I Watched It Happen to Her When I Should Have Helped

I learned a hard lesson during the fifth grade that will stay with me forever . We were only 10 years old - you could say we were too young to know any better - but there's no excuse.., not for this.

The 5th grade was not a great year for me. I had no friends and remember feeling very much alone. My brother was in another class so I couldn't talk to him . I was always singled out of everything . I wasn't a shy person. Well, maybe a little. I guess I just liked to focus on my education and I preferred to work independently. This made it hard to make friends with my peers . What made it even harder was how toxic I felt many of them were .

Thankfully I enjoyed learning, and that's all that really mattered to me at the time . Every day I just kept my head down and got on with my work as normal, until one day, there was an interruption in the normal routine. An unfamiliar woman walked into our classroom with this kid trailing behind her head down. Our teacher smiled and called for our attention . "Class, we have a new student who will be joining you. Everyone, please meet your newest classmate, Brianna."

I don't know when or why exactly it happened, but my classmates got sick of her silence. They started messing with her . Soon the rumors began to spread. One thing to note about Brianna - she was a really pretty girl, but her clothes and shoes often had stains or holes in them . They started calling her poor and dirty. They said that she smelled and that she hadn't showered in a month . When they told her to her face she was an orphan and that no one loved her, she finally reacted, but with tears. This went on for about another month, until that day came that I will never forget.

It was the end of recess. The class was lined up on the basketball court waiting to go inside . I was waiting in the back of the line just behind Brianna. Though I never stuck up for her directly, I always made sure to give her a little smile . I sometimes said hi to her, and I could tell it made her day because she always said hi back and smiled . That day at recess, in the back of the line, I smiled and said hi. She grinned and it made me so happy . But the happiness on our faces disappeared when a group of boys, her main bullies, came over from the front of the line .

I turned to Brianna. Tears were falling from her eyes. I remember exactly what I said to her. "You don't stink." I said firmly. "You're good." I gave her an encouraging smile and she looked at me with gratitude, but also sadness. That look has stayed with me ever since . "Thanks" she murmured. The line started moving and the class walked back to our room . When I turned around, Brianna was nowhere to be seen. Where had she gone?

"It has come to my attention that your classmate Brianna has been badly bullied by THIS VERY CLASS . Brianna. A sweet girl who only just joined us, who did not have a bad word to say to anybody . Instead of lifting her up, you saw weakness and you tore her down, calling her names and even telling her the earth would be a better place without her." She paused and looked down at the floor. "As some of you may know, Brianna hasn't been in school for two weeks now . Her parents have just informed me that..." She paused again. "Brianna tried to take her own life."

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