Savannah starts kindergarden at age 5.Her mother packs her lunch everyday for school and suddenly relies her sweet, smart,  and funny daughter brings home her lunchbox still full. She ask Savannah why she hasn't been eating her lunch? Savannah tells her mother its bc shes fat! Her mother then replied darling, You are NOT FAT! Savannah said the girls at school make fun of her calling her names. Poor innocent

My name is Diana, I am 19 years old, and I have been a target of bullying for a majority of my life. The bullying for me began as early as Kindergarten. I am Romanian, and have always been proud of my heritage, so when I would go to school, my hair curly and big, kids would call me Lion. Now, it is a nickname I could welcome because my hair is a gorgeous mane, but when your "friends" call you that, at the age of 6, it also means you're terrifying and no one wants to be around you. 

I had very few friends. I was the odd one out. I had a black tooth from an incident when I was three and it killed the nerve, turning my front tooth black. I had braces in first grade. I was chubby, loud, and couldn't keep friends. People wouldn't invite me to sit with them at the tables. I walked by myself at recess. No one really wanted anything to do with me. 

As I got older, the teasing became more relentless and more cruel. I'd be called curse words, shoved away, have people laughing at me behind my back, making up rumors about me. In middle school a group of girls harassed me to the point I would cry in classes because I could hear them making fun of me. Puberty didn't hit me well. And because my family didn't have money, or I didn't have the cool kids clothes, I was the freak, the teachers pet, the slut, the bitch. 

High school was only a little bit better, because that's when I say I became "pretty." Still, I was the slut, the whore, the skank, and excluded from parties, or even going to the movies. I entered a relationship and was mentally and verbally abused to the point he almost drove me to suicide. It almost got to physical abuse, but I was smart enough to back out. That was my turning point in how people treated me.

I began to stand up for myself, and not care what people said about me. If I let what they said dictate my life, it wasn't my life anymore. I wasn't happy, but I was content. I stopped cutting as often as I did. I opened up more to my parents about my school life. I went to school, did my stuff, and left. Simple as that.

I graduated in May of 2012, and I can count on one hand how many friends I had. Because of that, I didn't feel bad about leaving my town and going to college near Chicago, where no one from my town or surrounding towns would be going. No one knew me there, and  no one was about to dictate my life.

I grew into myself, and people accepted me. I moved away from the situation, and I didn't feel like I was giving in to the bullying because I knew that I could make a better person of myself if I gave it the chance. 

Now I'm going to college and loving life. I have more friends in my year at school than I had in my 13 years of public education. I'm going on to bigger and better things, and hope to help kids by being a foster care social worker. I will make a difference in the world, because I've made a difference in myself. It just took a little while.

I have been bullied most of my life, even before I started schoo.  Being fat and red haired really makes you stand out.

Today, I still get called names.  I am 64 years old.  The hair is not so red anymore, more gray.

I still hear FAT ASS and now, it's old bat.

At my age, I can either ignore and consider the source, or possibly, say things to cause them pain.

You will get through it,  Cutting and suicide is not the answer.  Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem,

I do not know if i have had it as bad as any other but here i go. I just turned 16 yesterday and not many people i thought would remember , didn't. I have been isolated by much people. I have been bullied since the end of elementry in 4th grade. Now i am a junior in highschool and it only got worse. Right about now i would be okay with more of being teased instead of something this big. When i first started getting bullied it would be because i was the one who wanted to hang with the pretty girls when i was fat,4eyed, and ugly. Atleast thats what they would call me. That is where my insecurity started. Over the time in 6th grade where i started at a new school i was nowhere compared to other girls. I was flat chested and got teased because of it. I would stuff my bra but it was noticible.. It got worse so i began to cut myself but that only made it worse. Walking down a hallway being called "emo girl" i would rather hurt myself than be hurt by others words. Atleast that is what i would tell myself.. I got my first real boyfriend at that school amd fell for him quickly. I didn't know what it would be like and i of course thought i could trust him. He would ask me for pictures and i gave them to him. It was little mistake like that to give a whole new image of me. He showed them pictures off like if it were okay. I got the new names thrown at me in less then a second. "hoe, slut, skank, dirty bitch". Private phone calls began and never stopeed. It got worse each year the rumors would be more serious. They got to the point where they say i sleep with every guy i meet. I'm quick to give up my pussy. How i sleep everybody. 4-9 th grade was hell for me i never could stopp thinking about what everyone thinks so i began to have anxiety attacks often. I have tried committing suicide 4 times already and i am always stopped... 9-10th grade i broke down. I lept being strong too many years and the bullies finally won over me. I didn't want to go to school i couldn't talk to anyone. I kept inside a bubble and went into deppression mode. I lost 2 greaat bestfriends over all these rumors... 5 years of being bestfriends went down the drain because of all these rumors about me. They were embaressed of me. Aside from bullying i do not have a perfect family. My parents are divorced and i still cant accept it ever since i was 4. Up to this day at 16 and a junior i am bullied constantly. I can't make new friends because my past and bullies eventually swoops in and takes over. I still have suicide thoughts and i'm trying to be stron but i am on a thin lace here. Any minite now i can be gone forever.

Bullying affects everyone at each stage of life. School-aged children are most at risk with 160,000 students missing school every day due to the fear of attack or intimidation by other children (National Education Association). Bullying on the school bus is a nationwide problem:“outside of the playground, school bus bullying is the most common form of bullying among school-aged children” (www.todaysparent.com).

As a child, I remember riding the school bus home and feeling anxious when another child was being bullied. One boy was brutally teased and suffered physical abuse almost every single day for the entire school year. He got off at the same bus stop as I did, as we lived on the same street and would walk up the hill together. The quiet tears I saw rolling down his cheeks made me feel helpless. No one deserves that kind of treatment, and nothing was done to stop it.

Working at Seon has continued to increase my awareness of bullying and made me more committed to the anti-bullying cause. At Seon, we make it our business to ensure the safety of drivers and passengers on the road to school. Seon’s camera systems capture evidence of bullying on the school bus. According to the National Center for Mental Health Promotion and Youth Violence Prevention, cameras can both deter bullying behavior and provide details of incidents when they do occur. The installation of camera systems is one step in the right direction to stop bullying on the school bus.

We support The Bully Project and are starting an anti-bullying campaign to showcase in October for National Bullying Month. 

Tia O'Grady
Seon - Marketing Coordinator
http://www.seon.com/about-seon/anti-bullying

1.877.630.SEON

Hi I am 19 years old, I am attending Community College for a degree in Radiography, and I was born with a brain tumor: its on the left side of my brain, it goes down to my chest cavity; this gave me ADHD, anxiety, aspergers, and studdering. So as you can see how school went.

From what I can remember bulling started for me, was the 3rd grade. The school I went to was a medium size Christian School. From what I can remember, there was only a few people that made fun at me. But several people asked me questions I didn't know the answer (questions like "Are you straight or curvy?") then make fun of me for not knowing it, and told jokes, that were about me. But only a few made fun of me because, I started to get nervous (standing up to my bullies), and this is were my studdering or repeating words came into play, and my bullies made fun of me by: (and I remember this day) by acting like a robot, talking like a robot, and saying that I was a robot.

Then the 4th grade, oh boy this is were it really starts cooking, while still going to the same school. Well, I have just the thing to say, it mainly stayed the same. Standing up? Didn't work, still got nervous. Same bullies? Yep, but now 4th grade added a whammy, I got a 3rd grade bully and he brought two of his friends to stir the pot. So now In my grade I got (had) four bullies and now three bullies in the 3rd grade. Now back at that time I was weak, but luckily I had a few best friends, and a girl who liked me (I know, not "love") very much and same for me to her. So know this is where the jokes are gone, but making fun of me was continuing, and now name-calling came into play. Mainly I was called: dudet, a robot, and a looser. Now I remember, the 3rd grade bully (the main guy), made fun of me, so I got sick of it told him "I am older then you, you can't make fun of me." Kid ran to a supervisor, told a lie, but I told the truth, but the supervisor, when the the 3rd grader, and she said to me "You better watch what you say Bobby." Now this is how I got my 3rd grade bully and his two buddies. One of my friends, went down the slide, then the 3rd grade bully came down, and landed on my friend, he was sitting on him, and his friends were close so they joined him. Me and another friend of mine, tried to stop them, but they wouldn't listen to us. So got the supervisor, and put a stop to him. Now I told you I had four bullies in my grade, but there this main guy who would always do the bulling. So I got him to stop, how? The Assistant Principle, got him to stop. All the bullies were guys, none of the girls really talked to me. Sorry a few girls liked to talk to me. Oddly, the girl I fell in love with, and same for her. How both of us became really good friends, people were making fun of her glasses, and I stood up for her (my mom told me that, one time). So the bullies are gone right? Well at my school yes, moving to a different state, and a new school. Well I think you guessed it.

5th grade came in, went to a SMALL (and I really mean it) Christian School. Really I was made fun and pushed around, but it was here and there. But it wasn't too serious.

6th and 7th grade, this is really bulling started, and I really saw it. Now I went to Christian Schools (which doesn't make a difference), now 6th grade I went back to Public School, at first I thought, "I could do it, went to Public School in 1st and 2nd grade. I did it then, and I could do it again." Boy was I wrong. I am being serious here, there wasn't a day when I wasn't bullied; it happened everyday. But luckily, I found people around my social circle. Actually there was two groups, one was the classic rock/grunge rock group and the outsiders kind of group. Normally just got name calling or making fun of me. But I got tripped or punched in the arm. But I got back at one of my bullies (THANK-YOU FOR KARATE), and for that I helped two of my friends bullies (same got I got back at).

8th grade, went to a charter school, well I was bullied through the whole year, but I made friends and people who helped me. In 9th grade (half way the first half) was the last year I got bullied. I have to say what a life in school.

Now after sing all that, I am going to make a promise that I will do ANYTHING so my kids will not get bullied; and if they do get bullied I will do anything to do to stop it. Even if it kills me, but I will try to stop it.

I have never really been the victim of bullying, nor have I ever been a bully.  There was only once in my life where I can say I did something that I now look back on with a certain degree of shame which was make fun of a kid who was new to the country because of his accent... The worst irony is that he was Chinese, and I am half Chinese myself.

I am in fact proud that I have at various times in my life helped people stand up to bullies.  One was a kid at school who kids made fun of because he was mentally handicapped, and another was standing up for a group of young girls (total strangers) who were being made fun of by a group of young boys because they were of a different culture.

The biggest reason I support The Project is because I really don't believe that people my age and older fully understand how bad it is for some kids these days.

For whatever reason stories about bullying and the death of children due to suicides have captured my attention and my heart, and nothing angers me more than knowing the cruelty of some people (both child and adult) and the ignorance that allows them to act in such a manner with no regard for the victim or their feelings.  When we have children killing themselves, and having to watch their peers be buried, something is grossly wrong with the world we live in.

I'm a big believer in the fact that we're all equal and all deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.  Often the things that others view as faults are not our own doing, and regardless are not a reason to be singled out and made fun of.  Whether you're poor and can't afford the trendy clothes that other kids wear, LGBT, nerdy and unathletic, there is a place for you in the world.... NO matter how much others tell you you do not belong, you do.

It breaks my heart that so many children feel there's no other way to deal with the pain than to take their lives, and it infuriates me that there's no effective means with which to deal with these situations.

As much as I want to tell every kid that it will get better, as it inevitably does if one is strong enough, I am saddened by the fact that kids have to be strong enough to ride it out waiting for that day, when there's no good reason they should be enduring what they do on a daily basis in the first place.

The biggest strength victims have is banding together to be their own support group.  There is strength in numbers and knowing you're not alone.  Be strong, find others who share your experiences, and share that strength with one another.

Even though people like myself will never understand what many of you face every day, we will stand with you to help put an end to it.  No one should live in fear for being who they are, and every child deserves to be happy and free from ridicule and violence.

Just wanted to let everyone know that like you I too was bullied in school.  I was fine in elementary school and actually used to get into a lot of fights but as I hit puberty around the 6th grade I just didn't like to fight or hurt people so I stopped and that's when I started being picked on.  I was very shy for some reason although I never used to be.  Later I would find out I'm a manic depressive (they call it bipolar now) plus I had really bad social anxiety and would have panic attacks.  I couldn't even talk to girls.  My friends were no longer the type of people I wanted to hang out with.  it's like everyone was having a pissing contest and all they wanted to do was wrestle and prove their manliness.  Sorry but I just wasn't into it, I really didn't like rolling around on the ground, I swear it was like they all needed an excuse to cop a feel. 

Anyway I was mainly being picked on by classmates and people I didn't even know.  I didn't care for sports and did everything I could to avoid them and gym which was impossible.  What is it was coaches who think dodgeball is fun for students?  Oh, I'm sure it's great for all the jocks and 6 foot tall kids but not for those of us who weighed a hundred pounds soaking wet.  I think it was just an excuse for them to torture the weak.  I finally quit doing gym period and started failing.  I eventually took band to get out of gym and that only made it worse.  I can remember days where strangers and those I'd been friends with growing up would just push me into lockers, call me names.  One day I was walking outside between classes and someone snuck up behind me and lifted me in the air and did a wrestling backbreaker move on me.  It knocked the wind out of me and my back hurt for 3 months afterwards. I never saw who did it.  I thought something was broken but couldn't really tell anyone.  The school never did anything to stop it so I finally quit reporting it.  My mom was too busy at work and my friends were too busy with their pissing contests trying to prove which one was more manly to talk to. 

Why is it that teachers never just step right out of their classroom to keep an eye on the hall?  That alone would help so much but they don't care or they're afraid.  They shouldn't be allowed to teach if they won't help us when we really need it.  Any moron can teach for a manual but a real teacher protects their students and helps to nurture them so they can grow.  Sure I learned math but what about all those social skills I really was going to need later in real life?  Being bullied destroyed every single skillset that I truly needed and nothing I learned in high school helped me one single bit in the real world.  Kinda makes their whole job pointless in my opinion.

Anyway I endured it, for years.  Even a few bigger girls would pick on me, pull my hair and stuff like that.  What do you do about that? I was brought up never to lay hands on a female and I wouldn't even though I wanted to.  I wanted to go back to hurting people like I used to but just couldn't. I didn't enjoy the way they made me feel but I hated the feeling of hurting people even more.  Eventually my mom met someone and we moved even though I didn't want to.  I'd finally made a very good friend who had the same interests.  We were working on a comic book together and I was very bummed.  We moved to a very small country town and that made things even worst but instead of being picked on by the jocks this time it was the outcasts who picked on me.  I was one of them but they didn't care because I wasn't born in this small town.  All of the girls had been dating their boyfriends since the freaking second grade and there was just nothing for me.  It really didn't help that my step dad was the worst bully I had.  Nothing like being choked by a 250 grown manbaby!  I didn't get into trouble, I didn't drink, smoke, get girls pregnant.  No, I was just a teenager who liked video games, guess that was wrong. I grew up in apartments and I guess since he had to work from a young age to get away from his dad who beat and did other things to him that I should know how to pull an engine from a car or plant a garden.  I love adults who want things but won't work for them, children are not free labor.  I didn't even like vegetables. Oh well, time to choke the scrawny kid since he screwed up again.

So I said screw it. I'm being cussed out, choked, thrown around. My mom's oblivious to his rages because she's become codependent after being alone for so long so I started smoking, then drinking then doing weed then coke, then well you get the picture.  But hey, I made some friends at least.  Of course I'd find out years later that they really weren't my friends.

Back before all this I finally made one good friend who graduated a year before I did and finally in my senior year I dropped out and got a G.E.D.  Funny how everyone wanted to talk to me then?  Why are you quitting, you're so close.  Why do you smoke?  I heard you're doing drugs, etc.  Yes, all freaking true, it was either that or take a weapon to school and show the world my frustration and I refused to do that no matter what.  Nothing and I mean NOTHING ever condones violence. Violence begets more violence which is one of many reasons I refused to fight back.  I guess I should have.  I made a big mess of my life for many years after getting my G.E.D.  People don't get what bullying does to a person.  It makes you angry, it hurts you, you feel weak, like a coward, a p@#$%,  you hate yourself, you become numb, then when you do feel it's only the worst of feelings until you want to explode and die.  I didn't though, I chose drugs.  I found out that by drinking and doing drugs I could be normal. I wasn't shy when I was drunk or high. I could be with girls, really good looking ones too.  Of course they weren't the kind of girls you really wanted to date but after having nothing and no one it felt like heaven.  Fast forward 10 years. I have no friends, no girlfriend, just a giant addiction to every drug known to man.  My health is going downhill, I am back where I started which is nowhere. 

I finally went to rehab, it took me years even after to finally kick it but I did.  I'm doing much better but I can't help wondering how much of my problems were caused by the bullying.  Would I have been quite so shy and timid if people had been nice to me?  I can barely look people in the eyes even today.  I'm working on it though.  I force myself to talk to people to meet their gazes.  I'm a manic depressive, I have insomnia and I have a ton of health problems due to constant drug abuse. I'm nearly 40 but haven't aged a day since I was 16.  My teeth are very bad, my face is wrinkled and I still hate myself.  Oh and I have no friends, not really.  But for once I finally feel almost normal.  you see I'm starting over.  You can start your life over at any point you want to and that's what I'm doing.  I'm going to go back to school hopefully by next year. I'm going to meet people, I will talk to everyone I meet.  I will surround myself with happy, fun people and will stay away from jerks.  My teeth embarrass me but hopefully they'll be fixed by then and if not I'm just going to tell people the truth about me and my life.  I don't care any more because you see I finally figured out that there was nothing wrong with me, it was other people who had the problems and I feel sorry for each and everyone of them.  I am a good person and I love others, I feel pain when I read of others being hurt.  I cannot stand people who prey upon others especially children.  I deserve happiness and even if my life never quite works out the way I want it will be okay.  I will strive for happiness because I've suffered too much not to.  I know in my heart I will find happiness and peace because I'm determined and I pray that each and every one of you will too.

I just want to give all of you a bit of advice and hopefully save you any of my hardships.  If things are so bad that you want to hurt yourself or others then quit school.  Don't think about your parents or anyone else.  Think about you.  Get your G.E.D. Make your parents home school you.  Do whatever you have to in order to be safe physically and mentally.  Don't change who you are for others.  Always be yourself.  If you're shy like I was, don't be.  There's no reason to be.  Trust me when I say that everyone and I mean EVERYONE has doubts.  Even that big bully jock who acts like he owns the world.  He has doubts too and even though you hate the people who bully you, don't.  Don't hate them, feel sorry for them.  Think about why they're like they are.  Some do it for attention, others do it because they have been abused and some just don't care.  Either way it's horrible that they can be so heartless and I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy. 

Do not turn to drugs or alcohol.  You may enjoy them for a while but you will wake up one day with nothing and no one and even though things don't seem like they can get any worst.  They can! Trust me. I found a good friend of mine that I went to rehab with dead.  He drank himself to death and I hadn't seen him in months. His body was badly decomposed and it bothers me to this day. It is etched in my eyes and I cannot get rid of the sight of him.  Things can get so much worse. 

Be yourself always.  You are a good person and deserve good friends. Any girl/guy would be lucky to have you but you have to make an effort.  Talk to girls/guys.  You don't have to be handsome or totally hot to get a boyfriend or girlfriend.  Trust me, there's tons of people who don't look like supermodels that are dating.  You do have to talk to them though.  Have confidence in yourself.  If you don't have any confidence, then fake it. Pretend that you do and eventually you will.  Look in the mirror every single day and say the three most magical words in the world.  "I Love You".  It truly is magical and will work wonders.  Allow good people into your life and cherish them.  Tell others you are being bullied, tell every single parent, teacher and student who will listen.  Keep telling people.  If you can't walk away from a fight then stand up to them.  Don't go overboard and hurt them but don't let them hurt you either. 

Anyway sorry for such a long story.  I love you all and you all deserve to be loved.  Things will get better.  Everything eventually passes and millions of kids have been exactly where you are right now.  You are not alone.  The cool thing is that half of you who are called nerds and geeks will be running this country one day.  I'm sure Bill Gates was probably picked on and look at him now. 

I've learned something very important.  Suicide is what happens when pain is greater than pleasure + coping resources.  We all cope differently. Some have more coping resources than others.  It doesn't make you weak if you can't cope well.  You just need more coping resources.  Start a journal, talk to others, get some professional help, start a blog, do anything you can, research it.  If you are having trouble coping then get more coping resources to help you deal.  This world needs each and everyone of you.  Don't let them win!

(Note: I just want to add that I did have a few Really good friends along the way - not everyone I met was a jerk and even some people I did drugs with were and are still VERY GOOD PEOPLE.  I have started reconnecting with the good one's lately.  They know who they are. Thank you for being there for me, for being yourself and for being good people and for after all this time still being my friend even though I dropped off the face of the planet for so long.  Things are definitely looking up for me and I hope things will go well for all of you too.)

ever since i was little i was made fun of. it started out as the typical schoolyard ''playful'' shoves to the ground...but as i got older i started to realize it wasn't playful. then i went to my dad about it and he told me to fight back. so i did and they stopped touching me and started using their words...and then one day in 4th or 5th grade some boy tackled me to the ground and beat me up while his friend recorded it...after that the verbal abuse got worse...and by the time 6th grade rolled around it became physical again...then 8th grade rolled around and i met my girlfriend...she was there for me and i was so happy...but the bullying got worse until we pretended not to be together anymore...and after that most of my friends ditched me for liking girls which was when my first suicide attempt happened...i survived...after that i had to lie to everyone just to have some friends...then i as caught with my girlfriend and everyone ditched us again. by that time the bullying was so bad i began hurting myself. and then my mom made my move in with her, her husband, and his parents...though it was really his parents that made me move in because in their eyes my sexuality was going to be the death of me and they wanted to "save my soul". i began a new school my freshman year and very few talked to me because of my style choice...i was a "satanic psychotic metalhead stoner freak" surrounded by preps, jocks, "swagfags" and kids that thought they were "pure OG"...not a good mix for me...but i did blend in with the metalheads, the stoners, the "black magic" kids and the outcasts...after the first month the bullies finally noticed me...i was mocked, laughed at, pushed, tripped...one day on my way to my friends house i was jumped...my self harming got worse..more frequent...and then another suicide attempt...once again...survived...went to Ireland and then came back in time for sophomore year...i started ditching classes to avoid certain people...by this time i was slipping away from everyone...and another suicide attempt rolled in...once again...survived...i made it the rest of the year with 3 more attempts....survived them all...then junior year....made friends and lost friends...had another attempt and dropped out of highschool...but that didn't matter...i was a junior with barely any Freshman credits so i wouldn't have graduated anyway...after that i spent most of my time on the internet where MORE bullying happened and self harm became an addiction...senior year has rolled around...and so far i have met a girl named Kai who had moved across the street from me...after that we became best friends and i practically moved in...though self harm was still an addiction she always managed to keep me somewhat sane...after i met her i met her best friend Raven and the three of us became sisters...after a while things seemed to get a lot better...then we met Jamie...and things went up and downhill...we all became bipolar...but we also became a family...after a while...Kai moved...this was two weeks ago...i broke down and self harm was once again was an addiction...now i'm trying to over come my battle and get my GED...and hopefully once i accomplish some of my goals things will get better for me...but until then i am sharing my story...hopefully i can make a few friends as well...i ran from my problem which was the worst choice for me...i hope you do not do the same

Like most kids, I started getting bullied around 5th grade. I had issues with my weight. I grew taller and faster then all the other kids. I had horrible acne. I was constantly criticized and make fun of. So many times I tried to stand up for myself, only to fail and get bullied even more. I remember one specific occasion that happened in one of my 6th grade classes. There was a girl in that class who targeted me for no reason. I had never spoken to her before, and I suddenly was a target for her. She actually went after me in front of the whole class, including the teacher, and no one did anything. I was left to defend myself, and somehow I, TOO, got into trouble! What kind of public school system do we have that bullying happens right in front of a teacher's face and, yet, they still do nothing?!

High school was better, but I still always felt like an outcast. I dressed differently, I still had problems with my weight and acne. I was never the girl that guys went after, never the first person picked in a gym class that was already a joke to begin with. I saw other kids get picked on, too, and I saw school faculty look the other way like nothing was happening. I have been to 12 schools over my lifetime (I grew up Army), and they were all the same.

We moved to a small town called Yelm in Washington State when my dad got transferred to Ft. Lewis back in 2007. He shipped off to Iraq a week after we moved into our house. I had never felt more alone and like an outcast then ever. I withdrew from everything and everyone. I skipped class, I skipped school. I made up every excuse that I could think of to not have to go to that miserable place. I remember one teacher who just called me "lazy" in front of the whole class. Never once asked me what was going on, if I was going through something that was causing my behavior.

It is AMAZING how out of touch with reality the public school system is.

I don't remember the point where I started standing up for myself. I think it was towards the end of my junior year of high school. I stood up to my teachers, and I knew if I could stand up to them, then I could stand up to everyone else, too. I knew that I couldn't let them win. If I gave up on myself, on what I wanted out of life, then that was letting them win. The greatest victory is not letting them win. Thankfully, I have very supportive parents who helped me get there.

I am now a happily married woman, I have a good paying job, and I own my own business. I won't lie and say that I never think about the things that happened to me. There's a lot more detail that I could go into about what I went through, but it would take me all day to talk about it.

What I can tell you is that I will try as hard as I can to prevent other kids from going through what I did. I will try as hard as I can to make the public school system own up to their failures in keeping kids safe. Better measures need to be taken to ensure the success and happiness of our children. While we all have to go through hardships to learn in life, it should not be at the expense of the safety of our kids.