In the 4th and 5th grade I was call a snake because of my teeth. I have a gap. I didn't think it was a big deal until then. I thought I was ugly and no one cared about me. Their was nothing I could do about it. I was always called ugly and for the longest I just called myself unique. But I never believed it. As I grew up I started on to care about anything and started be a bully and hate everything and everyone for no reason. I knew it was wrong but I didn't care because if I didn't act that way everyone would just keep being mean to me. I started going to this church called Hope Alive Freedom church and it opened my eyes to see that you can't judge someone if you don't know their story. I and now 17 years old and now that my eyes are open as I reach my junior year of high school I want to show everyone that their is no need to bully it only makes America worst then it has to be. I will not stop fighting for every child that had went through bullying weather it is big or small no one should have to go though that.

Between getting called a tranny and being shoved into whatever hard, metal object was around at the time (car, water fountain, lockers, doors) and even at one point getting hit in the back of the head with cleated shoes, I don't know which hurt more.

I come from a town full of rich kids. Carmel, Indiana. "Top 10 safest areas to raise your kids" if they're cookie cutter normal. I don't like sports, I'm not a girly girl. I even cut my hair short in the first grade which in my class wasn't a normal "girl" thing to do.

From then on I knew I was gonna be treated different. In elementary school, other girls wouldn't go near me half the time. And when we lined up for recess they pushed me into the boys line because I looked like one. In third grade I'd had enough of that. So I decided to blend in. I grew my hair out. I started wearing makeup and dresses and secretly hating every second of it. Fifth grade rolled around and I started cutting myself. Fifth grade. That would've made me what... 11? 11 years old and already to the breaking point.

After enduring another year and a half of dresses and long hair, I had a break down. My mom cut my hair. My dad and I went out and bought an entirely new wardrobe. And I got a chance to be me no matter what was going to happen.

I didn't stop cutting though. Still haven't. It's been almost six years since that breakdown and I still haven't gotten over what I did to myself in order to fit in. As for high school, I'm still going through that. Seventh and eighth grade I came out as truly bisexual. Leaned more towards girls than boys, which opened to door for words like "fag" and "f-cking queer" to be etched into my back as if those two words were my new names. Eighth grade I took it a step further. Came out as bigendered or gender fluid. Oh boy. That just pissed everyone off. My teachers stopped looking my way when entire sports teams would gang up on me in the hallways. The nurse didn't even call my parents when I went into her office with two fractured ribs and a pretty decent shiner on my left cheek. Administrators looked the other way when things were thrown at me. And I was the one that got in trouble when "Trannies aren't welcomed here" was sharpied onto the front of my locker.

Since then. I've changed schools. I go to a no tolerance towards bullying high school. Half of the student body almost is some part of the LGBT community. And people are accepting. But the fact is simple. NOBODY. Should have to be forced to drive 45 minutes away from their own home just to be safe at school. Not when there's a school not even five minutes down the street. It shouldn't be an issue for administrators to push past their own opinions and help out a student in need. And it really shouldn't be an issue for teachers to recognize "hey. that kid might need my help after all"

-Jordan White, 16

I just recently saw the movie, "Bully" and it inspired me to immediately get on this website and see if there was anything I could do to make a difference. I'm about to graduate from college now, but when I was in grade school I was a victim of bullying myself. As a kid, my family moved several times to different states, which meant I had to switch schools a lot. This was not easy, especially when I got older. It was very hard to adapt to an environment where everyone has known each other since Pre-K and the entire community sticks to a conservative, judgmental, pretentious behavioral structure that excludes newcomers. We always lived in uppity suburbs and went to the top rated public schools that were suppose to provide me and my brother with the best of the best school experience. I was not a cheerleader, a member of student council, or dating anyone on a sports team. I was a drama kid-- who didn't even mesh with the drama department at my school. I did theatre out in the community. Those experiences made me confident and gave me something to hope for when I would finally graduate. But, that didn't make my school life any easier. I remember walking through the halls on the last day of senior year and thinking that I will never miss that place-- that fake little brick building with all it's plastic, paper-thin students and begrudging faculty. And I was right-- I have never once missed high school, those lonely afternoons spent in the library or bathroom during lunch, the miserable pep rallies or the torture of prom season. But with all that to say, while I used to wish to fit in and blend in with the crowd, I am now so unbelievably happy that high school wasn't my prime and I went on to find a community where I belong. We all think that middle school and high school are the worst days of our lives and that things won't get any better. Well from my experience, it was. I have yet to run into a single one of the bullies I knew in high school since graduation that was actually successful and happy. Things got easier for me after high school. That's not to say that there won't still be challenges-- petty drama even (because there will always be that one or two people that are perceptually stuck in the 7th grade)-- but after you know you've gotten through the worst of it, everything else you face becomes a little more bearable. My advise-- find a passion outside of school. Whether it be an art class, book club, volunteer work, whatever... find a passion and set a goal for yourself to distract your attention away from the abuse at school and onto something that makes you feel important.

“Every human is an artist. The dream of your life is to make beautiful art.”  
― Miguel Ruiz, The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom    

Love yourself and know your truth,

Gina D

Loser, fag, gay, tranie, geek, band geek, freak, weirdo... Yep I've been called all these names since the second grade. All it's been is a living hell!! And who knew your sexuality could change your life. I knew at that moment I wasn't gonna live will all the names...so I tried to take my own life.....Luckily the rope snapped. After that I fell into a deep depression and began telling lies to people to get them to like me.... Like the time I went to the Olympics in China and flew in two days...NOT!  A few years later.... HIGH SCHOOL!!!!! Hey Fresh Meat! Who knew a six foot kid could fit into a locker!! :) I finally told them enough and got into a huge fight not gonna say who won....ME.... After that people left me alone.. I thought. That was until I got death threats.... Finally I am here taking a stand and hope this could help! :)

It all started when I was in kindergarten. I know, very young, but I was the new kid and everyone knew each other so I was excluded a lot. I didn't have the best behavior with adults so I was always known as "the weird rebel kid" and it hurt. The teachers and my parents all thought it was my fault and it kept going on through the years. Instead of wearing the skirts(it was a catholic school so we had separate uniforms for boys and girls) I wore the boys uniforms because I didn't like the skirts. I got teased for that a LOT. In second and third grade, I was called a "lesbian" and people raised the middle finger at me. I didn't know what it meant till I asked my brother and he ended up confronting the kids. But it didn't stop there. I was a soccer player, and we always had practice at 4 so that meant we had to wait and hour at school for pewee practice to finish. During that time, I got physically beat up. I never told anyone and to this day few people know about it. Then I started getting episodes( tantrums but WORSE) , and I was seriously losing it.  I was  diagnosed with anxiety Disorder  later on so the bullying Messed me up not only physically, but mostly mentally.  In fifth grade, I started wearing the regular uniform, and I just changed. People saw it but didn't know how. I was put on meds I because they were "in fear of me hurting other students". I stil had no friends though so...yeah. The school closed and I moved to Pennsylvania. I was a actually  accepted, and "Popular" but I didn't care. It was nice, but I couldn't help but hang out with the kids that were considered weird and disgusting because I was one of them. I was STILL one of them even though I wasn't getting bullied anymore. Recently, I finished 7th grade and during the summer I got a call. An old friend, or one of my ONLY friends called me talking about one of the girls that bullied me harshly. You see, she was the type of person that hated me outside but behind close doors we were "good friends" I dare say. Anyway, the girls on the phone asked me if she was alive. I was confused but then I saw that she was actually suicidal.  On Instagram she had pictures and descriptions that were very scary and the latest one was basically a "goodbye" note. I called her parents and found out they were leaving her in the house alone and I told them and made the parents aware and showed them the pictures. The girl actually thanked me and now she is doing better than ever. You see, my story got better but the bully only got worse. I write this to show you how you can open people's eyes and be there because even the people that can be horrible to you, have their times of need and that's when you can make a difference!:)

I have only ever been bullied by my older sister. She would always make fun of me in school and tortured me when we were at home. My "friends" would end up coming over and then became friends with her and told her all my secrets. Well I'm older now and I've learned a lot and this story isn't for me...It's for my siblings, Lola and Jesse. Jesse was born with one leg shorter than the other by at least 3 inches and on that same leg he only had 3 toes on that foot. He would always wear something that covered his feet and wore a special shoe that had 3 inches at the bottom to keep his back from curving. Well when kids see this they think differently of him, they make fun of him. Lola is special. She is just as bright as anyone else in her school but learning is harder for her. She is "socially awkward." She always had trouble making friends and staying ahead in school. She was always very emotional and dramatic. I remember her not wanting to go to school one day because the kids on the bus were mean and one boy put gum in her hair. Fighting back the tears as I write this I remember watching all these videos of children killing themselves because everyone says "it will get better soon" they want it better now and don't think it will ever get better. I fear my siblings will someday think the same way. Every time I'm online and I see a cyber-bully I stand up for those being bullied and open the eyes not only to the bystandards but to those who support the bullies as well. This is my next step of action...Joining anti-bully programs to learn more, so when my siblings have problems with bullies at school I know what to do and say. I refuse to be a bystandard

Two years ago, I was a freshman in high school. I was so excited for that year, but those thoughts were not what I had expected. First, my best friend got bullied from our own friends and I stood up to them. I am an intelligent teenage girl whose strongest class was biology. I obtained great grades in that class. That was the reason why I got bullied. These girls ganged up on me, taunted me, made fun of me. I felt like my life was under a microscope. They cyberbullied me and they verbally abused me. I told my mom about it right from the start. The things they did were hurtful, but I never let it get to me. I am a strong girl. I had face to face confrontations with them. They disrespected our mutual teacher and i wrote a note because i felt that what they did was wrong to the teacher. They founded it out but i did not care. My mom and I printed everything out, and we proceeded to the school. It got to the point if they did one more thing, they would have gotten suspended. We also went to the police, but they did not physically threaten me. I turned my pain into anger and laughed at them. They were jealous that I was smarter than they were. Also, because I am pretty and smart. That always makes girls jealous. I want everyone to read my story because it's a great example of being strong and standing up for yourself. Everyone needa to feel empowered against and up to your bully. This is your life, you control it! 

I never expected to be picked on in my life. But I have been. In March of '08, I got jumped by this group of kids at my middle school. I wasn't seriously injured, but it gave me a taste of how some people try to take control of those who they think is weak. I wasn't. The last time they jumped me, I brought one of them down with a leg sweep and then he got in trouble with the cops. I've never been one to interfere with someone else's business. But I can't deny the fact that bullying is nothing more than useless, meaningless, thoughtless and incapable of allowing someone to truly understand someone else. Bullying is acting on first sight; just by how one looks on the outside. Trying to understand someone just by how they is stupid and nearsighted. You need to get to know the person first. Make contact. Find common ground. Do it with anyone you know; a classmate, a neighbor, anyone. Also, don't restrict yourself to those within a certain social queue. Get to know those outside your own likings. Personally, I can't stand the one-sided, negative beliefs people have when they see the slightest little glimpse of someone from the gothic subculture. Those who see them as sadistic and suicidal are seriously screwed-up. They don't understand that their negative remarks are, without the shadow of a doubt, equivalent to bullying. Basically, bullies are one-sided people who just act on first sight and deformed ambition. They can't understand the feelings of those they believe are below themselves. All in all, try to be the kind of person who is capable of getting to know someone inside and out. Just watch your back.

Hi.I have been bullied since the  2nd grade .It's been one hell of a journey .Most people ask me how i'm still alive when i say my story . I'm not ashamed of it . When i was in the 2nd grade i moved to the middle of no where in florida .I didn't know anyone .When i went to school on the first day i got judged .Because i got asked what i wanted to do with my life and i told them make music and be happy. Teachers laughed and students laughed 'it'll never happen' or 'your never going to be famous freak' I never regretted what i said i never took it back i stuck to it .Till this day i stick to it. The gym coaches would throw dodge balls at me while i wrote. I might have been young but i had alot of feelings . i would go home and act like nothing happened at school .Then i started getting picked on at lunch . When 5th grade hit i decided i couldn't take it anymore .I began to self harm .I would skip gym and go to the libary and during lunch i would eat with the staff .I was very quiet back then but i dressed in black and never spoke but once i sang and played guitar emotions spilled out .Then middle school began .I thought to myself 'new school new start'. I soon came to notice it was the same mean people with more mean people .I began to talk then .Living in less fear .I would wear boots everyday and write all the time . I got my head shoved down a toilet probley once ever week .Trust me, toilet water isn't good .Girls picked on me constantly and everytime they picked on me it would stick with me .Never leaving just always there. I began to push everything away .For the one or two friends i had i pushed them out, i pushed out my family, everyone would ask if they could do anything i would run from them .I found myself completly alone with words that haunted me .Then i thought to myself 'this is how you wanted it Gracie' i didn't regret anything .I sat alone in my room with Music .I hated feeling like i was the only person out there that was different .That had problems .Then these bands came along and pratically saved me from my dark depression .Yes im still suffering from it .I still get bullied .I still want to be a rockstar . I just support bulling with all i have since i was a victim . I don't want anyone to feel the way i felt . The only way i got out of that depression of a black hole is Hope, It is the only thing stronger than fear. 

I'm Jacqueline (gracie) Scott and i am a survior and i will live my dream!c:

I am 36 and the Chief Technology Officer of the bank at the forefront of housing development financing in the Maldives. However, prior to turning 11 years of age, I was nothing close to developing into the confident leader that I am now.

At age 8 I stopped playing football because parents watching from the sidelines accused me of being overaged simply because I was taller than the other kids. Some of my fellow classmates finally found a gentle giant that they could bully, which made themselves feel powerful. Once, I got poked with the end of a compass and got an infection that lasted a week.

However, like all 'strong boys', I refused to make a big deal of it - I was often given the Maldivian equivalent of the line 'making a mountain of a mole hill'. Yet, every once in a while I had to fend off a bully willing to test just how pacific the gentle giant was. It helped that I was the tallest kid around - that I was nice to everyone, including the victims of bullying, did not help so much. The only reason why I did not push back was primarily due to lessons I was learning from books by authors like R.L. Stevenson (particularly Treasure Island) and Enid Blyton (I especially recall the Barnaby mysteries and Secret Seven).

When I turned 11, I was gifted an 8088 personal computer by my Uncle, for the high scores I was receiving in school. That changed my life!

Being an avid reader, it did not take me long to assimilate the knowledge to start programming in languages like BASIC, C and Foxbase. I learned a lot from a software studio that my uncle introduced me to, and I started realizing that I was slowly getting as good at software development as some of the professionals working there.

I started becoming more confident as I honed my programming skills. As my confidence grew, my need for seeking the acceptance of my peers diminished. When I turned 12, I had enough confidence to join the school brass band - which I quit of my own accord a year later to concentrate more on my studies. I even got back into sports and joined the volleyball team, and later the basketball team - I ended up being the starting center in my high school team.

After I turned into one of the 'cool kids', I did not become yet another conformist. I had enough of a mental foundation to know what my limits were and how not to discriminate against anyone. So, I ended up being the jock who hung around with the 'nerds', which did not go unnoticed of course. However, no one could physically take on me, nor could they frazzle me with annoyances.

So, what was my secret?

Firstly, I was blessed by God with a bigger physique, which helped a lot. Some of the friends I was looking out for - unbeknownst to them to this day - were less fortunate and suffered physical abuse in school.

Secondly, I know that the books I was reading helped a lot. Writers like Enid Blyton go to great pains to incorporate valuable life lessons into their books. Five of my childhood favourites revolve around the subjects of equality, justice and respect: Lord of the Flies, Of Mice and Men, Uncle Tom's Cabin, Little Women and Roll of Thunder Hear My Cry. These are books that every parent should install in their child's reader.

Lastly, acquiring a special skill helped immensely with my self-esteem. I did not quite understand how until some years later. Learning a special skill, something that one can fall in love with and nurture as a passion, helps one know that he/she can contribute to the great circle of life. It can be seemingly simple skills like sewing or complex ones like theoretical physics. I believe that the proclivities of children must be reinforced by providing them the necessary resources.

Even without aid from their elders, the vast majority of children are extremely resourceful. If their elders fail to give them the needed support they often find it on their own - usually in literature. However, once in a while, a child can end up losing hope in the absence of support from their elders or peers. Once in a while, the bullying gets to them.

Sometimes a parent may not be able to tell when this happens to their child. Sometimes parents may not be able to intervene directly even if they knew, particularly since bullying is oftentimes very hard to demarcate. But they can always give the child the knowledge and confidence to weather the bullying. It will also help to aid children find strong allies in their schools.