I am a teacher and drama director at a 7-12 high school. We have a problem with bullying in our school. For our school's one-act competition piece this year the students and I chose the play "Carl", based on the true story of a student who was bullied to the point of committing suicide. We are done with competition and are now looking for a way to use this traveling show to spread the word about ten devastating effects of bullying.

Growing up in the 1960's, I was bullied because I was a different religion than most of the kids at my school.  One boy everyday would taunt me by calling me a "Jew Bagel."  As time went by, he would hit me every day after school as I walked home.  I asked his alcoholic aunt & father to have him leave me alone, but they told me I deserved it!  This went on for a long time.

Once I had my children, I naively thought times had changed, but I was wrong.  My son has Asperger's and he was teased for years.  My daughter was berated by a queen bee and her followers.  This made my daughter grow up bitter and angry, yet also made her a stronger person able to handle anything.  

My wish is for people to be treated as they wish to be treated!  That's it!  Simple!

When I was growing up, I was always the different one.  At first I thought it was because when I was young, still in Kindergarten, I moved to a new place.  And then, as I started growing older, I thought it was because I chose to hung out with the people who weren't popular, the 'losers' that sat in the back of the class.  And then I started to realize I had no idea why I was being bullied, why people would go out of their way to make me look bad, and it wasn't physical, which made it harder because there was no proof.  It was always verbal and manipulative.  One year, I was playing Monopoly with some girls in my middle school class and one of the girls, when another one wasn't looking, took one of the other pieces.  She told me to stay quiet and I thought it was a joke.  A few minutes later, she framed me with it and they all go angry and started calling me names.  The next year, one of my best friends started telling people that I was starting all these bad rumors, I got death threats.  I kept it to myself, figuring there was nothing anyone could do about it.  when I got into high school, I was still bullied, and even more so in college! I thought once you got to college, you were adults, you didn't do such things, but I realized I was wrong.  Now my closest friends say I think different, and they're ok with it, but it makes sense why I would be bullied. I don't share a lot of the same thoughts with others.  And that's what people do. If they can't understand you, they just shun you.  It's like they're afraid of you.  All my life I promised myself I wouldn't have children, who would want their children to live in such a society? I'm hoping one day in my lifetime, we can see a change in that.

Well, I guess you can say that I'm your regular teenager that seems happy. But in a way, I'm not. For the past 8 years, I've been stuck with the same people and the same bullies. It sucks, it really does. Over the years, these people have become a lot more cruel and self centered and it has gotten out of hand. I'm one of the victims of these bullies; I've been harassed many times by the same people every single year. People spread false rumors about me, push me around in the halls, attack me on the internet, etc. They don't realize it but it actually hurts. Mental scars remain in my mind because of the things that they have all done to me. Being bullied is not taken very seriously, and everyone thinks that its a joke. But it's not. People need to notice that bullying is a serious thing and can affect anyone's life, just like how it affected mine. It sucks being bullied. Honestly, after all these years of being picked on, I've become a lot more sensitive. Even the slightest comment someone makes about me, it feels like a stab to the heart. THINK BEFORE YOU SPEAK. Please. 

 

When I went to high school i was kicked up the stairs, When my children went to school they where bullied also and I want it to stop so that my grandchildren don't go through that also. :(

My name is Jazlyn Rust and I was and still am bullied. I started really noticing my fifth grade year when I began taking elementary band. My music director had a helped, a seventh grader at the time, and he hated me and I still have no idea why. He would call me fat, stupid, and said I would never be able to make it in the music world which was a hard blow because music education is my dream. This continued everyday and on through my years to come. My ninth grade year was the worst, the year I almost took my life. It got to the point this fellow band threw my instrument on the band room floor and stomped on the broken pieces. If I got a solo he would tell me it was a pointless part and the only reason I got it was because I was stupid and couldn't handle actual music. I told my band director, principle, superintendent, school board, and my mom but no one did anything about it. But that one day was different, I went to school and he cornered me in the band room and said I had to drop music all together, I refused, and he said if I didn't he would kill me and he pulled out a knife. I fell to my knees and wept mercifully until my band director found me and asked what happened and I told him and he told the principle and they threatened to take away his scholarships and he stopped for a while. He has graduated now but the horrible pain of the years between fifth and this year, my eleventh grade, haunts me everyday. I tried to head up a bully campaign at my school but it didn't take. If I would have taken my life I cant even imagine the pain my family would be in but it seemed life a way to get out. But if you are reading this remember its not the end you can fight even when you feel you cant anymore. I am here for you message me on facebook or twitter but I am here for you. I love you

Hi my name is Janiece i am in high school and i always thought as a little girl i didnt have to go through any more pain as i grew older i just seen life was nothing but horrible thing in school i been bullied a lot people calling me names like big lips and always talking about my keloids   on my ears and the would pull my hair and call my mother names and always calling me names because i wasnt on the right track in school where i shouldve been it has been a point where i did do suicide cause i couldnt take the pain no more i would never talk to people cause i felt like they would judge me on the things that i have going on and i just wish i had somebody i can talk to and understand  me more

since fourth grade iv been bulied i was called meny names headlice freak was far the worst any one in my middle school new as soon as they came into 6th  grade to say away from me i walked by people gaged i just brushed it off intell the finly thout i dident care and stoped

Hi Guys! 

Let me just start with the fact that i am in 9th grade. Hi! Im Hannah! This is my story and my experience with bullies and the administration at that school.

My Journey with bullying starts one week before 7th grade. The school did a program called "Jump start" it is a program to welcome new students. I was eating lunch with my best friends (who i had met the year before). A group of 4 girls came up and were giving everyone candy as a "hello present". They gave some to my best friends and walked away. My friend asked "hey why didn't you give her any?" The leader of the group took 2 pieces out gave them to me and then kicked my shin. That was the start of a long journey. Every day during the school year i would get called very degrading names. I would get kicked or punched as i was walking down the hallways. On my Birthday (in Feb.) 3 boys stole my home work, i got shoved into the front of a locker, and some one wrote "B*TCH" on my locker. I called my Mom i was crying, she came to the school and made me tell the administration about what had been happening. They made me fill out an "accident report". From that day on my bullying got 20 times worse. I was filling out 5-20 accident reports. The vice-principal brought all the girls into the office with me and made us all shake hands. 1 of 5 girls became my friend and stood up for me but she also would still hang out with the bullies. I sat at the same math table as 4 boys who were bullying me. This is ONE of the many conversations I overheard them say, Boy # 1: "We should rape Hannah" Boy # 2: "Hahaha we should!" Boy # 3: "You can't rape her if she likes it." I was really upset, They had been walking in the hallway and would "accidentally" touch my butt or my chest. I also found an anonymous note in the bathroom saying "Hannah is a F***ing Sl*tty B*tch. Also someone wrote "Hannah is Fat and Ugly" on a bathroom stall. I wouldn't eat breakfast or lunch. I also began to cut myself. I had an amazing friend group but 4 weeks after my birthday I found a note in my locker that said "You're and Ugly Ass****!" I called my Mom and said "I want to leave NOW!" I packed my back pack and cleaned my locker out and went to the Principal's office. My Mom filled him on what had happened. She said, "You are losing a great student because you're school has an attitude problem and you need to fix these children's behavior!" Then he did the rudest thing I have ever heard. He looked at me and asked, "So, did you to anything to deserve this?" NO! Nobody deserves to be bullied to the point where they are self harming and considering suicide!! My mom and I left and I was home schooled for the rest of the year. The things I told you were only a few example of what happened. Last year when I went to a new school i was bullied again by one girl. I started cutting again, my parents found out. I was sent to counseling. The girl never stopped bullying me but I was doing better. Move to this year. The same girl from last year was doing it again. She was spreading rumors and saying rude things to my face. She finally crossed the line. She was making fun of my friends, she called me a "circus freak", a "retard", "loser", "ugly", "Fat". I HAD IT! I looked her in the eyes and said, "Shut up. I don't care what you think so keep your rude opinions to yourself." She hasn't really bothered me since. I still get the eye rolls and glares but that is just her insecurities. 

My journey has not been an easy one but I have survived. I have gone 2-3 months without cutting! I am blessed to have a supportive family and amazing friends! <3 If you or someone you know is going through this, YOU'RE NOT ALONE! Trust me I know that feeling. Talk to someone, a family member, an administrator, a security officer at your school! You are loved and you will get through it! Don't end your life, there is SO much worth living for. Find an outlet that gets your emotions out other than hurting yourself. I found that drawing and singing helps. Love every one of you! Bye!!!

-Hannah <3

I've been hearing impaired my whole life. Severe hearing loss, that is. My sister and I, 9 years older then me, had both gotten it from my mother, who had gotten it when she was sick as a child.
From as long as i could remember, there was always someone to tease me about it.

There was kindergarden through fourth grade. A very dark blur, that i've always tried to erase.  It started as small things it seems. Stuff that adults would say, oh well, that just happens. So i never told anyone.  I learned quickly and at a young age, how to read lips, very well at that.  I'd get picked last for a game, or simply no one wanted to talk to me. Nothing big, right?  I got picked on, because i was allowed to skip classes, but only to go to speech classes, they tried to improve my ability to speak. Get picked on, snickers and giggles, here and there. I soon had to wear these huge headphones, that seemed incredibly big to my tiny head, that was connected to a cassette sized and shape box. To the teacher, they had to wear a clip on microphone. It was a one-way walkie talkie, with none of the "cool" factor. No one wanted to have to talk into the microphone. I was the loser. The girl no one should talk to. I was too small for a hearing aid. I had to wait. I was to be avoided, to all but a very select few, that didn't mind talking to me.  A couple of kids, were even impressed that i could read lips so well. That was the sunshine. It turned pretty dark after that. The better i got at lip reading, i "heard" all the comments. The girl who can't talk. The reject. The retard. The slow one.  I got pushed up against a locker. While a few kids laughed and giggled.  I can't even remember the kid's name. Life hit pretty fast and hard after that.  Memories i try to block out. Things that "never happened."  How the teacher's had eventually wanted to give up on me. How i should go to a deaf school. My transition from fourth to fifth grade.  It was different, i still tried to be positive. I could see people talking to me, or more then that, talking at me, down to me, I was inferior to them. My family, i can remember things here and there. I recognized tones of voice. The talking-down at me tone. "Hold her hand while you're crossing the street, YOU CANT HEAR THE CARS COMING." Like i couldn't just look? As a 14 year old. I was already the odd kid out. So i was a perfect target to be bullied. I was the silent type.  I had my hearing aid in middle school. That didn't stop everyone, that stopped absolutely no one. All it did, was push me further, making me realize how cruel the world was. So i matured quicker, grabbed a better outlook on life then what society wants out of me. I don't want a 9-5 job and get married and live the way they want. The way they want, i tried that, it was horribly cruel.  I'll remember the laughs and snickers, "you're so deaf." "Can't you hear me?" "I'm just done with this, i'm not dealing with it." Dreams here and there, began to fade with every dark cruel comment. Policewoman, firewoman, simple things that just require hearing. Things that everyone took for granted. I had began to hear/see more cruel comments as i got older. They told me, no matter what it was, that it could never be done. To stop wasting time on me. I was a lost cause. My mom saw the pain i went through. Bits and peices that, i would admit, when the 2nd or 3rd month rolled around and i grew weak of keeping it all in. I had to keep it a secret. I knew it wasn't her fault. But there was also nothing she could do, and i couldn't make it harder then it was. I grew in better control of my emotions, i learned how to block out what people say. But it was always there, and that made me an incredibly sensitive person. I got sick of getting picked on. Looked down at and picked last for whatever it was. Memories of people teasing me in middle school, are pretty strong. I kept it a secret though. No names needed.  I worked on my speech, after my 8th grade graduation. You see, 5-8th grade, gave up on me. I was just that, i was a lost cause.  It improved. I gained friends. 

High school. It didn't stop anyone from teasing me, but it caused my friends to grow protective of me. My new friends. And a couple old ones. The friends i gained, and quickly. I became less of a target. I still kept my distance, but people were still there to make a comment, whenever i was alone.  I still heard mean things. I should just quit.  Other cruel things. I learned to trust people again, i was working on it, and people had screwed me over before, people i thought were my friends. Freshman. Sophmore. Junior. I happened to really like this boy. We dated for quite some time. A year and a half or more. I learned, the world wasn't so evil. I loved, i trusted, i was happy. Blindly happy. Things i never noticed,happened. Things i refused to beleive. Cheating, drugs and more. That wasn't even what hurt the most. I had found out, that he talked, literally right behind my back, to his friends. Cruel things. I'd turn around and asked what he said, "oh nothing, i love you babe." Say cruel things and do cruel things. I was not blindly in love, i was "deaf"ly in love. I still think about that. Every. Single. Day. The graduation day rolls up. It happens. I've officially graduated in May. Granted, this all happened and knew nothing of so, till about October of that year. A love, had turned into my deepest fear. The name, strikes something i've never felt before.  Someone who told me, i ended up liking him. That fear had been reunited once that name had been strucken up.  That fear. How does someone so trusted, be so cruel. That really messed me up. I tried again. 

This one. Once i tried again. Had mentioned to my friends, about my disabilty and laughed about it. I couldn't hear, i didn't talk on the phone enough, though i spent 110 dollars, just trying hours and hours of talking on the phone. That was the "reason". Turns out, it was actually cause i "was a loser and a mistake, a waste of time."  He was glad he was "never going to turn out like me." It hit.  Everything everyone ever said. It came back. Everything i'm never gonna be. Everything i should never do or try. The first love. The fear. The loser in 2nd grade that got pushed against a locker and got my head hit. The one who got excluded from music class, the picked last. The picked on. The ditch scene. The outcast. It all came back. I can't even type this without trying to not bawl my eyes out because i'm trying to at least keep my composure.  The voices, the memories, the false happiness and the blind side. It all came crashing down. All at once. I was terried to see anyone. I still get comments. That retard can't talk right. She sounds stupid. What an idiot. F*cking reject. She could kill herself. SUICIDAL B*tch. 
I'm a successful 20 year old who graduated high school, went to college, volunteer multiple places, never got kicked out of school (in fact the only time i ever got in trouble, i got 3 in school suspension, for being late to english the first month of my freshman year), never done drugs, smoked or drank. I have my own crafting, painting and photography business. As well as babysitting. And being a side model. Yet. All the comments, they stick. All the actions, they still hurt. How am i have "turned out" the way you never want to? I'm filled with countless of cruel stories, countless. I never created one cruel story though. I was never simply, EVIL. To hurt someone or something with no cause other then to hurt them. I couldn't accidently scratch someone without apologizing. I cry at every sad moment. 

How does it hurt? "“Some people feel like they don't deserve love. They walk away quietly into empty spaces, trying to close the gaps of the past.”  I truly beleive, that one should have to put up with me. Oh, here comes brittany. Here we go again. I don't deserve to be happy. That's how i feel sometimes. That feeling that just makes you want to sleep in bed, not get up and say, well theres nothing to do.  I don't fight back. I don't stand up for myself. I'm just here. I walk away quietly, into empty spaces. Trying to close the gaps of the past. 
I have a huge base of friends now. I guess, i'm "popular".  I truly can't go anywhere without someone knowing me or knowing something about me or knowing someone i know. "OH HEY! There's brittany!" Excitement. Happiness. I bring that. That confuses me to no end. I can't store positive things. Mostly negative things. I'm working on it though. I'm not bitter and im not a depressed little girl, i seem like that, i know. 
All in reality. I am so grateful that i'm alive. Through all the mad and the craziness, the world is head over heels an amazing beautiful place, breathtaking even.  I don't like this, and i hate i have to be careful and plan things to make sure nothing happen to this technology that i'm oh-so dependant on. But i wouldn't change anything. It all happened for a reason. I hope it doesnt ever happen to anyone else. It's really rare to have to be positive about everything. To be like me, almost.  This is my story, and how i took an incredibly dark world, and added my own little splash of color into it. I made my story, a beautiful painting, something that i'm grateful to be a part of, to wake up and see all of this. (If you saw my room, you would understand quite how colorful i am).  I guess you can say, I can hear, see the difference now.