I once heard a Native American legend about how a poison’s antidote can always be found within a few feet of the poison itself. These words, although referring to natural poisons, can also be applied to bullying or other issues that we face on a daily basis. Most everybody can agree that bullying and poison are synonymous- they will both damage your physical, mental and emotional well-being, leaving scars for a very long time.

Sadly, I am no stranger to bullying. At random times during my elementary and middle school careers, I faced humiliating and agonizing pain that was brought on by those that were “better”, “stronger”, or “smarter” than me. I noticed, both then and now, that these bullies regularly had wide smiles on their faces before, during and after they disrespected me. They seemed to always gain some sort of sick pleasure from the suffering that they threw my way.

Whether this suffering was felt through their words or their fists, it was always accompanied by strong feelings of loneliness and a lack of self-worth. During middle school, I rarely felt happy or completely secure with anything, probably because of how badly some of the people treated me. I was called things that nobody should ever be called. Over time, I matured and realized how much these people lacked a healthy self-esteem of their own. I decided that I would look at things from a different perspective from then on.

I feel that this new view is similar to the legend. When looking back at the times when I was bullied, I notice that there were other people that were next to me who had my back. Whenever I passed a mean person in the hall, a friend or teacher would pass by me a few minutes later. When I was called a foul name, there were people near me that talked to me in a nicer way than the bully had.

Now that I see things through this perspective, I believe that I have found the “cure” for bullying. The victim must look beyond the shallow nature of the poison. Once this is done, he can see the people that care for others, and not for another false rumor created by the school's bully. When one looks past the poison in their lives, he can always find the antidotes that are never far away.