#OneVoice Against Bullying – Shannon Lee Alexander

Dear Teen Shannon,

There are many kinds of bullies. There are the boys on the bus. The ones that form a gauntlet of grabbing hands that you are forced to press through getting to and from your assigned seat. The taunting boys that make you wish you were invisible. The ones whose actions make you sweat and squirm and wish with all your heart that the bus driver would, just once, glance in that gigantic rearview mirror and see you.

They are bullies.

But in time, you’ll take some good advice from your father, and they’ll leave you alone (in other words, listen to your dad).

There are the girls that form tight packs, whispering and cackling as you walk by. There is the bold one who will take every opportunity to shove you, face first, into your locker. There will be the snake-like ones who start rumors and the sheep-like ones who spread them. Their actions make the halls of your school feel like a land mine.

They are bullies.

But in time, you’ll get so tired of giving a shit that you won’t notice them anymore, even as you walk right past them.

There are the adults who push and pull, trying to mold you into their own image of what you should be. Your dreams will not be big enough for them. Your hopes will not be financially viable. Your life is only as good as the statistic you can become for them. Their actions make you feel like a hollow doll with fine, hairline cracks running throughout your porcelain body, ready to shatter at any moment.

They are bullies.

But in time, you will learn to value yourself.

There are the voices inside of you, put there by fear and doubt, amplified by the limited nature of the teenage world and all the crazy hormones you can’t even pretend to control. They shout distractions whenever you try to think for yourself. They chastise you for saying the wrong thing. They laugh at you when you say nothing. They are the reason you allow others to bully you, because they’re constantly whispering that you are not good enough, smart enough, pretty enough, thin enough… You are never enough. Their words imprison you.

They are bullies.

But in time, you will break free, replacing their propaganda with the truth.

Bullies win because they are relentless in their efforts to make us feel powerless, like we are not enough.

You are powerful, Shannon.

You are enough.

Remember this as you hunch your shoulders getting on the bus. Remember this as you redirect your life to avoid the whispering mobs. Remember this as you are pointed in the opposite direction from where you’d like to go. Remember this when the voices in your head are at their most insistent.

You are enough.

As long as you hold onto that one truth, everything will be okay. I promise.

With much love,

39-year-old Shannon