New Trend: The Opposite of Bullying

Bullying has been in the news a lot lately. I can remember being bullied in school and at first I thought, "What's the big deal, we were all bullied." Then, I read more about what constitutes bullying these days and there's no comparison.

Lately though, there have been stories popping up around the country about people who are confronting bullying head on. There is a great tide of "reaching out" going on around the country and it's great to see such a trend.

We don't know the name of the university in this story, but it really doesn't matter.

The set up is this:

On the bathroom wall of this school, women had written "secrets" that, apparently they couldn't share with anyone. Many of the messages were truly touching...some were shocking.

One woman wrote that she had been the victim of a sexual assault; another wrote of the death of a loved one. One woman wrote of the hazing she suffered because she was overweight.

One morning a handwritten note was taped to a stall in that bathroom.

Here it is

To the girl who was raped: You are so strong. I cannot fathom the pain you must have gone through. The fact that you have the bravery to write it (even on a bathroom wall) gives me hope.

To the girl with eating disorders: I promise you, although I don’t know you, you are beautiful, you deserve your health. You deserve freedom from that hell.

To the girl with the alcoholic father: I am so sorry for the agony it must cause. Again, such courage is remarkable you must be such a strong person to see such pain.

To the girl whose father died: Missing them never goes away. The ache of their absence never goes away. But the love they had, the memories you share surely must last. I am sure, out of the bottom of my heart, the people who have left you in this world are exceptionally proud of the person you are.

Everytime I see these walls, these confessions, I feel so blessed to know I have the priviledge of seeing them. Your moments, these secrets, are all precious even though they are sad. To all of you (including those I did not mention, and those who have not yet written)
-You are worthy.
-You are strong.
-You are brave.
-You are loved.
-Somebody cares.

Written by someone else at the bottom of notebook paper letter in small print is “to the person who wrote this, thank you.”

Great trend, don't you think?