If you have Snapchat, an app that is popular in many schools today, then you might have seen or heard of the private stories named “Only at Liberty.” These stories are taking over as the new way for kids to put other students down. This form of bullying has been new in schools in the past decades, and putting a stop to it is not going to be easy. This is an extreme issue that can affect anyone. 

You could ask any person if they have seen or heard stories about bullying, and they will remember a specific time in their life when they witnessed bullying, have been bullied, or have been the bully. Nowadays, you could ask a person if they’ve seen it and they could pull a photo of the bullying up on their cell phone. These pictures and videos that kids are taking of each other will never go away, once it has been posted it’ll be there forever. The degrading and rude photos and words thrown around have been screenshotted and reposted for more people to see, and most times the people posting don’t understand the gravity of the situation. 

No one can understand or know exactly what is going on in another person’s life. They can’t begin to understand how their mental state is, because, in most cases, they haven’t talked to the person they are photographing. These stories are mentally hurting people and bringing them down in a way that no person should ever be brought down. We are a student body as a whole, every one of us represents Liberty High School and in turn, represents the Wentzville School District. In the four years or less that we are with these people, we should spend time making memories and friends, using the amazing programs and classes to gain knowledge that will prepare us for the real world that we will face sooner than we think. 

Coming into this school year, Dr. Nelson gave a speech that included a section on social media bullying. Liberty High School does not tolerate bullying, but knowing of the recent events between us students, nothing can be done about online bullying unless we step up and tell a teacher or a principal.

I spoke with a couple of students about “Only at Liberty” stories they have seen and what they think about this issue. One of the students I talked to, Caitlin McDonnell, said that they believe that we as a student body have the potential to prevent this form of online bullying, “But if the kids all help together, I think it would help all of us, like bring us together more as a student body. We could help resolve, or make it better together,” McDonnell said.

Some people called for harsher rules when it comes to social media bullying. A student who would like not to share their name said that talking to a bully about what they did won’t change anything and that getting talked to won’t change them. Most people don’t report what happens to them or someone they’ve seen because they believe nothing will happen or perhaps they think someone else will.

It is imperative that we, as a community, step up and tell a teacher or principal when we see an injustice happening. These photos and videos are wrong and hurtful. We all have heard the metaphor, “don’t judge someone till you have walked a mile in their shoes,” and we can apply that to what is going on in our schools. You can’t understand the story if you haven’t read it, so think before you post. Remember that life is short, so live it in a way that makes you proud of yourself.