Author: harbour2harbour2020

Bullying has become one of the most common and serious issues world wide. It is the act of causing distress intentionally. Bullying indicates lack of awareness and disrespect towards people. Most people tend to hide the fact that they have been bullied. However, hiding the truth can only increases and widen the problem.

Bullying is an intentional act in which the bully cause either physical or emotional harm to a person. Bullying comes in different forms for example; violence or verbal abuse and insult. Sometimes they are not obvious acts as in exclusion. These types of acts definitely have detrimental effects on people. They can lead to isolation. They make a person angry and thinks less of himself. They make a person feel insulted and embarrassed for no good reason. They also lead to suicide. The biggest challenge people face is when they believe in the words the bully says. However it is essential to remind people that is not the truth. Also, people should always take an action towards such acts and never be bystanders.

The victims of bullying believe that they face such situations because they somehow different. But what they do not realize it is not about them. Bullys are weak and they are going through situations which makes them weak and frustrated. As a result they tend to bully in order to feel stronger. So it is very important to act confidently, being assertive towards a bully helps you to overcome the situations successfully. It needs a strong person who can look after himself to stop this problem from spreading.

As you know, the global health concerns now about a novel coronavirus outbreak. Unfortunately, the number of cases is increasing rapidly and there is no treatment till now. In many countries, people are under quarantine at their homes or isolated in the hospitals if they were infected. That made many people panic and feel anxious of being infected by this virus. At this time, we need to support each other. We need to support those who are in quarantine and their relatives. Also, support all the medical staff who are sacrificing to help others even though they are aware that they could be infected. It is shame how some people start to avoid each other because of their origin or because that someone from their family were infected. It is not their mistake that they were infected, and it is not their mistake that they come from that region. It is shame how people are being racist instead of supporting each other. 

In this situation, we encourage you to work hand by hand with the governments, take and work with their decisions in order to reduce the harms of the virus as possible. It is essential also not to panic, as there are some cases who are fully recovered. Yes we need to be aware and careful but not to panic.

From 3rd to 7th of March, Brickworks student accommodation organised an event of donating old, unwanted clothing items and accessories called “Brickworks charity week” with the support of Jigsaw, a youth mental health charity. To donate, we decided to collect the clothing items we are willing to give away and handed them to one of our group members, who is staying in the accommodation hosting the event. Overall, it was a great opportunity for us to show our support to a mental health charity.

Away from the hustle of the city and the busyness of our day to day life, we decided to take a nice little walk in a nice old park (St. Stephen Greens) to blend in with nature. All the group members agreed upon making this activity completely gadget free. At first it felt a little bit unnatural, however, the further we walked the more relaxed we became. The unusual sunshine felt very refreshing when combined with the nice chilly breezes. The fact that this little trip was technology-free made us appreciate the little things like the sound of birds tweeting, children laughing and the sound or air brushing against trees. The whole experience made us gain mental clarity and peace of mind. We all agreed that it was an excellent way to relive college stress and thought that we should do it again sometime.