Words That Wound

Brian Kobel
Take Home Quiz
Lynn Classon
English 1510

1 The essay “Words that Wound” by Kathleen Vail shows how bullying effects today’s youth. The essay shows how tragic bullying can be on kids, and how it has lead to suicide and even accidental murder. I think that bullying can lead to such tragedies, but at the same time, bullying is just a part of life. I feel that bullying toughens up kids, and gets them ready to deal with people in the real world, and if they cannot handle the bullying, I feel they won’t make it in the real world. You have to ignore kids giving you a hard time, and know you won’t be around them for the rest of your life.
2 The essay shows the influences bullying has on kids by telling stories of tragic stories that have led to young kids committing suicide or even being murdered. “Death was the only relief he could imagine” William Head said after his son committed suicide because he was bullied. This should definitely raise bully-awareness. No kid should ever feel so poorly about themselves that they feel the only way out is taking their own life. Someone should step in the way if the bullying is going that far.
3 But, for the most part, bullying is a part of life. I was bullied in school, my roommate was bullied, my little brother was bullied, and my older cousin was bullied. At one time or another, every kid gets bullied. It is part of human nature to try and feel dominant.”They feel it’s a normal part of growing up, that it’s character-building.” Head also said about the school board. Being bullied, unfortunately, a normal part of growing up, but you need to experience it, and learn how to react to it. Bullying really is character building.
4 Kids need to learn how to handle bullying so that they can deal with people in the real world. People push you around just as much in the real world as they do in school. “It’s your problem—you need to learn how to deal with it yourself” The supervisor of the school said on the issue. I agree with the quote completely. You need to learn how to deal with your problems, not have someone else take care of it. Mommy and daddy won’t be there at work, they won’t be there at college. Learning how to stick up for yourself is a huge life lesson.
5 In the essay “Words that Wound” by Kathleen Vail, the author showed how bullying can effect kids in a negative way. It showed how bullying leads to kids committing suicide or even dying. It did not really touch on what bullying teaches kids. With dealing with bullies, kids also learn to stick up for themselves. Which in the end I feel is a much better experience to have in the long run.