To the Youth Readers:
I am truly humbled and privileged to have this opportunity to write to my fellow peers about a disheartening and true issue we all experience – bullying.
Whether you are the victim or the person who does the bullying just remember 1 John 4:4, “The Lord is greater than the giants you face.” I’ve been in the victim position and it feels demeaning and overall terrible.
I was bullied for 6 years and I have a prolific amount of stories to tell. This all correlates as to why I am the president of the Student State Representative Program. I have been given this impactful role to be able to encourage others about bullying and my own experiences with it. Philippians 4:13 says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”
If any of you here are experiencing bullying, I am here to encourage you to not let anyone take control over you. Do not give bullies permission to destroy, derail, dismantle, or divert you from your road to academic or social success. Bullying is not cool and can ultimately lead to our own future assassination.
I used being bullied as a tool to propel me through my studies. I became a published poet at the age of 7, while being bullied. I found studying was a lot easier than dealing with or trying to stop the bullying.
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
We can become doctors, nurses, lawyers, pediatricians, teachers, stock brokers, architects or whatever career you want. It’s up to us to discover our true potential and break the negative cycle to create our own success stories.
I am able to focus my attention on empowering those dealing with bullying, sharing my bullying story through art, writing, and using my voice to invigorate youth experiencing bullying, like I am now. My experiences with bullying have made my life better, because I now have a voice and I’m able to spread the word of choosing kindness instead of bullying. I am a lot happier, now being home schooled without any fear or anxiety of attending a traditional public or private school.
So instead of standing idly by, watching someone get hurt, please intervene. “It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the legitimate goals of his life.” – Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Joshua Apparicio, a member of Morningside Church of Christ in Inglewood, is a 13-year-old honor roll student with a GPA of 4.0. He is also the president of the Be Strong Student State Representative Program.
