I have been wondering since coming to college if relationships have always been so screwed up or if is this a new facet of our generation.

Recently, the country has drawn its attention to the suicides of teens and college students, especially those who said they were homosexual. The main cause for these events is said to be bullying, but I think it goes deeper than that. Even before this trend was sparked in the media, I noticed something that disturbed me.

We come to this university of more than 8,000 students and want to make friends and find people to connect with. What I keep seeing is people acting friendly to someone’s face, then turning around to bad-mouth that person as soon as they leave the room. This seems normal to some, but I find it an unnecessary and completely unappealing quality.

Often others chime in to this verbal abuse just to remain in the circle. Why? What is the point of staying friends with someone who probably talks about you when you’re not around?

I’ve seen another form of brutality as well. It’s that person who is just plain in-your-face rude. They won’t hesitate to gut someone from the front, all because they don’t particularly like them.

If a person doesn’t really truly like another, why pretend to be friends? Why be mean? Why are there only the extreme options?

What about being polite and just not spending time with that person? This way, they learn the truth in a completely drama-free manner.

Some people know they are the butt of all the ridicule, but continue to offer themselves up for torment. Be a friend to yourself. Don’t put up with that.

We don’t realize how deep an effect our actions can have on others. So if you don’t have anything nice to say, please, do not say anything. The world has enough problems without even more negativity.

Tori Bell is a freshman photography major from Dallas.