Your Voice: It's time to enact some anti-bullying laws

As a community who has had four deaths within the last four years, we have seen bullying firsthand. But why does it keep continuing? Kids are making fun of each other in school, putting each other down and even making fake accounts to spread everyone's private information? But what is the cost of this? Rude remarks may start as a harmless set of words, but what if one person takes it just the wrong way and is hurt? As someone who noticed the four students who have taken their lives, I believe bullying has become a major problem that needs to be stopped.

Bullying has become a serious problem due to the internet. Computer interaction makes it much easier for a person to say anything they want without holding back. Not only are people bullying as themselves but it has also made it possible to bully people anonymously. At Noble High School, someone made an account called Lowkey Noble where they were continually bashing other students, spreading their personal information, secrets and just being plain mean.

Bullying isn't just happening over the computer. It still happens in school. Verbal and physical. Girls are making rude comments to each other all the time. Guys are just as rude making comments about girls bodies. You see fistfights in the hallways but verbal confrontation is much more of a problem here.

Lastly, bullying has become a problem more so in the last few years and that has become clear. With four lives taken in the last four years it's time to take a stand. This has become such a problem that people don't feel stable enough to stay alive. Shouldn't that be reason enough to stop the bullying?

So how do we prevent bullying? We could make laws and rules about bullying. Any form of bullying can make another person upset but if they are physically or emotionally bullying a person to the point they feel they don't want to live anymore that is when I believe laws need to come into play. In a case in central Florida, a young girl took her life by jumping from a water tower. Why? Because she was being aggressively bullied by other girls. One girl even admitted over Facebook that she was part of the bullying. She was arrested and then all charges were dropped because there is no law against bullying. With laws we can discipline the people who are doing the bullying and causing others to take their lives. Otherwise it won't stop because they will keep getting away with it.

I truly believe that we need to take charge when it comes to bullying because it is hurting people mentally, physically and to the point people are taking their lives. Something must be done.

- Kristen Hill,

Senior, Noble High School