スクリプトは事前提出されたものですので、ビデオの音声とは異なる場合があります。

My Opinion about Bullying

Wako Rintaro (National Institute of Technology, Sendai College)

“Bullying”: it is a word that we often hear in news. Do you have any experience about bullying? As for me, that word reminds me of my junior high school days. A gang of students turned some weak students into their targets. They took off their clothes, took out their desks out of the classroom, or brought them into a restroom and punched and kicked them there. The victims were suffering badly. However, I just stood by and watched them. Thinking back on it, I feel I could have done or I should have done something about it. Today I would like to talk about why bullying happens and what we should do to stop it, and by doing so, I would like to express my feelings of atonement.

I think there are roughly two sources of bullying. One is the people who bully others. The other is the people who know someone being bullied but do nothing about it.

First, there are some people who want to attack or bully others, at school, in companies or in any organization. Of course, what they do is a bad thing, and there are no excuses for bullying others. But are they only to blame? Were they born to bully other people? I don't think so. According to some recent news, most bullies have had some problems in their family environment. In fact, one of the bullies in my junior high school had two brothers and each of the three had a different father. Another bully's father worked away from his family. What is common to these cases is their parents' “lack of love.” So they all were feeling lonely and sad all the time. People who have such feelings want attention from people around. It seems to me that they attack other people mentally and physically to catch someone's attention. Once they get attention by attacking others, they keep doing so or in most cases, escalate it, because they think they can attract further attention.

How should we solve this problem? I think that communicating with people around is a good way to start. There are many types of communication, but, of course, everyday conversation or to talk with someone is the best. Most people who bully someone are not good at understanding other people's feelings, simply because they lack experiences in talking with others from heart to heart. After a lot of experiences of heartfelt conversation with people around, they will be able to understand others' feelings and read other people's minds.

Second, there are many people who see someone being bullied but do nothing about it. Do you remember a junior high school student who was bullied and committed suicide in Shin-kamigoto-cho, Nagasaki, in January last year? Before he took his own life, he wrote an essay about bullying. In the essay he wrote that most people try to go along with other people or follow other people just because they want to avoid being disliked. That also means people who just watch someone being bullied but do nothing are doing so to avoid being disliked and being bullied themselves. I was one of such people when I was in junior high school. As a result, they give a hand in bullying. Bullying done for this reason will never end.

How should we solve it? I think you should try to protect the victims first. They will feel safe if someone tries to help them. And you should try to stop the bully if possible. It may be difficult to stop it, but you can talk to your parents or teachers. Also, we should remember that the bully himself or herself has his or her own problem. They try to express something by bullying others. We need to listen to what they are trying to say. Then bullying will decrease gradually.

Bullying harms not only victims and their family but also the bullies themselves in the long run. Their rash behavior might deprive them of their bright future. Our lives have been handed down from generation to generation. We must not waste them. For us all, it is important to try to respect each other's life and stand up against bullying.