The Gura family are hosting YES student Boris Ananiev of Macedonia for the 2012-13 school year. Boris is considering both medicine and politics as career goals. At his host school he managed the cross country team and currently he is managing the swim team. He also enjoys volunteer work. This is an editorial Boris recently wrote for KPCNews.com

By Boris Ananiev

Being a YES finalist is the best thing that has ever happened in my life. Being an exchange student in the U.S. is an amazing experience. I have a chance to meet thousands of new people from all over the world, and become an actual friend with them. I can also explore and enjoy another culture with them.

Every new experience and day has made my jaw drop. Some days in good ways, yet some of them not so much.

People often ask me what the main difference is between my country and the U.S. My answer is not always easy. A lot of difference is in the cultures, but I have mostly seen a lot of difference in the schools. Every teenager from another country wants to be a high school student in America. I have seen a lot of interesting yet amazing movies. These include those about the popular kids in school, the nerds, the “jocks” like the football players and of course some of the more confusing movies that include American bullying.

Bullying in American high schools fosters a climate of fear and disrespect. It appears to result from behaviors that are not common in my country. It can be jealousy, race, sexual orientation, dress-codes, weight, “book-knowledge” and even daily behavior.

In my American high school, bullying is, thankfully, at a minimum level. However, talking generally in America, some cases and stories are frightening. According to scientific research, almost a quarter of the students in high school are bullied, five percent of them reported being threatened with harm, and 6.6 percent were pushed, shoved, tripped or spit on. Most of the bullying occurred in school hallways, stairwells or in the classroom. Less commonly, students were bullied in the bathroom or locker room, in the school cafeteria or on the school bus.

The side effects of bullying can be fatal. Many students become depressed. Therefore they end up dropping out of school, changing schools, have an inability to make any friends and even worse there are some cases that end up in suicides.

There are many ways of bullying. For example, physical bullying, mental bullying and the most “popular” these days: cyber bullying. Most commonly, cyber bullying victims said hurtful information about them was spread on the Internet, or they received unwanted contact online or unwanted text messages. Bullies use social networks like Facebook, Twitter or email and phone texts. I recently witnessed cyber bullying on twitter when one boy was saying bad things, probably not true, about another person.

Bullying is a behavior that has to stop. We are talking about young lives. That is a serious matter and should be strongly dealt with. The sad part is that most of the bullies don’t know the feeling of being bullied. My guess is that they have never been bullied by another student, but there is research that they may have been bullied by an adult. Another fact is that there is a great percentage of teachers who are unable or unwilling to see and/or address the horrific tragedy among kids today.

The problem is ongoing and, of course, global. The answer is obviously not simple and not one that any one person can conquer. Everyone from adults to young children needs to be educated about this horrific societal problem. I stand against these horrible people who most likely have no idea about the long term negative societal problems they are creating. We all should stand against the infliction of physical and psychological harm to others. Otherwise, the long term effects to a community, society, nation and country are beyond our understanding.

Education is the start to improving this. With everyone on board, kids will be safer, schools will be friendlier and all of society will be happier.

It is not too early to apply to be a host family for the 2013-2014 school year. The essay above won a State Department competition, earning Boris a trip to Washington D.C. in February.

East Noble’s three AFS YES students are available to speak to classrooms, organizations, youth groups, etc. Contact Barb Davis at 347-0525 to make arrangements.

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Photo: Boris and his Host Family