Letting it all out the right way

Have you ever not liked someone, and you just have to get it off your chest? If you can't find a way to vent that isn't hurtful to someone else, sometimes you should just keep it there.

A lot of times, we don't think about other people's feelings and just let ours out so others can see our pain. It is always good to express your emotions so that others know how you feel, but sometimes certain things should just be kept to yourself.

Recently in my school, bathroom vandalism has been an issue. People scratch mean things into the doors and walls in the stalls. Many people get hurt feelings and hold grudges, which leads to even more problems. I think that people want to let others know what their feelings are, but they are doing it in an inappropriate way.

Some kids are mean to others because they feel that there is something wrong with them, and they need to make someone else feel bad to make themselves feel better.

I think that writing on public walls is definitely not a good way to handle disliking someone. It is extremely rude and insensitive. Just because someone has hurt your feelings, it doesn't make it OK to hurt them back.

My name has not personally been featured in the bathroom poetry, but if it had, I would be hurt for a day or two, then I would be able to move on; after all, it is just scratches on the bathroom walls.

However, some of my friends aren't able to move on as easily as I am. What I would say to help them deal is to think of it this way: Every time someone says or does anything that hurts you, have confidence in knowing the rumors are not true. You need to look past the bad things that others think of you and focus on the good things that you know about yourself.

n Gigi Glogovac, 13, is an eighth-grade student at Virginia City Middle School.