Bullies get that name because they mess with people who happen to cross their path. The bully does this because deep down they are very insecure and seeking attention. Bullies prey on their victims because they are easy targets, making themselves feel better by tearing others down.

When people think of bullying, they often think it can’t happen to them, but when it does, it can be very confusing.

Over the years, I have experienced bullying in different forms, including being pushed down at the playground, slammed into lockers in the hall and, of course, verbal threats.

It can feel like there is no one there to help and everywhere you look you would see your tormentors laughing like nothing ever happened. Meanwhile, the bullies can go unpunished while the victim is told “to avoid them and walk the other way, when you walk in the hallway, walk with someone, always look around for an adult.” That is what adults tell the victims to do but that’s not helping the victim get justice.

Many students feel like they cannot talk to adults, bullying is a major problem in schools all over the country as more than 3.2 million students are being bully each year, according to Dosomething.org. Furthermore, only one in 4 victim’s actually report it to an adult, according to Dosomething.org

Currently, the way the school deals with bullying does not always work for everyone. One of the ways the school tries to deal with bullies is having a Restorative Justice circle with the victim and the bully. I have been bullied twice at this school. After being threatened multiple times I still didn’t feel like I could tell the adults. But it’s not just me who felt that, I’ve heard students say that the circle doesn’t help but in fact makes it worse. Many other students believe that the circle only presents more ammo for the bully to use. While the circle helps other problems, it does not help bullying.

Instead of helping, the circle can intensify the situation with the bully who really is not interested in working things out with the victim. They are afraid to lose their victim because they will have no one to pick on and make them feel better about their own problems. This fear can only cause the bully to escalate the situation and make them more irrational in their actions.

One bully accused me of hitting her, and it wasn’t until later that day school officials reviewed the security footage that showed that I never did it. The bully’s accusations meanwhile caused some of my friends to turn against me as they believed her story over mine.

How are you supposed to feel when it seems you have no one on your side? The fear of walking in the hallway and seeing both of my tormentors will always be in the back of my mind as I worry they might start something all over again.