Memoir+Riley+O

Stop Bullying Riley O

“Hey, John what’s up”? I said. “ Nothing much, just chilling”, he replied back. We all new John was going through a very tough time. Why can’t life have a replay button? This is the question I ask my self a lot when I think back to the day I didn’t step forward and stop bullying. People didn’t like him for who he was and often made fun of him. I would never say anything because I was afraid of what people would think of me. Know when I think back I know to do the right thing. Here is John’s story. I would usually get on the bus a ride to school with no problem; John of course didn’t have it as easy as me. As soon as he got on the bus Jane would ridicule him. He would try to ignore but sometimes it was just to hard. He would try to fight back but she had the upper hand and would always get the last word in. Each word would dig into his soul and bug him even more than the last. Really inside I didn’t get why everyone hated him I mean he wasn’t that bad, he was just different. He usually would dress in an old sonic the hedgehog shirt. He also loved the beetles, Jane didn’t like that he was still listening to beetles, and this was just another thing she could use against him. She would call him “Hey Freak” and “ Hey poser”. He hated the names and every time he would get off the bus he would cry. Poor kid, he once asked me if I wanted to go to this ski resort, I was really surprised. I didn’t now what to say so I said no. He was devastated, I felt really bad in the end and I wished I had thought it over more. Each day he came to the bus I knew he regretted every moment of it. I once did try to stop it but I didn’t really “try”. I said it quietly it was bad of me but I didn’t want anyone to think I was weird.

One day after way too much teasing John finally told us he was going to go home and commit suicide, I was flabbergasted. Jane told him nobody would care. We knew that this was enough. We went to school the next day with one mission, tell on Jane. When we got there we went to the office and got the principle. We all started to talk and then it all came out on the table. “ I don’t like what he does, he is annoying”, Jane said.

“I don’t ever talk to you”, John said

“ Well I don’t like looking at you”, She replied

I was so surprised at the things that were being said, it didn’t even sound real. I don’t thing Jane really hated him. She just didn’t like what he did. This made it worst. I thought of all the things that have occurred on the bus. I remember seeing his face begging for someone to say something. I finally realized the wrong I have been doing. I should have stopped it right when it started. Poor John was not very good at letting things go, so he was always sad about what happened. I now know that I should have stepped forward and been a good friend.