The presence of bullying in today's society turns subjective groups in society against each other at times. These subjective groups are often determined by categories such as race, class, gender, sexual orientation, ethnicity, athleticism, fame, and religion. While these groups might be important to the development of identity formation and group association and feelings of belonging, they can also be harmful if members of groups begin to see their group as opposite or opposed to other groups. For example, even though girls and boys associate with different genders, they are not as different as society often claims. And, if girls see themselves as opposite to boys then boys can become the enemy in many situations, turning girls agains boys and vice versa. While differences between people should be celebrated and recognized, I feel that it is important to focus on our similarities that make us all human beings. We all have the capability of feeling happiness, sadness, excitement, surprise, defeat, hope, empathy, and sympathy; we just have to work harder to summon those emotions to which we have distanced ourselves from feeling.
My questions pertaining to this topic are:
What emotions do you believe are harder to access today based on the current status of society and your community?
Is there a bullying situation that you have recently experienced or witnessed that made you feel a strong emotion? What happened? What emotion did this elicit from you and why?
How can we move from being a culture of bullies to a community of compassionate human beings? What can we do as individuals and as a collective community to fix this bullying problem and make sure that everyone's voices are heard?
How can we give those who feel marginalized a voice?
How can you "mind your voice," by being respectful when you speak, and also "speak your mind," by being honest about what is on your mind and in your heart?
