Hey my name is Sades, and im glad i can be a part of something so moving and inspiring. I am openly gay and married to my wife Crystal. I have gone though alot in my life because of the gender i am attracted to. I grew up in Bronx, NY where you think it would be a somewhat safe place to be your own. However it was difficult. I came out to my friends first in 7th grade. I had my circle of best friends that i thought had my back, but once i came out they felt voilated somehow and stopped eing my friend. i lost all of them and started flunking out of school. My school was a christian private school and even the teachers started verbally hurting me. All i remember was them telling me that i will never make it to high school. My teacher would pass me when giving out high school info. Not only was i teased for my orientation but i was teased becaused i was mixed and looked mexican. My teacher went as far as messing with my grades so i can get left back, which she made happen by just 1 point. I became depressed,alone,started cutting and even attempted taking my life many times and have been in a room of padded walls.I was told i had ADHD, bipolar, anxiety, and PST. I found out my mom had HIV and dad was in jail again. It was a very bad time for me i had no childhood since other things happened to me as well. However throught it all I finally found light in my own darkness. I realized why do i let, all the words and actions of others, determine my own happiness and self worth. I finally entered high school on a scholarship at one of the best all girls catholic schools in the bronx. I went back to my elementry school with pride and showed them i made it. Since then i never let anyone determine my own thoughs and feelings because i truely have the power of victory. I had amazing friends that helped me and stood up for me in high school as well and till this day i call them my sisters. Of course i cant shed out all my life experiences here at once but i wants to let anyone out there know that i UNDERSTAND and I AM HERE. Love, Support and Knowledge is the key to stopping a Bully ! I am ready to be there for someone and stand up for anyone that is confronted by a bully. I want to bring anyone thats in the dark to share the beautiful moments in the light.. STOP A BULLY AND SAVE A LIFE !!!

When I was a child I wasn't the coolest or didn't have the most friends. I always hang out with the 2 friends I had. Then 3rd grade comes, and I wasn't the strongest so I was a target for bullies. Recces would come and I would get beat up kicked, hit, and even spit on. This happened every day as I went through school it was miserable, and im now a senior in high school and i still get bullied. but i get bullied for different reasons now. i get bullied for being emo please don't hate me for that. I've been emo for 4 years now, and i love being me it is so fun. I love music with unclean vocals a.k.a. screamo for you guys that don't know it by it's technical terms. Some of my favorite bands are Black Veil Brides, Attila, Suicide Silence,  Avenged Sevenfold, bring me the horizon, Chelsea Grin,and many more. But as the years went on i got stronger and the one day of this school year I was about to get punched, and I looked at him and I'm like go ahead, and he stop and said are you scared, and I'm like no I'm not I'm use to it. i tear filled his eye and the words sorry come out of his mouth, and I said why, and he said Andrew, and I'm like yes, and he said i help you, and he went to every kid in school and said "stop being bullies to Andrew he might be different but he is still human he feels pain and he is on the edge of killing himself lets help him." I stopped cutting 8 1/2 months ago. know i have friends a girlfriend, and a smile. I love school know everyone wants to talk to me the  ask me about life. They even want advice from me. Please be yourself and don't be afraid of who you are. I love each and every one of you. 

When I was in ninth grade two of my classmates spread a vicious rumor about me. I thought these two girls were my friends but instead they spread a lie about me that almost destroyed my high school career. It was a stupid lie, one that just made people think I was a sneak and not to be trusted. So for the next two years I was friendly to kids in school, but I put up a wall. I didn't know who I could trust and I didn't want to be hurt again. I was embarrassed and ashamed, which seems silly now as I'm not the one who did any thing wrong. To this day I have no idea why they did this to me. At the time, they were my best friends in school. I can think of all sorts of reasons why, maybe because they both came from homes broken by divorce, they didn't get enough love, they were not the prettiest, they were struggling with their own sexuality - they are both gay. If it was simply because they were jealous of me, they needn't have been. Everyone has their secrets and everyone's life isn't as happy as it may appear to others, mine included. If it was simply to have some fun at my expense, a harmless prank in their minds, what friends do to one another for a laugh, they were sadly mistaken as what they did was not done in "friendship fun". 

The day these girls made this lie, they changed my future. I was already struggling with shyness that at times was debilitating. I was at a new school and the only person I knew coming into the school was a former classmate who didn't want me there. Every time I saw this other girl, I had to endure awkward stares. So I had no other good friends other than these two girls who turned on me. For years afterwards I just wished I could be anybody but me. I did think about killing myself. Not just because of these two girls, but my home life wasn't as ideal as people might have thought. One day in my parents kitchen, I put a knife to my wrist, and stuck the tip in to my wrist. It was an impulsive action, I wanted to see how much it hurt. The sight of the blood shocked me into reality, and I realized I didn't want to do this, it hurt. I wish I could say I was thinking of all the people who would miss me. But I was only thinking of me and I was tired of living in constant fear. Fear that people didn't like me. Fear that my parents were disappointed in me. Fear that I wasn't smart enough or pretty enough. Fear that I hated myself.

I know now I was bullied. The torment I did to myself went on long after the bully's were done with their fun. I was able to endure because I ended up making some good friendships my senior year who helped me realize I was a good friend, a good person. These five girls have no idea how they pulled me through. When I graduated from high school, I ran away from the bullies and my home life, to college. I needed to get away from all the people that made me hate myself. I knew the person I hated really wasn't the real me.
Now, we are all connected on Facebook. The bully's, my friends, and me. Some people think the best revenge is to live a good life inspite of the people that brought you down. I don't see it that way. Part of me sees it as these two girls were young and immature, on one hand they had no idea the impact of their lie. The other part of me is just sad that this happened. I didn't have any revenge that I wanted to get back at them, so I would want to cause the bully's harm. Some people think the best revenge is to do well in spite of the bully's,the evil. Did I get revenge because I managed to get through this situation?

People say I'm a strong person, if by being strong means getting though traumatic events while maintaining a sense of sanity, then I guess I'd agree I'm a strong person. Am I stronger because of the bullying? Maybe. But did I need to be bullied in order to be strong? That's a sad thought that strength is equated with victimization. We should be strong regardless and not need trauma to make us stronger.
My point is this, if you are being bullied, you can get through this. You really can. And not just get through, but thrive. And ure going to survive because you have to. There is only one you, nobody can replace you. Even when you think you are the worse person and nobody would miss you, you are wrong. You would be missed. Life may seems crappy some days, but it really can be good. If you are being bullied tell an adult. If they won't do anything, tell another adult. And don't stop telling until you get the situation addressed. Bully's don't always know they are bully's, they can't change their behavior unless they know about it. So don't keep what's happening a secret. Tell. Tell. Tell.

By 5th Grade I was constantly getting bullied. By that time you really start growing, and my voice started changing that year, and while it was changing it would be kind of high pitched. So i was constantly being called a girl and being called gay. I had nobody that year, because nobody wanted to be laughed at next. So I was alone. One day I even took a. (Fiance now) knife and was about to slice my throat, until my brothers girlfriend who I consider a sister walked in and talked me out of it. Then by 7th & 8th grade. The names and threats got worse. I was being pushed to the ground in P.E and the coach just watched. Then being threatened to be thrown in lockers and so much more. Here lately, at lunch, I was sitting with my best friend who I picked back up when her best friend left her, these two boys started sitting with us and flipped the table a little bit and flipped our food all over us. Nobody cared they just laughed at us. And even a rumor about me "punching my best friend" started, and thats where I draw the line. I would never do that! Why is life so hard? Why is it always me? I always wondered but all I can do is keep moving forword.

When I was in my last two years of primary school (aged 9 and 10) I was singled out. I only had two friends, but they were secret friends. They didn't want the bullies to pick on them so they arranged to secretly play with me outside school, but pretend to be with the bullies during school. Every playtime all the girls in my class (the boys had no interest in being friends, helping or hurting me) would push me up against the wall, spit in my face, bang my head against the wall and verbally abuse and humiliate me relentlessly. They would get me to do thing I didn't want on the pretext that if I did they would be my friends - thing like eating paper they had chewed up and spat out in class as well as the playground. My 'friends' would join in with a sort of pleading in their eyes for me not to expose them. It got so bad that, timid as I was and scared of my father even more than the school bullies, I resorted to 'bunking off' school and going to the park instead. In no time at all I was found out and brought back to the school. My father was furious and I was punished at home. Some of the girls saw me on the way to the Headmasters office and begged me not to tell him what they had done. They promised things would be different and we could be friends. Naive and immature as I was I only 'told on' the two ring leaders. Unfortunately, the rest of the girls were not happy with that and the bullying continued until I left primary school.

Secondary School wasn't much better but I did form a number of new friends and usually kept my head down and spirits up. Being beaten at home by my father and watching my mother and brother being beaten too took its toll on me. 

Over the years I struggled with self confidence, self belief and being able standing up for myself. I often found myself being mentally thrown back into my childhood when being reprimanded by a boss or shouted at by an aggressive neighbour. HOWEVER, I made it!

I'm a successful and happy mother of two (24 and 20 yr olds), a primary school teacher [whose horrible childhood has actually been of marvellous benefit to the children I have come to contact with and, sometimes, the parents too]. I have travelled well, had art and photography exhibitions, volunteered in orphanages and underprivileged schools and communities in India and Romania AND am now gigging as a lead singer in a band! A little late in life - but I'm loving it.

I suppose the point I'm trying to make here is I SURVIVED. I SURVIVED AND THRIVED. AND I HAD NO-ONE TO SHARE IT WITH OR HELP ME THROUGH IT. I spend a lot of my life being weak, knocked back, had a nervous breakdown and hating myself.

Here's the real message - if you are reading this you have made a step in the right direction. You will get help and support. If I got to where I am today with none - just think what you could achieve. There are a lot of people here for you.

None of us ever really ask to be different.  We never anticipate the things we're going to love or find joy in, but there will always be those who look down on us - see us as weak, as targets.  I was bullied from 1st grade all the way until my senior year of High School.  Jake, Rebecca, and Hal thought it was fun to torment me and mock me for my love of horses and my love of reading and my knowledge of history.  They were cruel and hurtful, constantly.  I spent every waking second in books, escaping my reality, wishing I could be like the heroes I read about with their powers and abilities- no one bullied them!  As my body grew and changed I hid it in baggy clothing because they called me 'ugly' and 'fat' and I still struggle with my self image more than 10 - years later.  But things really didn't get bad until my Freshman year of high school.

In an attempt to escape my tormentors, I had chosen a private girls school, thinking that because no one knew me, things might be different.  A new school, a fresh start, or so I thought.  These girls had been raised in families with money and had been in private school their whole life.  I was the black sheep - a deeply conflicted child still debating god and life filled with anger and pain.  I wasn't one of them, and they made that very clear to me.  It started with moving my chair at lunch, or moving my lunch bag to another table.  No one said a word ever - I would ask where my stuff was - thinking I could trust my class mates.  They would shrug and laugh, or just ignore me.

That wasn't where it ended though.  Social media was just beginning to take its hold - and the amount of myspace messages I got from people I knew and who I didn't even know told me constantly how worthless I was, that they didn't want a lesbian in the locker room with them, that I was a worthless freak, how ugly and fat I was....  Rumors spread that I practiced witch craft and talked to the devil (all because of the music I liked).  There was one time when I didn't go to school for 10 days, knowing that Maureen and her cronies would be waiting to continue their assault.  And even when we brought this all to the attention of the counselor and head mistress (we'd even printed all the messages I had received) they did nothing.  They swept the matter under the rug - because I was just a financial aid student, and they were trust-fund kids.  In fact, the school even asked me not to return the following year.

Returning to public school was even harder - but that was mostly because I was once again among the wolves who had tormented me in my elementary years.  I place on the varsity soccer team and the varsity ice hockey team (co-ed) where on the field or ice people were my friends and teammates, but off the field it was like I didn't exist.  I had no confidence in myself because no matter how hard I tried no one wanted anything to do with me.  It didn't help that my 'best friend' was shallow and self centered, doing her best to suppress my confidence to boost her ego. That lack of confidence and a desperate need for love and affection (driven by abandonment issues I had developed over the years) allowed me to be coerced into situations that now I would never put myself into.

But the bullying doesn't end once you're out of school - it only ends when you prove to yourself that you are everything you said you could ever be.  I have been a state beauty queen two times - 2012, 2013 - and I got there by taking those voice that said "You'll never be anything more than euclid trash" and saying to myself "I'll prove you all wrong."  It may be bad now, and it may hurt like hell, but there will ALWAYS be someone out there who will understand you and help you.  If you just reach out your hand - someone will be there to grasp it.

I never really had a lot of friends to begin with. Then in 9th grade (started in August 2012) I started getting bullied by this one guy. He would do anything to make my day worse. By the time I finally told about the bullying, the pain was already there and the damage was done (November). I have also already self-harmed by then too. I had lost the few friends I have and then after the bully was suspended for three days, his older sister and friends started bullying me. I was fortunate enough that my principle and teacher's did the best they can to stop it, but the truth is the bullying never stopped till I made the decision to cyber school. So by the summer of 2013 when everything kind of stopped. But that 9th grade year, I self-harmed and was ready to kill myself. By April I started starving myself!I was called every name and believed every single thing I was told! Heck I was called slut and I never been kissed or had a boyfriend! I didn't know what I did wrong! I learned through that experience that  my personality type is the type to take everything to heart and very sensitive. I always try to please everyone and hated making people feel bad. I went through counseling and can say I was clean and mentally better by July or August of 2013. But, it did take me a year. Then I was also fortunate to gain a best friend in January of 2013 who even though she is 5 years older than me, got me to speak up and gave me confidence I didn't have in myself. That girls is my rock, older sister, best friend, and my guardian angel. That year was a struggle for me but  now, I can say am healthy. No one deserves to go what I went through and that is why I am using my voice now. 

I was actually bullied when i moved to California. That was my first experiance in bullying. I was the new girl at school and i came from a totally different place, Philippines. I was in 2nd grade when a group of girls started to call me names. It made me feel bad about myself and i hated.. me. This stopped only because they all moved to a different place and i made a new friend. But i eventually had to leave to go to South Korea. I had some troubles making friends but luckly no bullying. That was only when 6th grade came along and it was the last 3 months of the school year. I was judged by the people i called my own friends. I dont know what happened, i was depressed and i was tired of being called an attention whore, slut, whore.. When i dont even do the doings of that names (if that makes sense..probably not) but anyways.. I had suicidal thoughts and of course, it was scary. I was tired of getting judged so instead of taken my own life i self harmed. This eventually came to the counselers and they helped me get through it over the summer.. And i still recieve therapy.. I plan to make a change for the future generations and for my generation.

I struggled a lot in middle school. I was a bully myself because I was so paranoid about being bullied. 

In middle school there was a game called "Zap" that was really popular; you would write someone's name on someone else's hand, and a time. When that particular time came, you would have to ask that person out. The point was to write someone's name who was "ugly", so that the person who was zapped would have to suffer. I suppose that was the point, at least. 

My name was written, twice. One boy didn't even get my name right, and got really close to me to ask me out, much to the amusement of his friends. For one split second I thought maybe he actually liked me, and I suppressed a smile that would have left as soon as it came anyway. He made sure to make a show of it, too.

The other time my name was written, I was in geography class. I was wearing my sister's shirt, which was a little too big for me, and had big, stupid puffy sleeves that made my head look small. My hair was in a small, tight bun high atop my head--needless to say I felt hideous that day. Two boys were writing a zap, on another boy's hand, who we will call Jack. Jack was dreading looking at the zap. And he said, loudly "I bet it's someone really unattractive." I saw some amused eyes flicker to me, and then back to a desk. When Jack finally looked at it, he gave a look of agony to the boy who had written it, as they snickered uncontrollably. I could feel that it was me; I could feel it rising up in my throat.

He walked near me, and I could see on his hand "Callie at NOW". That's not how you spell my name. His revolted face asked "Calley, will you go out with me?" as if after each word he had to swallow his own vomit. Of course I said no and held my tears in.

The worst part was the boy who had written it I had known since kindergarten. And I had a mild crush on him. I have never felt so ugly, and I doubt I ever will. 

My name is Alexandre Caron, I am from Calgary Alberta Canada and bullying has changed my life story. I know how it feels to be unwanted and lost at a place where you learn things that will get you an education further down the road. Bullying started at age 12 for me, a kid named Oliver, tortured me with negative insults, mentally changing my life values. I didn't want to tell my parents because I thought I would have been beaten up for telling on him. One day a bunch of his friends ganged up on me and started to pick on me and calling dog shit and F**k face. I started to cry and then five seconds later I yelled out F**k you seven times. A teacher came by and heard me yell F**k you and gave me detention for swearing. The bullies never got any type of punishment. luckily I moved away. I moved to Calgary from Grande Prairie Alberta. I thought this move would help my bullying problem but it didn't. I was bullied for the next 3 years in junior high. One time I had gym class and someone took my cloths cause I forgot my lock that day for gym and all my stuff was put under the shower and drenched. All I had was my gym cloths and I couldn't change. The vice principle told me to go to class, but I couldn't because of my cloths. She gave me detention for skipping class. From all of that, I realized that my bullying story isn't as bad as a lot of kids in North America. I tried to kill myself 3 times, but my friends and family stopped me. But I do want to say, kids if you don't have friends to rely on then PLEASE talk to you parents, they will help. The school will never help but you parents will love you for who you are and kids with one or two friends PLEASE ask your friends to help you and if you see a kid being bullied make a difference, help that kid by standing up to that bully. kids will be kids, be that one kid that stops bullying.