介绍:
Courage
The excited sound of seventh-grade laughter and voices tumbled down the hallway as the students filed(headed) into the gym. I scanned the room, searching for my friends, and soon spotted them near the door to restroom. I weaved(made) my way through the mass of people and sat down next to my best friend, Lauren.
“So, what exactly are we doing here?” she questioned.
“Well, according to Mrs. Marks, we’re supposed to be listening to a speaker about bullying（欺凌）, peer pressure and put-downs.” I said this somewhat sarcastically, because the entire year our grade had been lectured over and over again on those topics. We were earning the reputation as the worst class in the school in front of the entire grade level, attempting to get our attention, my friends and I sat back, prepared to sit through another monotonous speech full of harsh(unkind/unpleasant) remarks(comments) about “Kids these days…” and “Your maturity level when you put someone down is no greater than that of an eight-year-old.”
But as soon as she started talking, I snapped to attention. She had this way about her, as if she knew how to reach into our minds and souls and make us think. And for once, I actually began to think about what it was she was preaching about. I thought about all the kids who came to school every day, （despite） knowing that they would have to face cruel comments and sneering(嘲笑) faces all day long.
One boy, in particular, came to mind. Every day, this boy came to first hour late, and I suspected it was because he needed to get medicine from the nurse. But this didn’t stop the kids in the class from making fun of him. They punched him in the shoulder and said, “Hey, man! Where have you been?” And then another would add, “How’s that girlfriend of yours. Oh sorry, we forgot. You don’t have a girlfriend. You only have boyfriends. ” This harassment would continue until the teacher cut in, forcing the boys to stop. But it was too late- it always was. The boy would put his head down on his desk in shame. The worst, though, was when he tried to retaliate. His attackers only laughed and continued the cruelty until the entire room was laughing at his expense.
As I sat in the auditorium, absorbing everything the speaker had to say, thoughts of this poor boy crept into my head (crossed my mind). I sighed, thinking how sorry I felt for him, not that there was anything I could do. I tuned back into speaker and listened intently(carefully) to her words of wisdom.
“Now, before I have today, I would like to give everyone here an opportunity to say anything he or she wants to on the subject of bullying or peer pressure. You may apologize to a friend, thank someone for his or her kindness, anything. And this is the one time I can promise that no one, but no one, will laugh at you.”
The stillness(silence) in the room made me believe her. Slowly, I saw a few hands raise tentatively in the air behind me. One girl wanted to apologize to a friend she had been ignoring recently. Another thanked a boy for his kindness when she slipped on the steps the other day. It was then that my moment of courage happened. The speaker called on me, and with shaking hands and clammy palms, I began to talk.
“What you said today really made sense. I know that it’s true, because I see it every day in class. There is one person who’s always made fun of. It doesn’t matter why-it could be the way he looks, talks or even takes notes.” My voice shook. “I think that everyone here has made fun of him at one time or another. I know I have. And now I really regret it. To us, it may just be a game, but to him, it must hurt. And I think… well, I think we need to stop.”
Scared of my classmates’ reaction, I felt like the silence that followed lasted forever. But then, soft clapping started in the front of the room, quickly spread through the entire crowd. By the time I looked up, the soft pitter-patter had (and)turned into a thunderous roar of applause. I had voiced something that everyone was feeling.
Later on that day, the boy whom I had been talking about came up to me privately and said thank you.
I noticed that from that day on, people began to treat him a little better. the teasing stopped, and people greeting him in the halls with a friendly “Hi!” It was those little, everyday things that I noticed, and I’m sure he noticed them too.
Ruth Ann Supica.
