Text To Self- Speak

Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson, is a story about a young girl named Melinda was getting bullied for simply doing the right thing and calling the cops at a house party (I haven't gotten to what the situation was). It is her freshman year of high school and it has already started off badly. Kids are making fun of her for being a goody, a snitch, and even by the way she dresses. She lost her best friend Rachel who has now became a "popular and cocky cheerleader", hates her teachers, and has no one there to help or support her. Later in the story she finds a friend named Heather who really isn't at the top of the charts either, and start to hang out. She sits with her at lunch and sticks with her most of the time at school. Nothing's changed. They decided to go to a football game..pep rally. Something she's always wanted to do, but definitely not at that school. Once the get there, Heather pulls them directly into the freshman section, which she didn't want to be in and right away a cheerleader came up to her and asked if she was the girl that called the police at the party. Right then and there she thought of a memory she didn't want to have to think of again. The cheerleader said "..thanks for arresting my brother..", called her names, and walked away.

I haven't been bullied, but I have heard of things similar. I have heard about people in high school that would get bullied by words, internet, physically and mentally. Some people in the book think that it is wrong and I agree. People that get cyber bullied and pushed around at school is terrible. Especially if it's for doing the right thing. In this book Melinda gets bullied and gets a new reputation for being the good person and doing the right thing. In many movies that I've seen high school students have house parties and something bad will happen. No one will say anything. But eventually, they will get affected by it. The truth always comes out whether it's by showing it, or saying it. But the people that do the right thing and tell are always the ones that take the blame, get bullied, and their life totally changes. Some kids at school get bullied for being mentally disabled or not being the most perfect person in school. They should all get treated the same. No matter our differences, that's what makes the world go round. It takes every type of person to make the world entertaining, and some people have to learn and except that. Kids that are mentally disabled do have some problems and can be different but you should make them feel good about them self and encourage them. I know gossip goes around about kids like that and rumors go around. That is something that irritates me. Something that shouldn't happen. It's not meant to happen.

While I was reading this book I kind of had an image in my mind and put myself in her situation in a way. Being bullied by not just a few people but the whole school is just crazy. Not having friends, people hating you, losing your best friend...it's all just so much to handle. My feelings made me feel bad for her, and wish she didn't have to go through what she did. Knowing that the author had similar situations in her life also hurt me because I know that it is something that really happened. These things are things that people should never have to go through. I feel that if I watched the movie, it would look way different than my imagination took me.