The Courage of Children: Boston and Beyond XXXIII

OLIVER PATEL
SARAH TRAN, TEACHER
St. Agatha School, Milton, MA
Have you ever wondered why people bully? If not, have you at least wondered
how the targets of bullying might handle all the stress that comes at them?
Well, I recently experienced this. I have been told a million times that I am
a courageous and respectful kid, but to me, being courageous is a very hard
thing to do.
When I was bullied, I would mainly ignore it. I would always focus on getting
my work done before participating in anything fun, and I got bullied for that.
My classmates were always the ones to do the exact opposite of what I did,
so when I refused to join them in their thievery or mockery of a teacher, they
would start to call me names and mentally abuse me.
Another thing that they bullied me for was that I did not understand some of
the slang words that they used. I learned quickly that these words were from
social media (something I don’t have), and they were not good words. I was
oblivious to their meanings. My bullies would use derogatory words, and I
would not be able to defend myself because I didn’t have a clue about the
meanings of the words that they used. This happened for three years.
Over time, I learned things about these bullies that I could use against them
if they called me names. The bullying slowed down a lot, but it was not gone.
During my second year at the school, I dealt with it by ignoring it and keeping
it to myself. (I now know not to do that.) I continued to ignore it for the entire
year, until a fateful event.
“I HOPE TO SHARE
MY STORY WITH THE
WORLD TO HELP
KIDS WHO MIGHT
BE GOING THROUGH
WHAT I HAVE ALREADY
EXPERIENCED.”
When we had finished our field trip and gone back to our school, I went to the
principal immediately. This may seem like the obvious thing to do to most
people, but for those who are bullied, this is a very hard thing to do, since it
will increase the amount of bullying you will have to take on. When I went to
the principal, he helped me a lot. Many kids were kicked out, and the rest
were given suspensions or detentions. This was the first time that someone
called me courageous, but he did not just call me a courageous kid, he gave me
reasons why.
I learned a lot from this experience, and it is an experience that has shaped my
character today. This is my biggest accomplishment so far in terms of courage,
but I feel that I have the ability to accomplish many more courageous things.
I hope to share my story with the world to help kids who might be going
through what I have already experienced.
The day started like a regular school day, except we were going on a field trip.
I was called names and mocked the entire time, until we went to a field to eat
lunch and play some sports. The first thing that happened to me was a bunch
of kids started to approach me, calling me names and trying to get me to fight
them, but I withheld. The next thing to happen was that one of the boys went
and got a cardboard box and flattened it. Before I could run away, he started to
hit me with the box. Instead of doing what I would have usually done in that
scenario and running away, I fought. By fighting, I mean I blocked the box
when it came at me, and I swept the kid off of his feet. When the rest of the kids
came at me, that was when I knew to start running, because I was outnumbered.
THE COURAGE OF CHILDREN: BOSTON AND BEYOND
VOLUME XXXIII
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