Every person has that guy, or that group of people. The archetype we’ve come to know as the School Bully. I had always hated the School Bully. He tends to make fun of kids like me, there are not as many as T.V. shows and movies make you believe but for every Arnold there is a Helga Pataki.

There is something most people don’t mention about the School Bully; he breeds hate. When a bully picks on someone, their goal is to get a rise out of the person, something that lets them know they have power. It’s this reason that has turned me into a Bully.

I used to get picked on quite a lot, but during high school not so much. I guess the School Bully realized I was miserable enough without his help freshman year. However, in freshman year I met Cole Christensen. A debater who determined the only way to gain power and be respected was to make fun of anyone and everyone.

Don’t get me wrong, Cole is a great person. But I think it was him who made me realize I could gain attention and make friends by making fun of those worse off than me. It wasn’t until today that I realized how stupid that thought process is. I hated the School Bully when I was a kid. I always dreamt that somehow I would befriend him, to no avail. But then I became him.

The Event which made me question myself happened out of chance in the hallway. I ran into a kid from one of my classes last year. For some reason I had hated this kid but not to any fault of his. His parents had only decided to put him into public school his freshman year. So a kid who had never had social interaction was thrust into the world of cliques, drama, hate, and judgment. I should have felt bad for him.

But I didn’t. This kid had probably been made fun of, and being ill equipped to deal with it he began to slowly fight back. He would argue with me, and others, saying things he knew would annoy us. The Event was one of these moments; he didn’t say anything crude, just three words said in a put-off tone, “Oh, it’s you.” Of course having become the School Bully I quickly retorted with some rude comment about how stupid he looked. But then I thought back to this moment as a friend joked around making fun of me, and I realized I’m wrong. It wasn’t right of me to make fun of that kid or any others I have.

So to everyone, and Kevin, I’m sorry.