“On the other hand, what is art? Does art have rules? Restrictions? Are you able to recognize any boundaries within art? No, art does not hold creativity in a box, that’s the beauty of it. Neither does dancing, painting, sculpting, makeup, music, clothes, digital design, including skateboarding.” –Gabrielle

 

“Just because I wear backwards hats, skate shoes, ripped up jeans, and baggy shirts does not mean I am a bad person. It does not mean I am trying to cause trouble.” –Devin

 

“The fire. I knew it was burning. I saw you add the gasoline, yet I did nothing to blow it out. I sat there and watched, listened, and understood what you were doing to them, yet I did nothing. I am part of the bullying cycle.” –Isabella

 

Morning, all. So many great “Be A Voice” speeches yesterday. We laughed. We wondered and pondered. And we cried–not sure there was a dry eye in the room after Abby shared her speech on “Dealing with Death” in 6th period.  Kids spoke about stress, about being openly gay at CHS, about the environment, about implicit bias, about life, about social media, about being bikers and skaters, about bullying, about responsible pet ownership, about identity, and the list goes on. Kids know more than we believe, and if we gave them a voice AND listened more often, we would learn much. I have learned much from kids in my twenty-two years, and this year is no exception. In truth, I learned more about kids this year than ever before, but I should have. I gave them a voice and I listened. It inspired my Twitter reflection this morning.

And yesterday, I learned a lot from these very best of humans. Here are some highlights.

We Have a Choice by Isabella

I am the type of person who thinks they can solve everything, but it turns out I can’t. I thought I could be the one to find a solution to bullying, but through my own experience and research I realized there is not and never will be a solution to bullying. But that doesn’t mean I can’t try; it doesn’t mean we all can’t try, I have a few ideas and approaches for bullying, but it all starts with one word: choice.

Today I will share three different points of view. The bully, the bullied, and the bystander. Because each and everyone is an important factor to this death causing problem. Whether you think so or not, at some point in our life or maybe several times, we will play one of these roles. We may be the bully and not know it; we may be the bullied and become weak, or we may be the bystander who is watching someone being damaged everyday and not doing anything about it. It’s all about choices. You may not even realize that you made the choice.

The Bully

“You’re not good enough, you’re useless, I am ashamed to call you my child”. I am told this every night I go to bed thinking I’m not loved. I wake up in the morning believing I’m not loved, and I go to school knowing I’m not loved. So what do I do? I treat others poorly to make them believe they are not loved, so then maybe I won’t be the only one.

The victims are told they are bullied because the bully has a hard life back home or that’s just how they are raised. But does that give them the excuse to treat others like they’re nothing? To treat others like they are hated by everyone? To treat them as though they will never be loved? No. When is it ever okay to treat someone poorly for our own personal benefits? It’s not.  But that’s not the only scenario. There are times where one will bully because they are jealous of you, or they want to sound all cool and badass. But they fail to notice that they are really making themselves look like a terrible person by having such a negative impact on others, sometimes even leading to suicide.

Even though bullies maybe hurt, they can cause even more hurt.

The Bullied

Hurt. That’s how I feel. I feel as though I am unwanted and unliked by everyone. I am too scared to tell someone about my hurt.“You’re fat, You’re ugly, Why do people even like you, This world would be a better place if you weren’t in it.” At night I take my shower, looking in the mirror wondering who I am or why I look like this. I hurt myself as a punishment. I slit my wrists, but I keep my self-harm to myself. You damaged me, and scarred me . You held the knife pushing it deeper and deeper with every hurtful word, every name, every insult .Then it came, that thought I realized my bully is right, the world would be a better place without me in it. The rope was tied, the chair in place, I climbed up…. And I jumped. Stories like these don’t stop after they stop breathing, rumors are still spreading, at this point we are only fueling the flame.

The Bystander

The fire. I knew it was burning. I saw you add the gasoline, yet I did nothing to blow it out. I sat there and watched, listened, and understood what you were doing to them, yet I did nothing. I am part of the bullying cycle. I helped you feel as though you were alone. I laughed along at the hurt they caused you. I am part of the bullying cycle, and I didn’t even know it. And now you’re gone… I could have been the one to help you, to save your life. I could have been the one to end your hurt. Most bystanders see this all happening and don’t react until it’s too late or don’t react at all. If you would have just said something, told somebody, or if you would have just been their friend. Don’t wait until it’s too late to help out. Be the reason they decide to live another day.

4,400. 4,401. 4,402 and counting. This is the number of bullied caused suicides per year. Bullying will never stop or have a solution. But we can help others live another day by speaking up or being a friend. It’s all about our choices. Again I’m the type of person who thinks they can solve everything, but I can’t. But I hope today I helped someone. I hope I helped someone realize how they are treating others is wrong. I hope I helped someone realize that they are worth fighting for and that they are not alone. I hope I helped someone realize that it’s time to speak up and save a life. Today I helped someone, can you say the same?

 

from I Just Wanna Ride My Bike by Devin

Maybe it was the way I walk, maybe it was the way I dress, or maybe it was because I am a teenager that looks like I cause trouble. Just a few weeks ago I was walking down the street, and I faintly heard a man say, “Honey, look at that kid,” and a little louder response from his wife, “He looks like such a bad kid, his parents must be so disappointed.” I soon found out it was the car sitting next to me at a stop light. I pretended not to hear them, but since the window was open it was almost like they wanted me to hear. I think since people don’t know me, they shouldn’t judge me. Nobody should judge people just on first appearance.

I see people like I see a book. You can see the cover and you can see the person, but you really need to read the inside or talk to the person to really understand and get to know who they are as a person. Just because I wear backwards hats, skate shoes, ripped up jeans, and baggy shirts does not mean I am a bad person. It does not mean I am trying to cause trouble. All it means is I am wearing the clothes that I like. People look a certain way and wear certain things because they like it. But your clothes or the way you look does not define the person you are.

 

from Skateboarding Is My Art by Gabrielle

“There’s nothing wrong with enjoying looking at the surface of the ocean itself, except that when you finally see what goes on underwater,you realize that you’ve been missing the whole point of the ocean.”― Dave Barry

Mankind strives to push risk aside and smash apart the impossible. How often and how far can one go in a sport with rules and confinements. Many don’t question how skateboarding breaks boundaries. Instead, they rather overlook all it offers and push it as a sport. Skating holds more depth. It constantly creates a wider diversity than a sport would. It’s time to pull skating out of its closet and reclaim it by the heart. Skateboarding is an art. 

If you love something enough to pour your heart into it and express yourself through it, can’t it be an art as well? I think so, because anything can have a deeper meaning to one person than what it just appears on the surface to someone else. That’s why skating is an art to me and many of my friends, because we love it so much and are able to express ourselves through it and pour our heart and soul into it. I want to share my love for skateboarding with the world. If you too have something you’re passionate about daily, you should share it too, because there are no rules when it comes to loving what you do, and that’s art in itself.

 

So lucky to have a seat in the room, to have an opportunity to listen to and learn from these wise, resonant voices. Kids are the very best humans.

Today’s Trail

Along today’s trail we will…

…begin with Smiles and Frowns.

…listen to more Voices.

…end with a Sappy Sy Rhyme.

Happy Thursday, all.

Do. Reflect. Do Better.