Once in 7th grade at Lincoln Middle School, my best friends and I were eating lunch. Some 8th graders were walking in our direction and they began to make fun of one of my best friends over the look of his lunch bag. We fought verbally. They mainly picked on me because I was standing up to them. They called me racist names and wanting to know what race I was. I fought back at them with making fun of them for thinking I was a certain race even though I was not. Yes, I used humor to get back at them. At the time I felt it was the best way to defuse the situation. By the end of the day many people knew I had stood up to this group of bullies. When this happened, I felt a mix of many strong emotions, sadness, guilt, anger, and even happiness. When I stood up to these people, I felt strong, and powerful and in control. However, after the incident, I felt guilty for stooping to their level by calling them names.I really enjoyed reading this quote because I could relate to this.. This too has happened to me, I reacted and felt the same way as him. I also agree that getting on a bullies level is not necessary, sometimes it isn't worth it. I chose this quote because I went through a scene just like his, and the fact that he didn't use violence. I enjoyed reading this reflection and this quote.
ASTI Constitution:
1. Think before you act
2. Include, don’t exclude
3. Accept others for who they are
4. Build mutual trust and respect
5. Assume positive intent
6. Speak up for yourself and for others
7. Strive to understand where other people are coming from; be empathetic
8. Take responsibility for your actions and words
9. Make a positive impact on the people and environment around you
10. Resolve conflict peacefully
I believe this quote falls into at least two categories in the ASTI Constitution out of the ten.
This quote falls into number 6 (Speak up for yourself and for others) and slightly number 10 (Resolve conflict peacefully). These two laws would fit in to the quote perfectly for the following reasons.Speak up for yourself and for others for e means to help yourself and other people when they are being mistreated. This is important because you can help someone out from having a miserable day. This quote goes into #6 on the ASTI Constitution because the quote is about how he stood up to a group bullies for his friend. Standing up for yourself and for others is very important. It is important because most of the times, standing up for someone will prevent bullies or will stop from people mistreating others. I admire that he stood up for his friend because not many people stand up for others, and that way you can tell if they are true friends. This law is needed on the Constitution so people can help each other out.
Resolve conflicts peacefully for me means to not use violence to solve conflicts. This is important because to keep a school safe is by not using violence. This quote belongs to #10 on the ASTI Constitution because he didn't use violence to solve the conflict. Even though the bullies were trying hard to make a move, he kept his cool and didn't use violence. I admire that he kept his cool because if that was me, I think I would have done something differently. Violence is what leads conflicts into bigger issues that keep getting bigger if you keep on going. This law on the Constitution is very much needed as a reminder so that no one will uses violence to solve problems.
