Stand Up / Ashley Echeta

          My friend, Alex, has been bullied since kindergarten (sadly that early). I've watched bullies call him names, say and write nasty things about him, leave him out of activities, and make him feel uncomfortable. It's been always a difficult decision for me whether or not I should go and tell an adult about Alex's bullies, but that all changed after I was fed up with it all.

          March 7th had finally arrived. Our Taj Mahal model projects were finally due. I was headed to my history class to turn in my project. As I was going, I spotted Alex along the way with his project. I tried catching up to Alex, but then I spotted Jimmy, Donald, and Ray, also known as Alex's bullies. They were walking the opposite direction of Alex. When the bullies were shoulder-to-shoulder to him, I saw Alex's Taj Mahal project fly up in the air and Alex knocked down to the floor. Alex's bullies had tripped Alex, went and smashed his project with their foot, then ran off laughing. I was mad and upset. Those bullies had gone too far. I ran to my history class and told my teacher exactly what had happened. After listening, we went over to Alex and helped him up then my teacher went to tell the principal what happened. Jimmy, Donald, and Ray were then suspended from school for three weeks.

          Bullying is a big problem. It can make people feel hurt, scared, sick, lonely, and embarrassed. I made a wrong decision not to tell an adult about the bullying that happened to Alex in the past, but I'm glad I made a right decision to tell my history teacher. No-one deserves to be bullied. I've learned to stand up to bullies because it's the right thing to do.