Letter in Response to Noelle Mcarthys Article Essay

Being different will only result in tears’ I can understand your point of view although I can’t help but disagree. Your personal experience may be true, moreover, it is only one story†¦ out of a possible 7 billion! You said that being unique will only mean you are picked on, but in my opinion this is not true as people look up to someone with a new style and it is often emulated, how else would fashions start? Perhaps one of your main points is how it is ‘instinctive ‘to blend in, follow the crowd as anything else will result in being bullied. Hans kruuk did an experiment where he marked an x on a gazelle, then release it back into the wild. This study showed the marked animal became a target and was killed every time. You then applied this to school children, saying they know it does not pay to be different. I say you cannot compare humans and animals. Animals eat each other, it is their way of life in contrast humans eat animals because we are the superior race bullying is a moral evil, not a natural evil. A group of scientists at Oxford University carried out a three-year study looking at why cats and kittens are scared of their owners, and if this is instinctive or simply developed in childhood. Their results showed that on average 90% of cats who are scared of humans were bullied as a kitten. No cat naturally tries to blend in, however it tries to make relationships. When kittens have abusive owners, it resulted in them becoming scared of all humans, as they might get hurt again. If you are a victim you become conscious and try to fit in to stop the event re-occurring, therefore this disproves your statement that ‘Every school child knows instinctively; it does not pay to be different’; this behaviour is learned. You say that no one should help someone being bullied, because they will become a target too, ‘so we keep away and we turn away when the predators pounce. ’ Lies. Front-page news headlines are often about courageous heroes who have saved someone from being bullied. Susan Dichander, a German civilian, won a Nobel peace award last year. She saved over 2,000 Jewish children effectively, being bullied by Hitler. She is now honoured to own the reward and her friends are family are so proud that she went against the majority and trusted instinct! Another statement you made was that it is better to ‘blend in’, if you look like everyone else, you will not be victimised. I say: what if you cannot change the way you look? Being the only black child in a white school would be hard, but you can’t change skin colour. Disabled people cannot blend in; if you are in a wheel chair, then there is nothing you can do to change that. To be liked is not about blending in, it’s not about what you look like, but it’s about your personality. Finally, I would like to applaud you for your article, you made some persuasive arguments but in contrast, bulling for children in 2012 is extremely different to the torment received in the 1970s. With the development of technology – Facebook, Twitter and all social networking sites ‘cyber bullying’ is a new usage. Bullies who are too scared to say something face to face, or simply do not want it to escalate into violence can send nasty messages over the internet anonymously (or so they think). This has been made a criminal offence, the police can track down where the messages are coming from, and that person may be prosecuted. You proved in your article, being different can also end in making new friends who like you for who you really are, these ‘endure’ for life – surely, that’s a difference worth celebrating.