Why does bullying even exist? How do you stop it? What do people do to deserve bullying? Bullies have been around for centuries. Most bullies become bullies because they have been bullied themselves.

The 8th grade school counselor at Bowling Green Junior High School is Amanda Warder. “I have been a counselor for 17 years. I have been here for 8 years,” stated Mrs. Warder. Her inspiration to become a counselor was that she suffered from a bully. “I was bullied and teased in middle school. It’s one reason I wanted to work in a middle school,” she shared.

“I work with students and help them through tough times,” explained Mrs. Warder. Mrs. Warder helps students deal with a variety of bullying situations.  She helps students deal with “verbal bullies, physical bullies, social media bullies.”

A student at BGJHS stated one way he overcame his bully is by ignoring it and moving on in life. He explained that if you ignore them, it’s not giving them any energy, and that makes them mad. He also stated that when he was being bullied, he felt sad at first but remembered they were only making fun of people because he was excelling better than them.

When dealing with bullying, you can talk to the counselor, ignore the bully, or even tell the teacher. Together we can create a bully-free school where people don’t hurt others.