The issue of bullying is as old as age itself.

Humans have oppressed and depressed and suppressed and brutally impressed their ignorance and savagery on one another since before we stepped onto the African savannah, wiggled our thumbs and stood upright.

Human ugliness begins in early childhood, especially when children are ignored and abused, and those children begin to lash out.

Like any predatory animal, humans prefer to stalk those they perceive as the weakest, or the easiest prey.

On the shiny side of this coin is the fact that there is an opposite to ugliness; it is the beauty of love – the purest essential trait of humankind.

That beauty is displayed when we show compassion toward one another – when we respect each other and value each other.

Unfortunately, the dark side of the coin displays the head of a bully.

I never really experienced bullying, aside from perhaps my older brother and some of his friends picking on me now and then.

Thanks to my brother being nine-years my senior, I entered my school years fairly well prepared to defend myself.

On my first day of school, a Grade 2 kid – during my first recess – stomped up to me and gave me a mighty shove. I was a small kid; probably the smallest in Grade 1.

Staggering backward, I heard my brother’s words from earlier that morning, as we walked down our country driveway: “don’t let anyone shove you around; if someone messes with you, slug ‘im.”

My right fist flew and the would-be Grade 2 bully’s nose exploded with blood. He ran away crying while his ‘friends’ followed him sneering and laughing.

I ended up in the principal’s office and received a stern lecture about that kind of behavior not being tolerated around here.

Not long later, that would-be bully became my best friend. Despite being small, I was never bullied because the other kids were scared witless of me.

However, I like to think that I wasn’t a bully in return. Except to Clyde Wood.

Clyde was a grade below me and he somehow burrowed under my skin on a regular basis and I am not proud to say that I gave him a few royal thrashings. Until I was in Grade 7. Clyde wasn’t really doing anything wrong and for some reason I gave him a shove. Fed up, he pasted me on the beak – splattering my mug with blood.

That was the last time I ever picked on Clyde and the last time I ever meant to pick on anyone.

In high school, I can proudly say that my two best chums, Paul and John, and I, went out of our way to stop other kids from picking on the weaker. On a few occasions, would-be bullies ended up eating knuckles and toes.

My own daughter was the victim of bullying down in the U.S. It became so bad that she came to live with me in B.C. for a year to separate her from the ugliness. Adding to it was the fact that she was bullied and is a black belt in tae kwon-do. She could have kicked the pointy tips of the evil witches’ noses off if she wasn’t so well trained. I guess that shows that it’s not always the weakest who are bullied.

Bullies genuinely make me want to get in their face and demand them to consider me as their huckleberry. Their cowardice and idiocy and sickening. It is also desperately pathetic and sad.

So when I saw this video, sent to me by Shawn Parker of Kimberley, I felt compelled to… well… rant about bullying. I had a tear in my eye at the end of this 4:46 video created by a Kimberley girl.

It is a poignant glimpse into the eyes of a victim of bullying. It made me think of what my daughter went through and what so many children, and adults, go through on a daily basis.

My message isn’t to become violent yourself, if you are being bullied. That worked for me because of circumstance and it stuck.

My message is simply see and hear what is going on around you and if you can, do something if you see something unacceptable happening.

Unacceptable can be a pretty large spectrum, but you know it when you see it. We all know when someone is being set upon, either physically or verbally. Oftentimes, it isn’t our business. And oftentimes it should be our business. Video it with your cell phone; call the police; shout at them to behave or stop. Don’t just walk by thinking it’s not your problem. Because it is.

Our society is making some strides in efforts to halt bullying but clearly, as evidenced from the following video, it is still going on. So please watch this video and think about what you can do, in even a small way, to help eliminate bullying.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=omssbm4YXTM&feature=related

To 11-year-old Tia who made this video: I think you are the bravest youngster around. Hang in there, because the tide is going to turn for you.

Ian Cobb/e-KNOW

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