Interviews Galore

[In a very special, fact-based post, I present to you Issue #1 of the Nick Rapper Times]

Bullying Prevails by N.R.

The people have spoken. They feel that bullying isn't prevalent anymore. This isn't the '60s. Obviously bullying is terrible, but we've come along way. Is it gone, though? Or is it bigger than ever. . . .

My first interviewee, a male who would like to remain anonymous, said, "Bullying is bad . . . it's messed up." Sure. Within seconds I knew he was being sarcastic, though. I asked him if he knew of any bullies. "No, I don't really know of any because I don't agree with it." I threw out a name who, by all means, is a scruffy person. "He messes around -- he doesn't really bully kids."

Fictional Account regulars Nick L and Julian G weighed in. According to Nick, bullying in NHS is "not that bad." Julian says it's "not really" a problem. But, let's turn it over to Christian P.

I asked Chris if he knew of any bullies. "Ryan . . . he always punches a certain person in the hallway . . . crap, here he comes." Yes, he was coming. Yes, Chris and Ryan actually seem to be friendly with each other. Christian again called out another non-bully -- Giants loyalist Jeff R. I'm not entirely sure if Chris was sarcastic. I opened Ryan's notebook and saw "monkey tits" in bold caps. Either he and Ryan are tireless enemies or I might be missing out on a fun inside joke.

It should be noted that Christian wrote "poop" in my notebook. He may just like writing things in other people's notebooks. Either way, it was time to get a female's opinion.

Marina C simply said "it's wrong." Is it prevalent in NHS? "No." Our short interview seems over, right? But then after that no Brandon P said Marina C is, in fact, a bully. "I am not," she said indignantly. I don't know -- she is a very dark person.

Next up is Anthony C. It's "definitely not" a biggie, according to Ant. I asked him if he knows any bullies. "Not really," Ant said, after a pause. Maybe he knows a micro-bully like Mr. Anthony M. Either way, I knew by this tidbit that bullying was all but dead.

Enter Karl, who's firm with me. It's "not even close" to a deal by his account. He says bullying in general is "gay." And he "doesn't want [his] name in the paper." We'll talk about that later.

Time for sophomore Mario C, an overall awesome dude. He is pretty, um, skinny, so I asked him if he gets bullied. "No, I don't get bullied." Just makin' sure. He also doesn't think bullying is a problem in NHS.

Then I spoke with Nick L again. He clarified that bullying "doesn't seem to be a problem." He had a cyber-bullying essay handy. Eh, it said that like two-thirds of students have been bullied online. Erm, sure. Either way it wasn't NHS-specific. I couldn't use it . . . but I did.

We can say, with boldness, that bullying isn't as bad as it was. The sarcasm I received speaks for the way bullying is looked at. So-called popular kids don't endorse it -- no one does. The sarcasm also speaks of no one taking it seriously when bullying to its core is a very serious matter. I should of scored talks with less-profiled kids who have actually experienced our subject first-hand. But that's journalism for ya -- make mountains out of snowflakes . . . or something like that.

Joke of the Day by N.R.

What do you call a lesbian dinosaur?

Lickalotopis!

Closing Sentiments by N.R.

A few words. First off, I told my interviewees that they were speaking on behalf of our local newspaper. Marina C even asked me if this was for my blog. So I lied to a handful of folks. Big deal. I needed an article for our inaugural edition of Nick Rapper Times.

If this "paper" proves successful, I'll continue to publish "issues" of it. It's up to y'all. If I'm suddenly drenched in complaints I'll end it like [snap] -- okay? Good day to you.