Please help me pass the "No Longer Invisible" Bullying Prevention Law that will hold bullies accountable to their harmful actions by making bullying a criminal offense. My name is Stephanie Michalski and I am a freshman in College who is ready to end this one way fight against bullying. On May 6th, 2013, I was physically assaulted on my high school campus while volunteering as the school mascot for Special Olympics. After running a race alongside a disabled child, I was physically assaulted by a football player. He came up behind me, and hit me across the head six times with a metal megaphone. Arriving at the hospital with a heart rate of 27, I was diagnosed with a severe concussion and neck strain.
While I was in the hospital recovering, students created homemade t-shirts supporting my abuser, and wore them around the school hallways. My mother later received a phone call from the principal stating that I could no longer return to high school, because I would cause too much drama. As I sat in the hospital, I cried. While I lay injured in a hospital, my abuser roamed the school hallways with no punishment. He physically assaulted me and I was the one who wasn’t allowed back in the school doors. During that week, I missed my senior activities, finals, scholarship luncheons, and Advanced Placement exams. He missed nothing.
Today, I suffer from migraines due to Post-concussion syndrome and my abuser still receives no punishment for physically assaulting me. My abuser, and many like him, continues bullying because they receive no punishment for their actions. If I was physically assaulted on the streets, my abuser would’ve been sent to jail. So why do we not hold the same standard in our school systems? Please, help me detour violence away from our school systems and help me create an environment where children may learn and feel safe.
Each year, nearly 3.2 million children are bullied and 85% of these cases receive no administrative intervention. 85% of individuals who are aware of bullying are bystanders and choose to do nothing to help those who are hurting daily. Today, I ask you to help me change this statistic by intervening. Victims of bullying need your voice and support to right this massive wrong. Please, sign my petition, and let me know that you care. Let me know that we are No Longer Invisible.
