day you'll have rent to pay
You obviously don't know that your lazy ways
Are wasting away your youthful days

You can go for a walk
You should at least talk
You can even try becoming a jock
Boy, would that be a shock.

You know, you can even try something not fun
Like going for a run
Or taking out the trash
Perhaps you should try earning some cash?

Jeez, why do I even care?
Although we do have a bedroom to share..
Why don't you even care?
I really don't think you are being fair.

Grades start to slip
Weight adds to the hip
You have toenails to clip
You should really throw out that old cheese dip..

K, well I'm done with this vent
Maybe you'll regret things when you're sleeping in a tent

The Student ran different races that occur just once a year at her school. One of the races was the 200-yard dash, and she won!

This means that her name will be on the "wall" that she beat the 22-year old record (last year) for the 400, and this year for winning the 200.

WTG, Student!!!

The Student - Tribute (and brag fest)

I'm totally taking credit for the Student's accomplishments and abilities.

Yesterday I took her to the high school to register.

Accomplishment #1: Her 8th grade teachers recommended her for "honors" classes. This is like "GATE" or whatever it's called. (Is it "GAIT"??) Anyways, it means she is really smart, will probably get a scholarship for college, and will be doing TONS of homework for the next year. This is a result of the Student getting straight As for the last 2 years. No one made her do her homework or study. She did everything on her own.

In fact, when we were taken to see an advisor after she filled out the enrollment form, at the end of the meeting the advisor asked the Student put that advisor's name in the box at the bottom of the registration form because advisor saw a "high achiever" and wanted to be her advisor.

Accomplishment #2: We went to the sports' table to get information and sign up for team sports. The Student only wanted to sign up for soccer and volleyball. I asked someone at the table if they had track, and the Student said she didn't want to do track.

One of the coaches heard the Student say that and he said, "I just happen to be the track coach. Why don't you want to do track?"

The Student said, "I just don't like it." (She actually has performance anxiety. She's as OCD as, well, OCD!)

I told the coach that the Student had beaten the 22-year record at her school for one of the events. The coach asked her what her time was, and the Student told him 66 seconds. He was suddenly interested in her.

When she said she didn't want to run, he said, "Oh, come on, you don't want to run for Mr. _____??" (He was referring to himself.)

Talk about guilt trips! He made her squirm. He said that with that kind of record, she was looking at being placed in Varsity track, even as a freshman.

So she signed up for track as well. The coach said that they would work on her training so that she would grow out of her nervousness about running, or whatever it is. I think she might do really well.

So here is the Student at the beginning of high school, set to work her butt off the next 4 years. She will practice at her private soccer team as well as her school team after school almost every day, then do tons of homework every night, and have games almost every weekend.

Every body wave bye-bye to the Student! It's been nice knowing her! See you in 4 years, Student!!!

Yes we can!

"We are the ones we've been waiting for."

I LOVE BARACK OBAMA.

I wish I could vote.

Don't vote for anyone else.

Go to the Obama website for details.

YES WE CAN!!!!!!!
Mom said she isn't voting for Obama. Racist..

Ode to Candy

I made this poem. About my best friend.

Oh candy, so colorful and sweet
Always helping me through hard times
Oh candy, always there for me to eat
Makes me so happy that I come up with rhymes
Candy is simply amazing

Candy always makes my life bearable
Always brings me up when I'm down
Too bad candy doesn't make clothes wearable
But always manages to turn up my frown
Candy is my best friend

There are so many flavors
There are so many kinds
All candies are my saviors
Just can't wait for new finds
Candy, you are the best

If you've never eaten candy you probably should
Life would be easier for you and me
Candy, I'd eat you everyday if I could
Oh, there's just so many candies to see
Candy, I wish you could talk to me

Chocolate, you are my favorite kind
Chocolate, so smooth with great taste
But I really wish you'd stop controlling my mind
Still, you are one I'd never waste
Chocolate, I am glad you're around

So candy, it has come down to this
Candy, you are the best
You are one that I always miss
Candy, you are better than the rest
Candy, I love you

Candy, I love the memories we share
You have shown me that you truly care.

*Update*

I got the chinese food.

Chinese Food

I LOVE CHINESE FOOD.



I wish my dad would get me some. But he's too lazy and won't go up and get it for me. But I guess I'm not one to talk because he said that he'd drive me up there and I can run in and get it. But I didn't want to. Not because I'd have to run in and get it, but because I was just too lazy to go. Even though I really want it. Really bad. But laziness won me over this time, which rarely happens. Mmm.. chinese food.

I also wish my mom would get me Chinese food. But she's in Tustin. I texted her and said,"Mom I'm dying I need chinese food?" exactly like that. Yes, it was supposed to be a question. And no, she didn't respond.

Chinese food was most likely invented by the Chinese. I'm almost 100% sure. And you know what? I have Chinese friends. Chinese food is great.

The Student is a Chatterbox

Houston and I were sitting on the couch watching Judge Judy, which we usually do at the end of the week, either on Friday night or on Saturday. We record them during the week and then watch them all in one sitting.

We were sitting there, watching Judge Judy, and for about an hour we could hear this constant chatter coming from the direction of the bedroom that Paulina and the Student share.

She's not so original as a teenager, even if she is otherwise cute and smart:





She took a break long enough to come out for chocolate, and now she's back at it. I think we're going to have to wear ear plugs to bed tonight.