Memories That Influence Beliefs

Memories That Influence Beliefs ”It's surprising how much of memory is built around things unnoticed at the time”, said Barbara Kingsolver. A memory may have many meanings to some people, but to me it means a lot. Everyone should cherish and remember all your life. Memories are what keep us going when we get down. They also reinforce beliefs that we have or change the ones we already have. When I think of my memories, one belief comes to mind. A belief that I feel very strongly about is bullying. As I look back on my life, I remember so many instances where people were getting bullied. When I was in elementary school, I didn’t think much of anything of it when someone got picked on or made fun of. Once I got to Ouachita Junior High School, it began to register in my head that this was indeed bullying. People would get picked on a lot there, and all I did was either change the conversation or avoid those kinds of situations. Most of the instances I have come across in my lifetime have been verbal bullying. This is far worse than physical bullying because it does not leave any physical scars, and no one knows that that particular person is being bullied. This type of bullying makes the victim feel isolated, sick, despairing, depressed, and scared. One of the events that I have remembered for a very long time is a situation that happened at my other school in Oxford, Mississippi. A boy named Bob was bullied in school and was tired of everyone picking on him. He had no friends, and he was isolated from everyone. After a while, he couldn’t handle the stress anymore. He then went to school one day, cleared out everything from his locker so his mother won’t have to do it after he was dead, went home, and decided to shoot himself. But on that day, while he was going home from school with his belongings, some of the boys were picking on him. One boy named Michael saw that he was being picked on and decided to help Bob by standing up to the bullies and helping him carry his belongings home. After a while, both Bob and Michael became best friends, and they have stuck with each other since then. This is a perfect example of how to take bullying into account and how serious just one mean thing that anyone says to someone can push someone over the edge. Once I got into high school my view of bullying changed completely. Everywhere I looked, I saw someone getting picked on or talked about. There are people isolated at lunch and in the halls and many other places. Every time I see someone who looks like they have no friends, I say hello or sit with them at the lunch table. Just a simple hello or good morning can change the outlook a person has on life. Once the Rachel’s Challenge group came to our school, I think that it opened a lot of people’s eyes on how severe this situation can actually be. In conclusion, many of my memories have influenced my beliefs on various topics. Memories should be cherished, remembered, and not taken for granted. The problem of bullying is a serious matter affecting the entire world and if not stopped it could be devastating. My memories of the past have affected my beliefs on bullying for the rest of my life.