Hey guys. As most of you know, this week is Anti-bullying week. We all should realize the effects of bullying, and what to do to prevent it. Today, I had an inspirational lesson told to me today, and I will share it with you, since bullying is a MAJOR thing.
Some of you may have heard of Rachel's Challenge. It's a program in the U.S to spread acts of kindness. Today, we had an assembly all about it, and here's the story.
Rachel Joy Scott (August 5, 1981 – April 20, 1999) was the first victim of the Columbine High School massacre, which claimed the lives of 12 students and one teacher, along with the two perpetrators, in one of the deadliest school shootings in United States history.
Rachel Scott was shot while eating lunch with a friend, Richard Castaldo, on the lawn outside of the school's library. She was killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head, chest, arm, and leg. Afterwards, her car was turned into an imprompt flower-bedecked memorial in the school's parking lot by grieving students.
Early news reports said that one of the gunmen, after having first shot Rachel in her leg, asked the wounded girl if she still believed in God, and that she had simply answered "You know I do", provoking a second, fatal shot to her head at point-blank range. The FBI later concluded that this interaction did not take place. Some accounts attributed this version of events to Castaldo, who was severely wounded in the attack himself. Although his mother told a Dateline NBC interviewer about the exchange, Castaldo denied telling this story in a December, 1999, Time magazine interview. Despite the controversy surrounding this issue, Rachel’s parents contend in their book, Rachel’s Tears: the Spiritual Journey of Columbine Martyr Rachel Scott, that their daughter was targeted by the killers and died as a martyr for her Christian faith, based on videotapes made by the teenage perpetrators in which they are said to mock Rachel by name for her beliefs. Info is from her Facebook Page.
He brother Craig was also at the shooting, who witnessed his 2 best friends death (They we're right next to him) as he hid in the library.
Rachel had written an essay about how we can start a "chain reaction of kindness" by doing the simplest things, as holding a door open for someone, or helping out someone.
Rachel was friends with several people on campus, and treated everyone with respect, as kindness was her theory.
If you would like to know more of the story, then I suggest you Google it. It's VERY inspiring, and trust me, it will make you cry, because guys and girls we're crying this morning. I almost went into tears, but I kept it in.
Bullying someone can effect them more than you think, even if you're joking with someone. You never know what they'll do because of the words you said. I am a person who takes the simplest things seriously, and I know how that can feel. People commit suicide everyday because of something that someone said. We should all try to be kind to each other, even on the internet. You should give people 3-4 chances, as Rachel said. We can all make a difference! This is something you should take seriously, and not mess around with. Someone's like can be at stake.
-Thanks for reading :D
