Bullying is a popular trend in the United States. Since I was little, teachers and parents  constantly told students  “don’t be a bully.” But as another campaign to end bullying starts again, I start to question the use of the world bully. What really is a bully? Some says it’s a rude comment.  But is it some who gets into a fight on the playground? Through the years United States has inflated the use of the word bully to apply to any situation when dealing with a difficult person. Teachers, students, and parents are always are calling out others on being a bully. The word is a serious accusation, but has been excessively used in the last few years. If a kid says something wrong to another kid, they are crucified with the word “bully.”

The world bully is starting to become the new red scare of communism in schools. People are constantly on the search to seek out bullies and catch them. But in reality most kids aren’t bullies. Some kids are just  rude.

Stompoutbullying.com says “It’s gotten to the point that if people don’t like what you say, they don’t like your opinion, or they just can’t get what they want from you, they will call you a Bully.”

People are mistaking just cruel drama with actual bullying. The school’s constant lobbying to end bullying is not helping. The school’s efforts to bring awareness to bullying is actually causing drama to get out of control.

Every year we hear the same no bullying speech and look at the anti bullying posters in the hallway. But what are these posters, speeches and flyers really doing? They are causing every student, parent, and teacher to be quick to cry bully to any sticky situation.

Stompoutbullying.com says, “We have become desensitized to the word and as a country we are overusing it. This can be harmful to kids who are truly being bullied on a regular basis. We cannot become victims by one time events – or because we didn’t hear what we wanted to hear from the person we were speaking to.”

Jamie Gumbrecht from CNN says, “Bullying, some researchers say, has been misused and abused in the last few years — too casually uttered about every hurt, slight and fight, too frequently used in place of “teasing” or “fighting,” too often brought up before there’s proof it happened.The very word, some say, has been bullied.”

Schools need to focus less on seeking out bullies and focus more on teaching students to be nicer to each other. Ending the overuse word bully will help differentiate between crude children and an actual bully.