My name is Katie and I am 20 years old. In 7th and 8th grade (way back in 2005) I was bullied. Two boys in my class would call me "wizard" because I was so nerdy and I liked Harry Potter (and, incidentally, wore glasses that looked a bit like HP's). However, that wasn't the extent of the bullying. Someone asked them why they didn't call me a witch instead of a wizard, since I was a girl... they said it was because I was so ugly, I looked like a boy. They held me down and kicked me, pulled my hair in the hallways, told me I was disgusting... every day I went home to my parents and cried. I told my teacher, but she did nothing about it. She just told me to get a hold of myself and ignore them... which is impossible, when all they do is follow you around all day in order to torment you. We told the principal and he didn't care. It stopped in high school, but only because I had become so quiet that no one bothered to bully me anymore.

I'm here to tell you it gets better. I know if you're getting bullied right now, it seems like it will never end. The bullies are vile, awful people and it seems like they'll never go away... but they will. And you will survive and become a better person. I'm studying Elementary Education (with a Middle School endorsement) right now, so that I can help children who are bullied. I want to make a difference. I am sick of seeing teachers and school administration not care about these kids and I am going to make sure that I can help. Bullying is real and there need to be consequences for the bullies.

I am a successful young woman, working towards her college degree. I am happily living on my own with my boyfriend and am most certainly not so ugly that I look like a boy. I still love Harry Potter, though. I am fighting bullying and just know, that everything will get better for you. You just have to get past this stage in your life, and everything will be better.

Hi my name is Rick; and I just want all young people to know that you are not the only ones being bullied. I am a senior, suffering with depression/bipolar/PTSD and I also have a rare blood disorder. Shortly after my mom died, out of greed, my siblings started bullying me. They also viciously attacked me, and then they had me evicted from the family home. I started an organization called, “The Friends of Rick Daniels" I want to bring awareness to the crime of bullying and to show support to those that have been bullied. Please watch my YouTube video “Rick Daniels Bullied at Age 61” and go to my website WWW.rickdaniels.com

I first started getting bullied in 5th grade. I was different, i was weird, and i had really bad acne. The thing that still sticks with me to this day is a boy told me he could play connect the dots on my forehead. It really hurt me. My friends tried to help, like if they made fun of something I was reading, Ally would read it right in front if them. In 6th grade it got worse. They made fun of everything about me. I became so insecure that my 7th and 8th grade years I didn't talk to anyone except a few friends. They called me the school reject. My friends were outraged, but i believed it as if it was the truth. Now, after just completing my 9th grade year, I've learned it was. I'm still extremely insecure and defensive, but I'm getting better. I've only had a couple problems with a girl spreading mean rumors about me. If people say stuff long enough, you start to believe it. I've learned that just because they say it repeatedly, doesn't mean it's true.

My son was recently hospitalized due to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder stemming from being a victim of bullying. He hid his psychic scars well, but he reached the breaking point. We brought him home last week, and his self-esteem has improved as has his outlook in general. I pray that parents, educators, and others who work with youth will educate themselves regarding the signs and symptoms of bullying--they're not all easy to spot.

Hi. I'm Nicole . I'm 16 years old and had many issues with being bullied . I thought hey it happened to everyone until it started getting to me . See life wasn't easy growing up my parents split and I was molested by my dads best friend so I was already pretty messed up. I had a normal childhood until middle school. Sixth grade was when I was molested but besides that everyone was my friend and I could ignore the little comments thinking it was a joke . By seventh grade it wasn't as good . I had lost a lot of friends but I don't remember rink bullied but then again some times I block things out . Eight fade it got bad . I started to date this kid that was younger than me and his brother was in my grade . That's when everyone started to pick on me they would say I was dirty and I had aids. One day I snapped we had been to the principle and they didn't do anything I yelled at this kid for calling me a dirtball and I got in trouble instead of the other kid . At school I would sit in the bathrooms and cry . By high school freshman year it almost felt like 6th grade again I really wasn't even noticed but then I blocked people out . My depression kicked in . Freshman year I began to cut myself all over my body and I started smoking and drinking . By freshman year I had a new boyfriend but he was abusive . He'd punch me and pick on me calling me his whore . I lost my V-card to that boy . I thought I loved him . I spent 13 months with him before I left . Then it started again people would say I was a whore and pregnant and fat . I started to believe them so my mom took my to a therapist and psychologist . They put me on anti depressants and after holding in what happened to me in sixth grade I told my mom. My mom said she saw me release even though I was crying I didn't look angry anymore . I still get bullied but I stopped listening . I want to make a change . And if anyone . I mean anyone needs a friend . Ill be there

In middle school, I had people by my side who I thought were friends. One day, I was getting picked on because of my hair, which is frizzy and because of the way I dress and I thought that my so called "friends" would back me up, but it turns out they were also the ones laughing and teasing me, and that day I learned you can never really trust someone, not even your friends.

It started in about 3rd grade. I was a little bit odd from the rest of the kids, but it didn't really matter until middle school when it started getting worse. There was one kid in particular who was the worst of them all. He was constantly tormenting me and one day I finally snapped. It was the last day of band in 8th grade. He wouldn't leave me alone; we weren't doing anything band-related, just sitting there. He was flicking my ear, making remarks and such. After a couple more flicks I got fed up and smacked him with my band folder. Luckily the teacher saw me hit him before he retaliated and we both got in trouble in for the incident, but I was never bullied again. Something that helped stop the bullying was my involvement in wrestling. It helped with my self-esteem and made me more confident that I could stop the bullying myself. But the one thing that I took from this entire experience is to never let anyone get to you. Stand up for yourself and they'll leave you alone, whether or not an adult has your back.

The bullying started in second grade.I was never "skinny" but i also wouldn't call myself "fat". But the other kids did. they called me names like fatty, pudgy and most of all, "the fat girl." I could handle the name calling. i got over it eventually. But then in the 7th grade things got a lot worse.My mom and dad separated, and that put a lot of pressure on me being the oldest to help with my younger brother and sister when my parents were at work. It never really helped that they never wanted to listen to me, and the fact that whenever my brother didn't get his way he would lash out at me and say very, very hurtful things like you fat pig, go die, mom and dad don't even love you, you're a horrible sister i wish you were dead, or even, I'm going to kill you! Then to top it all off, when my mom or dad would get home from work my brother and sister would tell them what a horrible job i had done, then my mother and father would yell at me, saying how the expected more out of me etc. etc. But then the people that you would expect to love you the most act like they don't! My mother comes home from a long day at work and instantly starts screaming about i had done something wrong and then it escalates to her telling me i was the biggest mistake ever and i ruined her life. That is when i started to cut. I'm made fun of at also for being a cutter now. This stuff continues to happen, I'm still being bullied ,and still cutting, in the 8th grade i attempted suicide. Now as a freshman, i am once again, being bullied, and cutting. When i watched this movie i couldn't help but think through my sobs , how these kids were being bullied on a whole different level than i was.It made me think i ignorant i am to be sitting at home crying over my problems when they're are kids in worse state than I'm in about to commit suicide, and how selfish i am for being such a baby about my own problems, and for that i am truly sorry. to all of you out there being bullied, there is ALWAYS a reason to live! I know you may not even know me, but if anyone ever needs to talk i am here. i will listen. Some one is always there.

Ever since I can remember I stuck out. I was never popular. No matter what I did to fit in, the bullying was never ending. At Catholic school I was surrounded by kids who seemed to have perfect lives. They were rich and pretty and good at everything. I just could not compare. I was constantly made fun of and told how worthless and ugly I was. I didn't have any real friends. I switched schools in sixth grade, hoping for a fresh start. It got worse. They made fun of my clothes, my hair, my voice, pretty much anything they could think of. When middle school came, I changed my name. I started going by my middle name, hoping to create a new identity for myself. My real name, Krista, had echoed around the halls at school in such a negative manner that even I grew to hate it, and myself. My peers began to hate me even more. They told me I can't just change my name, and they began to use the name "Krista" as a way to hurt me. They refused to call me by my middle name. They called me "pizza face" because of my acne. I cried myself to sleep almost every night until finally my parents forced me to see a therapist in order to "fix" me. I was put on so many anti-depressants I began to feel like a lab rat. Suicide crossed my mind several times, but I was too scared to do it. I even felt like a disappointment to my family. I have three older brothers who have perfect grades and tons of friends. My parents expect so much from me, and I can't give them what they want. I lost all sense of who I am. I started hanging out with bad boys who wanted to "do things" with me because it made me feel like someone wanted me. In the beginning of High School, I made the dance team. Dance is the one thing that makes me feel beautiful. I was so excited. Then the practices started. The older girls would threaten me, saying that they would chop my boobs off if I told anyone they did drugs. Or that they would make me so miserable and make everyone hate me so much that I would quit the team. The harassing continued all throughout my freshman year. They did it on Facebook and twitter too. I tried talking to the coach but nothing changed. Even the athletic director and principal did nothing to help me. Sophomore year I was cut from the Cheerleading team. A sport I had done since 2nd grade. That hurt me so bad. But I thought, at least I still have dance. But the bullying continued. I had no friends on the team. The girls would tell me I sucked, and no one liked me, and I didn't deserve to be on the team. I refused to quit because I couldn't stand to disappoint my parents. They told me everything would be worth it when I got an award for being on a varsity sport for four years, and when I got the special dance team privileges when I was a senior. I just finished my junior year. Tryouts for dance team were in the beginning of May. I was so excited to finally be a senior. I hoped that I would not be stuck dancing in the very back of the formation, like I had the past three years. Boy was I wrong. I got cut from the team. With no explanation from my coach as to why. She had been telling me I was doing great all year. I felt broken and devastated. Those girls had pushed me to my lowest point and made my life a nightmare, and they won. I didn't make the team. I didn’t get the four yr. award, or any of the honors of being a varsity senior. It was all for nothing. I had let them treat me so horribly and didn't get to my goal. It proves to them that they were right. That I don't deserve to be on the team. The administrators at my school say bullying is prohibited and that no one involved in drugs, alcohol, or bullying will make a team. Well guess what. They all just did. All of these girls who had tormented me and had told stories of their drug and alcohol abuse at team sleepovers just made the team, and I did not. I have now come to accept that those girls will probably never be held responsible for what they did to me. I applied for a summer job and m now trying to move on from the hurt. I met an amazing guy. A good guy, who has had my back through the past couple months. I still worry for the start of school next year though. I worry that I will spend my senior year being bullied just like I have the past 12 years of school. All know is, if I ever see anyone being bullied, I will go to bat for them. Because no one deserves to feel this kind of pain; Like you will never be the person that everyone expects you to be. Just one huge disappointment and failure. To anyone out there struggling with a bully, stay strong

It really started to be the worst in middle school and then seem to escalate over the years. I never thought my life would get any better. I was the quiet one. I didn't have many friends. I was not the athletic one, the popular one, the attractive one. I only had a small number of roughly 7-8 friends. I was severely overweight. I tried to commit suicide 6 times, almost succeeded one time. It just got so bad. No one stood up for me. Never. It still happens some. and the only reactions I get is "We're only kidding. Do they know how it feels? It still brings back those memories and sometimes my depression comes back and it just hits me really hard. Will it ever stop? Will I ever being stopped being criticized for being different?