Bullying is a phenomenon that occurs everywhere in some form or another.  It is an act of insecurity, intolerance and inability to understand one another.

At Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS), there are times when bullying is experienced either first-hand or secondhand. A shocking 35 percent of students  revealed that they have seen or been a victim of bullying.

Bullying can be registered on campus as threats, rumors, unkind words and subliminal actions toward a person or group of people.  Students use words like “gay,” “loser” and “weirdo” to describe something or someone but these words are all used to degrade and hurt a  person.

Actions, like words, are used to hurt people but those actions don’t always have to be direct.  Silence and refusing to associate with a person or group can be worse than physically harming someone.

DPMHS, on the other hand, has a strict “no bullying” policy and has participated in several events to prevent bullying. In trying to discourage bullying based on sexual orientation, DPMHS has participated in Los Angeles Unified School District National Coming Out Day to promote wellness and empowerment in students who are gay, bisexual, lesbian or transgender.

Gays and Lesbians Initiating a Dialogue for Equality (GLIDE) and  Be More Heroic are programs that discuss bullying and encourage students to stand up against bullying. These two groups have been to DPMHS for two consecutive years, each year bringing a strong point of view for students to consider.

While these programs discourage the issue of bullying at DPMHS, bullying still occurs.  According to a survey done by one of the video production classes, 80 percent of DPMHS’ student body feels safe at school but that missing 20 percent means a lot.

Anti-bullying programs help shed light on the issue of bullying but they don’t fully underline the issue of communicating.  Sharing and talking things through needs to be highlighted because miscommunication creates barriers between people and worsen problems. Students shouldn’t worry about their well-being while attending DPMHS.

Talking things out is a significant way of preventing bullying.  Also, use the information and point of views that were shared by Be More Heroic and GLIDE to be a more compassionate and sympathetic person. It will make our school even better.