I was a victim of RIDICULE & BULLYING
Enough is Enough. We Must Protect All Children!
http://swtimes.com/sections/news/student-wants-school-do-more-stop-bullying.html
http://www.bullyville.com/?page=story&id=6742&sid=10159
Start Loving You
My mother always said that I would be a little different and I couldn't imagine what gave it away (my strange obsession with Alice Cooper at an early age or my infatuation with horror movies by the fourth grade) but I always liked being different. Of course, around my middle school years I wanted to be popular or fit in but I really never did and my closest friends were extremely fond of reminding me that I was unwelcome even among them. This was around the time I realized that girls would never be fond of me.
I came into my own in high school when I decided that it was perfectly OK for a girl to wear a slayer shirt and ripped jeans every day. I got A LOT of male attention this way. I can't say I minded, I found them easier to talk to, hang out with, and discuss my interests with. This, however, gave me quite and unflattering reputation. It also did not help that I was coming into my bisexual personality with many questions regarding how I was supposed to feel. I had rumors spread that I was performing sexual acts at school, in cars, and even with older men that were closer to their thirties when I was merely in my teens. There was even a rumor that I had had an abortion when I was 14 and newly swept off of my feet by my first high school boyfriend. I was not just called but believed to be a slut. I am not saying that I was a saint, on the contrary I was quite opposite. I smoked cigarettes and drank more than I should have but I was moral, kind, and a very loving person. Though sometimes I would convince myself that I was easy, a quick lay, that really didn't deserve much when it came to romance. I let many people take advantage of me and I didn't hold my body to much of a regard.
This is still a reoccurring problem with me and I am in my early 20's. All through college I had trouble with commitment and relationships and still do to this day. I have many male friends, with only few exceptions, and I have dated the majority of them and because of this I am considered a man eater due to the number of broken hearts I have left in my wake. Sometimes, it would seem as though I would seek out the one man that would do the most harm to me simply because I do not believe that I am worth the effort. Sometimes I believe that I am truly the slut that everyone painted me to be. I not only put my body at risk with this behavior but I also have hurt many people in the process. Though bullying is not the only thing that has contributed to my life style, I do believe that it has definitely made me, as an adult, think less of myself. If I were taught to stand up for myself as a teenager and built my self respect I may know how to deal with these kind of feelings long before now.
I have a very special friend, who I had dated for three years, and have continued to be friends with for years after we broke up. He has taught me to make a strong effort to love myself. He reminds me that my feelings are normal and that my mistakes are fixable. At one point, when my self esteem was so bad that I couldn't give myself a compliment to save my life, he helped me build and and shape myself image that I can now be more positive and assertive when sticking up for myself. I have even been able to sing in front of large groups of people which I would have NEVER been able to do 3 years ago. He is the only person in this entire world that I feel like I can be 100% honest with. He is the only person on earth that has seen me in my most vulnerable image. And he loves me very much. So much that it hurts him when I bring myself down. So much that he has never given up on me even when it was the easier option. And I can not thank him enough because there is not a word kind enough to accurately portray that help that he has given me. I hope that all of you have someone in your life that can do this for you. I also hope that you will be this person for as many people as you can. I know that I wish I could help him the way he helps me.
I have started saying three good things about myself a day. And really trying, finding things that I am proud of, that I can look into the mirror and say to myself to start building that self esteem. I have a pretty voice. I am strong enough to quit smoking after 10 years of addiction. I am really funny. Please do this every day. Show yourself that you need to respect yourself before anyone else is going to. Understand that you are worth the fight. That you are a beautiful human being and that you deserve friends, love, and respect. You are great at being you because there is only one of you and you are the best at it. Love yourself. Then, and only then, will you be accept others into your life. In the words of The Beatles, Love is All You Need.
Sincerely,
Lena
Rise Above
It was strength, I guess that got me though in the end, or maybe it was fear to give up at a such a young age. And although I am so much stronger then I was back then, my heart still slows down and my stomach turns when I think of all the times I was bullied. I can't remember a day without getting called names (like fat, ugly, b*tch or s*ut, ect.) being harassed in the halls, in class, even at home on the Internet, being threatened on a daily basis, and even physical abuse. It all starting with the constant name calling, that I never really though much of. I though people just didn't like me that much and the name calling would eventually just die down. My even to this day I am known to be and extrovert and I'll use my mouth. I'm not one to put up with stuff for long. And of course when I was younger, I never knew when the time was right to open my mouth. Kids would call me names and I would react right away, probably calling them something back. Eventually that name calling progressed pushing me around physically. I can remember I would come home with buries on me arms and red marks/slashes on my face, and my mother would ask me what happened? I would tell her something along the lines of, "oh I just tripped and fell" or "someone accidentally hit me by accident, or even "my friends are just 'joking' around with me and slapped me". But really what was going on was them taking advantage of me and shoving me punching me slapping me kicking me and pushing my into walls. I never told my mom even to this day that's indeed what happened, but she eventually caught on. She's too smart to let that stuff slip. She would report it to the school, and the school would tell my mother " I was instigating the bullies". But the cliques got tighter and I was caste out. Not to mention during this whole time of being beaten down, I was in the process of getting diagnosed WITH A RARE LIVER DISEASE! Doctors never believed me and the kids would think it was hilarious that I would fold over and start crying in class because of horrible abdominal pain. Or they would think it's funny that I would pass out in the middle of school and start seizing. It didn't stop the kids from bullying me, the doctors not believing me, and the administrates from just sitting there watching me go through it all by myself. I had no one in eight grade. Not one friend to stand up for me. Even my own family didn't believe me. My mother was the only one who stood by me from day one. She was the one that took me in and adopted me after all. Any ways after so many months of people name calling me and pushing me around I starting trying to stand up for myself even more. It back fired. The threats starting pouring in over facebook, saying "they'll put me in the hospital". My principal would ignore the emails that my mom sent to warn him this was going on and I would walk into school with my stomach in knots and a hard hit in the stomach. They beat me up so bad that I did end up going to the hospital, but was suspended along with he girl who beat me up. With in a few days of coming back to school from my suspension another threat headed my way. This time I would fight back. I walked in with my head up high but walked out broken. I got beat up once again from yet another girl. Facebook posting, cheering on the bullies, congratulating them, and thanking them for fighting me. I finally knew I was never going to be excepted. I got suspended once again. When I was able to go back to school, the school put an assembly together about cyber-bullying leading to suicide. Not to long after that did I plan my escape, My liver disease started acting up a week before I attempted suicide. I took a week off from school till I felt better. But when I walked into school that Friday, I remember having a plan. I walked into the lunch room at lunch time. Tied my sweatshirt around my neck in front of everyone and pulled it tighter and tighter till I started blacked out. The ambulance was called but the school cancelled it, because they got me to stop, and restrained me. They waited for my mother to come get me and after that day I never once stepped in that school again. I went to the hospital that night for a suicide attempt and I got the help that I need. I have marks from razor blades and marks from the emotional abuse still. But tattoo's saying RISE ABOVE to hide the scars and remind what I've been through. My names Jill and I over came the struggle you can too! Rise Above Forever And Always <3
My strong little sister
My sister was bullied for 4 years, it started when she was in the fourth grade and just ended when she was in the eight grade. She is my hero, she has stayed strong and positive through the whole thing. She found better people to be with. So now i have started in my school "Unity day" the idea came from PACER. On October 9th i shall wear the color orange to show my support against bulling.
Dear Students
Dear Students,
Keep your head up your crown is falling, I wanted to tell you to not listen to anybody about what they think of you there just mad because you have something they don’t have and that is self-conferenced and that is something that everybody has trouble with but you are a very smart person I know that people might say other stuff but everybody is smart and you should not listen to them you are one of a kind. The only reason they bully is because they think is cool and other people who follow think that there being cool to but it not cool and they don’t know it. If you are getting bullied tell somebody or if you just need to talk you can just talk to me, smile to it look great on you, Well hope this made your day and smile.
Love
Sabrina F.
Bullied by siblings and classmates growing up, and now being bullied at work. When will it stop
From the time I was very young I was bullied by my sisters and brother on a daily basis. My mother never did a thing. To this day my sister does not want me to tell her what they did. She did at least tell her daughters so they would not to the same to each other. Never has she apologized. They do not understand that the way they treated me growing up made me who I am today. My soon to be ex is an alcoholic and emotionally and verbally abusive. I found a job at a hospital here in Rockford, Il only to be threatened before I even started. On the day i went in to do my labs a woman in the department I was to work in told me that she was going to kick my ass my first day. I lasted less then 2 weeks, taking her and her cohorts abuse. The supervisor did nothing but tell me why it was ok for her to treat me this way. Human resources has been no help. Thank goodness for the new anti workplace bullying law. Will be putting it to the test. Thank you for bringing bullying to the forefront. We need to stop it everywhere, home, school, and the workplace.
Middle school. Great bastards
Middle school almost destroyed me. I'm Rossana, I'm 15 and I'm italian.
I am in 11th grade now and I study in a High School of Art.
I started middle school happily, I was excited and hopeful, I wanted to meet new guys, new girls and make new friends. First year of middle schools wasn't that bad. But then...
I started thinking differently by the mass, wearing t-shirts of bands, listening to rock music, I was not interested in shopping or hanging out or bullying other people. So the whole school turned against me. I was a little philosopher, I always loved to read and drawing and playing a musical instrument. But kids hated me for no reason.
I was called lesbian, idiot, ugly girl, strange, creepy. I wasn't that bad. I was a normal girl but they made me think that I was an error, that I was wrong.
They destroyed my self-ensteem, my security. I hated me. I wanted to kill everybody and kill myself, in middle school. I suffered, I cried but I never hurted myself or someone.
I'm stronger now, I have more friends and I'm fighting to reach again my self-esteem.