This week at school, the 12th until the 16th of December, is Bullying Awareness week. Bullying Awareness Week is an opportunity for people in communities around the world to get involved in the issue of bullying, not by waiting for "Someone else" to do something, but rather for us to work together on preventing bullying in our communities through education and awareness. During this week at school there are posters hung around the school raising awareness about the consequences of bullying and promoting kindness and peace between students, as well as teachers. Also the school have organised many different speakers to talk to the different year groups at school about bullying.
Today the 14th of December all the fourth year students gathered in the Halla Nua in the early afternoon for a talk, well actually it was a play, about bullying. I sat near the front and I was curious and excited about this talk! A man named Michael O’Sullivan introduced himself and commenced the talk. He told us that he has been travelling around the country for over 20 years giving various talks and performances on many important issues such as bullying, drugs and alcohol consumption, mental health etc. From the minute Michael started talking he had my attention as he had a very clear and loud voice and talked about interesting things. He spoke to us about the play he was about to perform for us, which was about a situation where bullying occurs.
In addition he also briefly explained what bullying is, and the different categories of bullying such as physical, verbal, social and cyber. I found it interesting that stressed the point that social bullying, which involves spreading rumors about another person, exclusion or embarrassing a person in public, was the worst type of bullying. I was quite surprised at this, because it is so simple to exclude someone from an activity or conversation, sometimes unintentionally. However the people excluding the other person may not realize how much damage they have done to the excluded person. This slightly shocked me. It is good to be reminded about these things, as it will make me more aware of how my actions affect other around me.
In addition he also briefly explained what bullying is, and the different categories of bullying such as physical, verbal, social and cyber. I found it interesting that stressed the point that social bullying, which involves spreading rumors about another person, exclusion or embarrassing a person in public, was the worst type of bullying. I was quite surprised at this, because it is so simple to exclude someone from an activity or conversation, sometimes unintentionally. However the people excluding the other person may not realize how much damage they have done to the excluded person. This slightly shocked me. It is good to be reminded about these things, as it will make me more aware of how my actions affect other around me.
Michael then performed his one-man play, that he wrote himself, about bullying. It involved two teenage boys, the bully and the victim and both parts were played by Michael. The play was very entertaining and explained bullying and the effects of bullying very well visually. Michael’s reasoning for playing both parts himself, instead of having two actors, is that it leaves room for imagination. If one person plays the bully, our image of a bully is of the actor and same for the victim. However if one actor plays both parts, we can imagine the bully to look how we think and how the victim looks. Hence, we are more open-minded. I was amazed how well Michael played both parts, I was truly captivated throughout the entire play!
At the end of the play he asked us all which character we thought was taller. Almost all of the students, including me, said we thought the bully was bigger than the victim, as he acted as though he was a bigger and more important person in the play. It surprised me when we were told the victim was taller and bigger, as we don’t expect that, based on stereotypes. Another point that unnerved me a little was when we were told lots of us participated in an act of bullying. First I didn’t understand was he was talking about, but when he explained it seemed quite obvious. When ‘the bully’ in the play was calling ‘victim names’, and making fun of him I laughed as it was quite funny, the manner in which the actor portrayed the bully. Another awful type of bullying is when a group of people are laughing at another person being bullied, and that is what we ultimately did. Although the actor intended it to be a little funny, we still laughed at the victim being made fun of and humiliated. In a real-life situation, however I wouldn’t laugh at someone being called names. I would not get directly involved but I would probably tell someone who could help if the bullying was serious.
After the play and discussion about it, Michael O’Sullivan finished the talk with a light and funny act. He asked us what football teams we supported, and I was one of the only who put their hands up for Liverpool! Them he reenacted a goal being scored in slow-motion, it was hilarious!
I enjoyed this talk on bullying awareness very much, and learnt a lot from it. I thought the actor was very entertaining and keep everyone’s full attention throughout the whole talk. Doing a short play is an interesting and interactive way to bring a message across, instead of showing a slideshow or talking!