From a book that I have written about Bullying: The lack of empathy in our society is key to the epidemic bullying that has been building throughout our nation. The TV gives us a steady diet of fierce competition, with the winners beating their chests, and the losers bad-mouthing their opponents to the reporters waiting on the stairs. COMPETITION BREEDS BULLYING. The competition in the Entertainment Industry has become mainstream entertainment. America’s Top Model, American Idol, Survivor and Big Brother all show humans at their most competitive and in their weakest moments of character. These programs are voyeuristic and there is a judgmental and sadistic feel to some episodes. Another mode of entertainment, the Internet, has unfortunately become another tool for bullying. All great ideas can corrupt over time and the Internet is no exception. While the convenience of research and communication are still wonderful characteristics of the Internet, there is a dark side as well. In the new millennium a new apparatus of torment emerged. According to a 2008 New York Times article, The Trolls Among Us: Internet Trolls deliberately try to disrupt or even destroy people’s lives with cyber bullying. This can range from doing online smears (creating false profiles under the person’s name, slander on message boards, creating false Police Reports/Rap Sheets online, craigslist advertisements, etc.These forms of Cyberbullying happened to me. I have no Police record.) to sending harassing texts or emails directly to their victims. According to the New York Times article, the Trolls, “do it for LULZ, a distortion of LOL, meaning Lots of Laughs.” The Trolls can destroy lives for their entertainment with little risk of getting caught as it is all done anonymously. Many of these Trolls act collectively and as history has shown us, group behavior differs from individual behavior. The individual may be hampered with conscience where a group may justify the action because they have support. We are also involved in two expensive and deadly wars overseas as well as a war on civil rights right here at home in the USA.

Sorry. Double post

In went to a really small high school where there was a popular crowd, and a smarty-pants crowd and nothing in between. Ultimately, I was not accepted into either group. The girls in my grade were nasty, they would threaten me over the Internet and at one point turned the whole school against me by making up rumours about me and my family. They also would shove me whenever they got the chance and say hurtful things just to see the light vanish from my eyes. It was like their whole life was devoted to making me miserable. Teachers also sadly would join in thinking it was funny that I was singled out and seemed to promote the bullying. My mom would drive 45 mins to the school every other day to take me out for lunch since no one would want to sit with me. The days my mom did not come, I would hide in the bathroom counting down until break was over and I could sneak back to the classroom. I was very lonely. I had no friends and I did not understand why. Even though my high school experience was horrible, I am thankful that I had those experiences. Being a victim of bullying has made me stronger as a person and has led me to stand up for kids who have not yet learned to stand up from themselves. 

I am a parent of a child that was horribly bullied. We have sinced moved but she will never be same person.. I wish people would see how hurtful and damaging bulling can be.

My name is Todd and when I was in school, I was tortured right from the beginning. I really didn't fit in with other kids and I have severe learning disabilities, so right away I was the dumb kid. Elementary School wasn't too bad, because the teachers were always around, but Middle School was a different story and High School was the worst. If I spoke up and told someone it made the beatings worse, but I took a chance and did it a few times, only to hear, it's your own fault for not standing up for yourself.

People will tell you that it's only words and kids will be kids. I always heard that I'd grow out of it and get passed it. I started therapy when I was 8 and I'm still in it. When I hit 17, the sadness finally hit me and after a series of events I was put on anti-depressants, I'm still on those. As far as growing out of it goes, well, I'm still not very good at making friends. I hate being in a crowded place, even a half dozen people at a party make me feel uncomfortable, so most nights, I stick to myself. I couldn't hold a job, because again, I didn't really fit in, so I bounced from job to job, doing just about anything to not have to go to college, but eventually I did, at the age of 32.

When I was in school, I had to be tough, I had to be on alert at all times and show them it wasn't getting to me. It bothered me sure, but no one knew to what extent. The Bullying ended at age 18, but since then I've been to 8 psychiatrists, tried over 40 different anti-depressants, I gained over 100 pounds, been single pretty much my entire life, and smoke a pack a day.

Today, I'm 35, I still don't have a whole lot of friends or really fit in. I'm still uncomfortable around people and still single, but I am in my Junior year at Long Island University and have managed the same used record store for over 4 years now. I finally feel that I am semi-functional and do have some self-confidence, but being 35 in college and working at record store, I REALLY don't fit in and I'm okay with that.

They say bruises heal and words don't hurt, but when you're told the same horrible things, from a whole bunch of people, year after year, and day after day, you really start to believe it yourself. The dumb kid is at a four year university with a 3.0 and is a year away from being a teacher. I feel that ONLY when that happens, will I feel better. Only when I am there and able to help kids from going through what I went through and am truly making a difference, only then will I be able to really move on.

 

Because my last name is Noyes I get called name and people through comment like"hey noisy say yes or no to this question" "you are ferry noisy little miss Noyes" or I get called"noisy" "radio" but I just deal with it by ignoring it,yes it upsets me to get bullied and it affects others

At first school no one thought me properly and now in middle school. I know every lesson but maths and when my teacher says answer this question and I get it wrong people laugh at me and yeah it really makes he sad knowing people will laugh a me when I get somthing wrong but I just asked the teacher when we are doing this subject in maths and say if I'm bad at it and if I am I ask if he can help me and now I'm happy and very conferdent and living free

                    From meg xxPS.fel more confident when things go wrong,bring confedence and

                Merry christmas and a hapoy new year! 

I am a school counselor in my first year working at a school. I have always loved the quote by Gandhi, "Be the change you wish to see in the world" and I plan on doing that. I want to be that advocate for change so that all different kinds of kids can be appreciated and accepted and I want to create a caring and empathetic environment for my school and kids. I want to be that change.

My name is Blair Parsons and I am a father of 3 boys (20,15,10).  It could be said that we deal with bullying daily between our 15 and 10 year olds.  But what we have witnessed lately (since Sandy Hook Elementary School Newtown, Conneticut Dec 14, 2012) is a pattern of bullying that has an extremely damaging result!

Here's the pattern:

1) A group of kids (ie peers or bullies) decides on a target (ie mark, passive kid, or perhaps one with religious values that set him/her apart).

2) They start to pester the kid, getting inside his/her head, and even physically intimidating/abusing the child.

3) In some cases the smartphone is used to record the child's response to the negative stimulus.

4) If the targetted child mentions "gun" in any way it is recorded or misquoted turning it into a terrorist threat.  This is all carried out on school property. 

5) The misquote or recording is presented to school authorities and in-turn the local police arrest the "target" and he/she is incarcerated as a terrorist!

6) The real terror is for the family of the "target" who must hire an attorney (sometimes $1500.00 retainer necessary) and the child ends up with deep scarring and mistrust for the system that is claiming to promote anti-bullying!

 

A friend's child was successfully targetted last year right around the time of the Sandy Hook shootings.  This year (in December) my son was targetted (failed attempt), but a friend's son different school district same county in PA was arrested and arraigned yesterday.  The school district is falsely claiming they have police reports of damaging interrogation of the 13 year old.  There is a recorded history with the school district of bullying last year of this same child.  He was already receiving counseling/medication before this horrific "terrorist prank".

The districts are over-reacting, the police are not fully investigating, and the bullies are walking.  No wonder a pattern is developing!

This needs to stop so that children who are victimized, don't end up revictimized by the authorities!

 

I used to be bullied by a lot of kids. Once when I was in kindergarten a gang of fifth graders pushed me to the ground and broke my skull.I wast Cristian and people hit me and punched me. Now I'm in sixth grade and I started to fight back. I held a meeting with the whole school about bullying. I never got bullied agian. I now help others deal with bullying

Hi, I'm Colin, a junior in high school. From the time I was in the seventh grade, I have been called "emo". I am actually still called "emo". When it first started, I just brushed it off as no big deal. It eventually got bigger. People would tell me to go kill myself, and go slit my wrists. I started taking offence to it. I began getting angry whenever people would tell me these things. They would laugh and say "Oh look, Colin's gonna go home and kill himself now." Eventually, I became one of the "emo" kids. I started dressing in all black, painting my nails black, and wearing eyeliner. It took a little while before I actually started cutting myself. I would have to hide it from my parents and my friends, because I thought that maybe they would start laughing at me as well. I found great comfort by listening to my favorite bands Black Veil Brides, and Avenged Sevenfold. Andy Biersack (singer of Black Veil Brides) would give me hope for a better tomorrow. While Matt Shadows (singer for Avenged Sevenfold) would help me get my aggression out. I still cut from time to time, but not as much as I used to. I am proud to say, that I am a very proud member of the anti-bullying campaign in my high school, and try my best to stop any bullying that I witness. That is my bullying story, thank you for reading.