Courage is Fire, Bullying is Smoke by Amy Sprague
What's It About?
In case you didn’t know it (I didn’t), the words, “Courage is fire, and bullying is smoke,” is a quote attributed to Benjamin Disraeli.It appears on the top of an article on the website of the No Bullying Initiative Trust, the New Zealand organization that’s a rough equivalent to our stateside StopBullying.gov initiative. The article explains, “Bullies would not exist without victims, and they do not just pick on anyone … They try and pick on who they perceive to be the weakest link.”
Growing up in a small Vermont town, Amy Sprague was the weakest link. “To this day, I still remember all the things that were done to me as if they happened yesterday,” she writes in her unusually gripping life account, Courage Is Fire, and Bullying Is Smoke. Her anecdotes will remind you of the worst moments from your own childhood, whether you yourself were a victim of bullying or you witnessed it happening to others.
AN AUTHENTIC STORY
Before we get too far, it should be noted that this book is not intended to be a literary gem. Sprague, a 31-year-old single mother who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression, says she wrote the book as a self-cleansing exercise to heal her own wounds, and more so in the hope others could benefit from her experience and emotions. (Her final impetus was a story she heard on Facebook about two young kids who had committed suicide as a result of being bullied in school, underscoring the urgent need for bullying victims to speak up.)
To fully appreciate Sprague’s book, readers should focus on the relatively short narrative itself in its rawness and authenticity, grasp the painful outpouring that the author is delivering, and look beyond the language, wording, spelling and grammar to truly understand its purpose, message and value. This is a work that, in all its imperfections, can be very powerful.
What struck me so hard was to hear Sprague talk about her wonderful childhood before the bullying occurred, a peaceful, happy life with all the pleasures of growing up: watching races with her father; walks after dinner; going for ice cream; bike riding; practicing soccer, basketball; berry picking; making pies and pancakes; the smell of a wood-burning stove. She “loved summertime, weekends and days after school” when her dad was around. All simple joys — but processed in a different light knowing what was to come.
SPEAKING UP AND REACHING OUT
Sprague says bullying victims can’t hide in a corner and refuse to address what has happened to them. Many times, victims don’t even know how to get help. “By being bullied for so long and not seeking help to address my pain, by holding it all inside over time without even realizing it, it affected not only who I am as a person but everyone else around me — and that was my life.”
Sprague may not have all the answers, but if she can provide the slightest morsel of hope or inspiration to those affected, or take even the smallest step to increase awareness on a grander scale, then we should applaud her efforts.
“If I can make it through a lifetime of bullying and be here today to tell you about it, so can you.”
Courage Is Fire, and Bullying Is Smoke is available for purchase.
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