Burger King came recently out with a commercial that troubled me greatly, titled “Bullying Junior.” October is National Bullying Prevention Month, and Burger King is joining forces with NoBully.org to bring awareness to the cause with this new commercial.

It begins with multiple kids, from middle school to high school aged, telling their individual take on bullying. After the kids finish talking it flashes to an alarming statistic: 30 percent of students worldwide are bullied each year.

The ad then shows us the inside of a Burger King where they have paid high school actors bullying another actor while the real-life customers just watch what is happening without saying a thing. Then it shows a Burger King worker, who is also an actor, “bullying” a Whopper Jr. by punching it and smashing it. They then serve this burger, and many like it, to the customers. The commercial then flashes some unsettling statistics, 95 percent of the real-life customers reported the bullied Whopper Jr. to the staff. However, that statistic is much different from the next on-screen message, which states that just 12 percent of the customers stood up to the bullies on behalf of the young actor who was being mistreated.

The biggest thing that troubles me about this commercial is the fact that these onlookers were more interested in the food for themselves, that they paid for, than an actual human being–a high schooler who isn’t able to defend himself from these bullies. This commercial shows us, in many ways, that we need to stand up for each other in the small every day aspects of our lives. Bullying has been proven to have many traumatizing effects on high schoolers around the world. According to findapsychologist.org, “Bullying can contribute to students feeling socially isolated, worthless or depressed.” Dr. Terry Ehiorobo said. “In addition, the psychological effects of bullying can last well into adulthood and increase a person’s chance of experiencing things like anxiety disorders.” Bullying causes students to feel isolated, depressed, and inadequate just because they are being themselves. Many bullies use bullying to feel better about themselves or to make other people around them laugh. But if we stand up to them and show them it isn’t right, then the bullying rates will go down.

The saddest part of all of it is bullying can be so bad, and has been bad enough in our school, to lead students to harm themselves and in the worst cases take their own lives because they don’t see an end in sight. They haven’t had anyone stand up for them or show them they matter. We as a student body have a responsibility to make sure all the students feel welcome, no matter their age, race, ethnicity, religion, or likes and dislikes. If we would not want it to happen to us then why would we allow it, or do it, to another student?

In our world it’s very easy to get caught up in what we need and what is best for us, rather than reaching out and helping others. I urge you to show your support and help each other out, be kind and welcoming to any student no matter how different they are from you.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mnKPEsbTo9s