Stop The Hate

Start the Awareness

In 2007, the largest murder by a single person in U.S. history occurred. On a normal day at Virginia Tech University, one student turned the whole day wrong. Shock, grief, and sorrow filled the entire country. One student had gone to great trouble to kill 33 people and himself in a matter of a few hours. Could this have been prevented and could innocent lives have been spared?

    When psychologists, doctors, and police looked closer into the tragic event, they found clues to why this might have happened. Specialists say that bullying, physical and mental abuse as a kid, and other similar experiences could have brought on the anger needed to display such violence. People close to the gunman say that he was a quiet and shy child, vulnerable to bullying.

Bullying may seem like a harmless, childish game, but when it emotionally affects someone they can carry that emotional weight around for the rest of their life. The little respect you might think you are getting could be the biggest downer in someone's life. Bullying, physical, and verbal abuse can cause many problems later on in life if not right away. If you were depressed, full of rage, and self-conscious everyday, without counseling, how would you deal with your emotions?

    Now it’s our turn to be aware and look out for students and peers getting bullied or abused. Maybe it’s your neighbor who bullies a friend at school but you never did anything because you were scared of the repercussions. Maybe it’s you who are bullying a younger sibling because they are smaller and you think its all games. Ask yourself this: is it worth it now? Maybe you know you would never do anything thing to hurt another human, but you would never report bullying. For most of us we are scared of the reality so we turn our heads away from the very people who need our help. Stop verbal and physical abuse in 3 steps.

  1. BECOME AWARE Don't just walk, keep aware of your surroundings and what kind of behavior is happening in front of you
  2. TAKE ACTION If you see an assault, or are the victim of an assault, than tell someone, we urge you to tell school administrators, a parent, and if the assault becomes physical, the police
  3. BE A FRIEND Be a friend to shy or quiet classmates if they don't seem to have many friends
  4. KNOW THE SIGNS Know the signs of a troubled or abused classmate, take the time to read about different ways to recognize

Whoever, whatever, wherever Stop the Hate and Start the Awareness.