Bullying- Courage- Blog post #5

In Humanities, we have to write about a time we observed or did bullying. On Monday, we did a bullying workshop. We watched a video on Middle School students who got bullied and their experience, We also discussed all the types of bullying and what to do if we saw bullying. Here's my experiences on observing and getting bullied.


Basically all my life, I have been in the same school. Since the school is international, a lot of people come and go. Good people, bad people and the people who are in the middle. I'm one of the ones in the middle, sometimes not that good, and mostly not bad and the type who's friends with almost everybody. There are a total of 62 nationalities in our school, and I've had different friends from different nationalities. Our school is also very strict on racism, which not many students are. 

    I have had many experiences with gossip and I don't like it that much. If someone says something about another person, I try my best to avoid it, but sometimes an answer slips out. A few years ago, there was a girl, who was a friend of mine, but that friendship turned into a rivalry soon in 4th grade. I tried my best to avoid her because she always started rumors about me and people she didn't like (which was probably everyone in our grade). The only people she liked were my 2 best friends, and I felt like she was trying to steal them away from me. I didn't stand up for myself then, and I regret it now.


   Once, we were on a girl scout trip, so we had to choose tent buddies. I obviously chose my best friends because we had to get either in tents that would hold 2 or 3. She was mad because she thought that everyone would pick her and no one else's opinion mattered. But she was wrong. On the bus to the trip, I was writing down notes about random things with my best friend and my BFF drew stars all over the page. Since, the girl wanted to look, I showed her the piece of paper to make her see that we didn't write anything about her and suddenly she said that I called her a bad word because of all the stars. I was so mad at her I literally felt like strangling her, but thankfully, I kind of calmed down. She kept on arguing with me and its very hard to avoid a person sitting really near to you. So I just kept on arguing which wasn't the right thing to do. The girl left the school I was going to at the end of 5th grade back to the U.S and I don't think I want to see her again, unless, she has changed.


What I would have done (I had this all planned in my head as she mocked me) was I would have walked up to her, said I didn't like it. I would have said to leave me alone and I didn't care what she said about me. I would have asked why she didn't like me and what did I do to her. Most of all, I would have said if she could forget about what happened before, and relive our dead friendship. But, sadly, that is the past, so I can't really do anything about it. But I will do this now ( if someone was bothering me) and for the rest of my life.

A text from some horrible person :(

Graphic Sources:
http://webreputationmanagement.net/blog/tag/monitor
http://www.independent.ie/national-news/cyber-bullying-widespread-but-parents-kept-in-the-dark-1380630.html

Courage- Cycling

Our assignment for Humanities was to write a blog post for when we showed courage. I was basically clueless on what to do until I remembered what had happened at my friend's house.At that time, I hadn't  riden a bike since second grade and I had a fear of falling down and hurting myself. It was also kind of lame because I was in 5th grade, so this is my courage story.

     I was just chilling, watching T.V at the Webb's house, when Amelia said, "Do you want go ride our bikes?"  My mind was panicking. I haven't gone riding for a LONG time! It made me feel terrified, but, I always could try something new? I put on a happy face, but I wasn't too sure that the scared face was completely hidden. "Sure." I said, reassuring myself, that I could do it. Then Adeline  shouted, "That a great idea!"  She ran to her mom (and their dog Petunia did too) and told her we were going down to the basement to go cycling around the condo. We went down with their dad, but I had mixed feelings at the time. Then we arrived to the basement, it was very familiar because I had lived in that same condo for 3 years (and some more) but I had moved to another place right after they moved in. We skipped to the bikes, waving goodbye to their dad as he went up. But there was a problem. The tires were flat.


"Aw, man!" Adeline and Amelia groaned together. I tried not to giggle because I could feel they would attack me after. Thank goodness we brought the pump just in case. We tried to put the put the pump into the small hole and pump the air in, but we weren't successful. After a few more times, Amelia got fed up and said, " I'm going upstairs to get our dad. I bet he knows how to it." Adeline smirked. I was dazed at one point and then slowly figured it out. Sibiling rivalry. As Adeline and I did it over and over again, praying that this time, it would work. I thought handling it a different way. I said, "Hey Adeline, why don't you stick the pump into the hole and I press the tire?" We tried it. It felt like it was the moment of truth and...... It worked! We heard the elevator ring and saw Amelia emerge out of the elevator. We (Adeline and I) screamed, " WE MADE IT WORK! THE TIRE IS PUMPED!" and we all screamed in excitement. But now, we were riding. Now, it was the moment of truth.


There were three bikes, Adeline's, Amelia's and their little brother's, Jon. Since I was taller, I couldn't possibly fit into an 8 year old's bike so Amelia generously took Jon's bike. I took Adeline's bike  and Adeline took Amelia's bike. I already knew where to go, so I didn't need any help with the directions but the problem really was the riding. We all took off, but I wobbled and they  zoomed in front of me. Now I felt scared, weary of my surroundings, and a little bit surprised. I actually was better than I expected. But I spoke too soon. As soon I saw the turn, I lost my sense of balance, but I at least didn't crash. The twins slowed down, waiting for me to catch up. I stood up, straightened my shirt. There was a rush of adrenaline through veins, I was feeling like I woke up, being fresh, energized and also feeling like nothing could bring me down. I climbed onto the bike and suddenly no one could touch me! I pedaled harder and harder but then glided. I did the same again but standing up, the thing I missed most about riding bicycles. It felt like I was free of every little small thing. I now, and always will, be able to ride a bicycle.

Sources:
http://wearestjohns.com/bicycle-shop-online.html
Adeline and Amelia Webb, for sharing this experience

What do the artifacts tell us about the lives of early humans?

Over the past week, our humanities classes have been researching about early humans or hominids and we did several projects on them like scavenger hunts, group presentations and other interesting things.

We got to choose between 3 questions and I chose : What do the artifacts tell us about the lives of early humans?

So, what do artifacts tell us about lives of the early humans or hominids? Well, when you think about it, artifacts are like puzzle pieces to a mystery. You have to put all your clues together and form a logical explanation. If there was a piece of pottery but it was broken and had interesting designs on it, won't you be itching to find out where it came from and when it was made?  I know I would! Sometimes different designs or symbols are created for different clans or tribes. Maybe you find some tools, and when you research about it, you might find that it was remains from Homo Habilis ( or handy man), the hominids who first found and made tools (that we know of).

There are many types of  artifacts that scientists find. Some of them are statues, used in ceremonies. Some are pieces of pottery, made to carry water or other foods when the pot was complete, some were tools to hunt and lastly, a lot of it was cave paintings, made for others to see the artist's experiences. Artifacts tell us the stories that many people have forgotten. Stories of our evolution.  

Sources:
http://www.edgarlowen.com/a59ane.shtml
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