Hi everyone, my name is Jacob Goldberg. You've probably never heard of me, I'm just a small town, Chicago-suburbs kid, who goes to The University Of Iowa. 

Introductions out of the way, let's get into the meat and potatoes of this petition, and why I created it.

Though it has been around for millenia, a plague has begun to rise from the shadows in recent generations, becoming more and more prevelant with the passing of each year. This plague that i speak of, is what we know best as, "bullying."

Thousands of Americans of all ages fall victim to bullying every day, both from the people they trust, and from complete strangers. 

Bullying can leave someone feeling lesser than their fellow man-- as if they aren't as important. This leads me to my next point, that being the recent increase in teen suicide, and its link to the plague I speak of.

There are a vast variety of articles online, backed by research, which confirm the undeniable link between bullying, and suicide amongst the youth in recent years.

If you still find yourself questioning the link between bullying and suicide, look to me as a living example. My entire life, I've been teased, tormented, harassed, and thrown to the curb, all because I was a little bit different than my peers. Eventually, this bullying led me down a dark path of mental illness and suicidal thoughts, something which likely never would have happened, if not for the trauma i faced from others up to that point in my life.

But you may find yourself questioning something else about this petition-- that being the title of it....about having Two RA's in each color coated section of the dorms, for a total of six RA's per floor at minnimum. Why haven't I mentioned it up to this point?

I felt it was important to adress the very real threat of bullying before proposing my idea to the world... so that anyone who isn't yet aware of the pain bullying can cause, is made aware through this brief piece. 

 

However, there's more to my idea than just having two RA's per section-- allow me to elaborate. 

 

Assume you're a freshman at the University of Iowa. You live on the 8th floor, in the Blue Section. One night, whilst taking a walk at 1:30 in the morning, a person you dont know from your floor runs up behind you, pulls down your pants, and runs off. 

 

In that moment, that very brief moment which likely feels like an eternity for our make believe character, said person likely felt completely powerless to defend themself. And, since many of the dorm's front desks shut down by midnight,(or around that time,) there are very few options for an immediate solution. 

Said incident falls under the category of harassment,(a form of bullying.) Unfortunately, the police wont do anything about a case of bullying, besides maybe keeping a close eye on the situation, to see if the perpetrator becomes a repeat offender.

 

The only real person left to turn to, then, is the RA....Oh wait, they're asleep. Reasonable, since it's now 1:45 in the morning.....but then, who's left for our poor victim to speak to?

 

The harsh answer, is that when someone is bullied during the hours of late night in one of the dorms, there is often no one to turn to. 

 

And so, I've come up with a solution. 

That solution is as follows:

 

It should be mandatory, for each color coated section of every floor in a dorm, to have a minnimum of Two RA's-- one that serves a day shift, and one that serves a night shift.

 

Sign this petition, and join me on my journey to make The University Of Iowa's dorms a safer, more welcoming enviroment.