Three Friends and a Fight: Friendship Put to the Test - Essay Sample

Introduction

My three friends- Alex, Amy, and Tom- and I had always been close friends in school. We shared most of our free time, and in class, we worked on most group projects together. Thus, we almost seemed indestructible. However, on one particular day, an altercation ensued between Alex and Amy over what appeared to me like a pointless reason-a popular boy in school. Both parties had been pursuing a relationship with the popular figure. This fight made our friendship crumble, and I did all that I could to help bring both Amy and Alex together and resolve the issue. I was, however, not successful. A few weeks after the brawl, I noticed a Facebook group online sharing mean posts about Amy. Upon a little digging, I noticed that the person responsible for this cyberbullying was Alex.

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Behavior

This sort of behavior was unacceptable to me. I quickly realized that I had to do something about it. One of my options included reporting Alex to the school authorities as well as her parents. However, she was still one of my good friends. Even though reporting her was the best way to solve this issue, I choose not to. This is because I did not want to damage our good relationship and also did not want to become another victim of the cyberbullying, or any form of retaliation from Alex. My other option was to report the group to the Facebook network and have the malicious activity erased from the online platform. Nonetheless, this idea did not hold up any weight as one could open another group, or even worse, spread the bullying to other online social media platforms. Therefore, I resolved that the best strategy to tackle this problem was to take Alex aside and discuss my concerns with her, without belittling her or causing a confrontation.

One day soon after, I invited Alex to my home, and after watching a movie together, I embarked on my plan to talk to her about this issue. First, I showed her pictures of a neighbor who had committed suicide while in college due to people saying mean things about her on Twitter. I did this intending to show Alex some of the consequences that would arise out of conducting such behavior online. Before my neighbor died, she wrote a letter to her family, apologizing for killing herself and giving reasons for her actions. The abuse she had received online had become unbearable for her, which ended up costing her life. Amy was a sweet girl, and I explained that she did not deserve what she must have been going through due to Alex's actions. In essence, I said to Alex that her actions could lead to someone's death and that she could have to live with the guilt of taking someone's life.

Cyberbullying

Secondly, I explained to Alex that cyberbullying was a punishable offense per state laws. I showcased how she could end up in juvenile prison for actions. Further, I explained to her that this offense could get her expelled from school and how such scenarios could later affect her adult life by failing to advance her education or even launch a meaningful career. All in all, I showed Alex that being mean and abusive, especially online, could be counterproductive for both the abuser and the victim. Since then, Alex has been remorseful for her actions. She apologized to Amy and took down all the hateful comments and posts that were made towards Amy and the people who sympathized with her.

Conclusion

Even though Amy was incredibly hurt, she forgave Alex, and we have since resorted back to being close friends as a group. My friends and I have since embarked on a courageous journey to discourage all forms of discrimination in and around the school, and insist that no one deserves to undergo cyberbullying.