"Redefining Our Voice"
To protect the innocent, the names in my paper have been changed – everyone’s except my own, for an innocent in this matter is not what I consider myself to be, and I suppose neither will you after you hear the accounts of one winter’s afternoon; or, in fact, the story of my friend – Sam. I’m sure most of you would have come to like him if you had got the chance to know him. Sam is a 17- year-old teenager, a good student, according to his teachers, who worked diligently in all his classes, had friends he joked around with, and a family who loves him and looked forward to his graduating and heading off to college. Oh yes, and before I forget to mention it, Sam is in jail, waiting to be arraigned for possession of an illegal firearm on school grounds. How did a good student end up on this path you ask? Well Sam was a victim of being bullied, victimized verbally on a daily basis, and threatened until it became mentally overwhelming - he broke. Redefining Our Voice is not just about speaking out against bullying; however, it is about the power the words we use carry and the positive or in this case negative connotation they bear. We've witnessed countless outcomes of the latter; therefore, how about the positive? The healing power of words.....
