In the past several slow and dragging months of the year, we all as a nation have been in a frightful moment in time in which we have felt trapped. Yet many small but impacting issues still surround our everyday life.

In the educated words of Michael J. Fox, “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized, and cruelty mocked, but it can never be taken away unless it is surrendered.”

Recent studies show that suicide is the third leading cause of death among young people, resulting in about 4,400 deaths per year, according to the CDC. For every suicide among young people, there are at least 100 suicide attempts. Over 14 percent of high school students have considered suicide, and almost seven percent have attempted it. According to statistics reported by ABC News, nearly 30 percent of students are either bullies or victims of bullying, and 160,000 kids stay home from school every day because of fear of being bullied.

Worldwide sensation, songwriter and performer Taylor Alison Swift once quoted for the Rolling Stone Magazine:

“I have had every part of my life dissected–my choices, my actions, my words, my body, my style, my music. When you live your life under that kind of scrutiny, you can either let it break you, or you can get really good at dodging punches. And when one lands, you know how to deal with it. And I guess the way I deal with it is to ‘shake it off.’”

In the past weeks of the month of October and early days of November we recognize those who were vandalized by such actions of bullying. Unity Day, along with Bullying Awareness Month (October) and Anti-Bullying Week (held on the start date of November 16, 2020) are the most well-known moments in the year that bring the souls of the suffering to the spotlight!

From one who knows what being bullied tastes like, and with all my fellow victims in mind, “Be sure to taste your words before spitting them out.”