With October being National Bullying Awareness month, and every one of us has the ability to stop the bullying and abuse that many students come into contact with each and every day. Every one of us has the ability to stand up against something we see in the hall, and If one person can stand up, then other people will also be more willing to stand up because they won’t feel as if they have no support behind them. Honestly, it’s not even just bullying that we should stand up against, it is all forms of violence. Recently there has been an outbreak of domestic violence cases in the NFL. With Ray Rice drawing national attention to domestic violence, it has been made clear that this “(abuse against others)” is a national epidemic that needs to be addressed by each and every person. Each and every person has the ability to stop any form of domestic violence. Even though spousal abuse is on the opposite end of the spectrum, it is still a form of abuse that needs to be addressed by use having the desire to stand up for the victims no matter who they are. Most high schoolers deal with bullying on an everyday basis and this form of abuse also needs to be stopped. Bullying can be both physical and verbal abuse.  And no matter what, this kind of abuse needs to be stopped, even though it may seem like you are the odd man out because no one else is willing to stand up for a friend or even a complete stranger. Bullying no matter what is degrading to anyone and every one. And it shouldn’t be tolerated by anyone. We as a school need to come together as one and stand up against bullying. Bullying affects each and every one even if we are not the ones that are being bullied. Our friends and family are emotionally and possibly physically hurt by abuse which causes those close to them practically are also getting bullied by the perpetrator.  We all can stand up against the perpetrator and stop all of this abuse. This abuse is what causes the innocent by-standers to also be afraid to step in and stand up against this abuse. Going to Eaton, we all went through Eaton 101 which taught us the phrase, “We are One.” And this phrase unites each and everyone and gives us that sense of unity. This unity should make it so that we as peers are not afraid to stand up against bullying no matter the victim or perpetrator. Bullying can be stopped but it takes one person who has enough courage to stand up against this abuse and to be the one to get other peers to stand up along with them. Together, we all can have a huge say in what happens in our school and our community. We all can stand up against bullying but all it takes is one person. And that one person cannot be afraid to risk it all to help out a fellow peer. As a school and a community, we can stop bullying.