My story of bullying first started in elementary school. A lot of people knew me as the girl with the lesbian mom. They would poke fun at me and always ask "Why does your mom look like your dad?" or ask "Is that your dad?" My friends that I had their parents would meet my mom and just made them stop hanging out with me just because my mom was gay. But once my first year of high school hit these two girls would bully me just because I sat on "their seat" on the bus. Everyday I sat there they would call me a emo faggot, that I should cut myself because that's all I'm good for, I have no friends and threatened to drag me off the bus by my hair and beat the shit out of me. When all this happened I wondered "How can people can be this cruel, whys can't we just get along?" I told my mom right away my mom told the school, they said "We can't really do anything unless their is bruises on her." My mom demanded something to happen so they got suspended for a week and kicked off the bus for the rest of the year. I had to be escorted out before the got suspended, which happened for a whole week. It was honestly the worse experience of my life I don't wish it upon people at all. I hope one day it will all end. 

The bullying first started when I was in 2nd grade. My family had just lost our house due to foreclosure, and we were homeless because of that. It was posted in the news paper, and parents would tell their kids, who were also my classmates. I got made fun of all the time. It continued on for the whole school year. It continued in 3rd grade, but it got even worse in 4th. The kids formed a "kicking circle" and pulled me into it, and they kicked me, spit on me, slapped me, and anything else they could do.  The teachers just walked past it, watched it, and some even laughed at it. I hated school! Bullying continued through 5th and 6th grade, but it got worse when I got a short hair cut at the end of 5th grade. Everyone asked me if I was a boy or a girl; they told me i looked like a boy; that I must be gay if I have a hair cut like that. I wanted to die. The bullying continued through 7th, 8th, and 9th grade. Hopefully it stops next year in 10th grade. I've attempted suicide 9 times because of bullying and everything else that's going on in my life. I have a few people in my life that stand up for me, and even confront the bullies. Even one of my former teachers stands up for me! It's so amazing actually having people support you, and stand up for you.

from 1st grade all the way to about 10 or 11th grade I was bullied kids used to call me names hit me pushed me they were just mean and at night when I went to bed I felt like just crying. being bullied hurts and it needs to be stopped kids in today world are taking their own lives and its not worth it together we can stop the bullying in schools.

I feel this is my purpose, you know? Being that change, making sure no one feels alone due to my company.

hi i use to bully a kid i have get bully in 5 6 7 8 11 and rigth now no one care i won't to die

It got to the point of being so bad that I struggled to get out of bed in the morning. I hated school with more than a passion. I cried myself to sleep many times and barely had anyone to communicate with. I hung out by myself at school as I could not stand the fact that the girls I thought were m friends constantly talked about me behind my back. One day I began talking to one of the boys who I had never really talked to much. He barely knew me but he did everything to make sure I was happy. He checked me every day to be sure there were no new cuts. He was the one who came into my life when everyone else left. Currently he is my boyfriend and has been for a long time now. this is the boy I can see myself spending the rest of my life with. he knows how to keep a smile on my face. Just stay strong. there is someone out there. I promise. you deserve to live and you deserve to be happy.

I am turning 20 years old this year. But not a day goes by that I am not affected by the actions of someone during my freshman year of high school. When I was a freshman, I tried my hardest to be invisible. All I wanted was to disappear. When the school musical came around, my mom knew I was talented and told me I should audition. So I did, and I ended up getting a lead role. I got it over a senior, which started the bullying. These three girls, we'll call them Jessica, Rachel, and Kristy, decided that they were going to try and make me pay for taking the part from them. So the insults started, little things that didn't really affect me too much. Sticks and stones right? Then I met "Fred". He became my friend, and texted me just about every night. I got to know him well through our talks and the musical. He seemed like a good guy, always stood up for me when those girls came around. Two weeks before the musical, something changed with Fred. He started teasing me, I thought it was flirting at first. Then it progressed, and got more and more malicious. One day I came to a cruel realization. He was one of them. He was best friends with those three girls, the girls who had personally set out to make my life a living nightmare. After that, my life became hell. He cornered me one day in the changing room, and told me that I was nothing. I was worthless, I should just kill myself. The words didn't end there. He still texted me every night, but now it was telling me to kill myself, that there was no point in living anymore because everyone hated me. One day after practice, he pushed me in the orchestra pit, an eight foot drop. The physical pain was the least painful. His words stung. I hated myself. I wondered why everyone hated me, and began to think that if they hated me, then I should hate me. It only got worse over the summer, even though Fred and those girls had graduated the texts hadn't stopped, and they wouldn't until they went to college. But by the time September rolled around again, I was a shell of what I was. I didn't think I was worth anything, and in October of my sophomore year I contemplated killing myself. I never actually attempted, or came close to attempting, but the thought still loomed. Why did they pick me? Why did they have to target me, and make my life hell? To this day I still think it was a game to them. To this day I do not understand, but I don't think that I want to. Because understanding would mean there was good reason to it. Two years ago, I started speaking out about what happened. My parents did not even know until then because I was so bottled up about what had happened. But once I let it out, I knew I could make a difference. Bullying sucks. Those who bully, are weak inside and hurting from something themselves. They are missing the one thing that makes life worth living, love. I am stronger now for my pain, but no child should have to go through this, especially not alone. All I wanted was a friend.

In the 5th grade the teacher asked if any kids like one particular boy to raise their hands.  I quickly stood up and said aloud "You can't do that.  It is not right."  She then asked if they liked me to raise their hands.  no one did, but I knew why because they didn't want to be next.  This was my first awareness of bullying.  I never forgot the feeling and always stood up for others after that.  Now my step-grandson is being bullied and I am trying to help with him and asked the school to show Bully and start a conversation.  Their response was we don't need any help.  We have addressed the problem.

So last week I showed the movie Bully to my college class of 26 students in Human Services and we had a fantastic conversation. 

Hi, my name is Rose.

I'm 14 years old and i live in Holland.

I've been bullied since i was 9 years old, but when i turned 10 it all got really worse. People told me i should hang myself. I felt so bad, i couldn't tell my parents, cause who can? So i told my teacher. She told me i should make a goal in my life. something i wanted in my life to happen. This teacher always made me feel so safe.

So i decided i would become a teacher. I know it doesn't sound a lot. But to me, it's such a dream to come true. I can't wait to help kids like me. just to see a smile on a kids face would make me feel so special.

As a kid growing up in the same elementary school for ten years, it was really hard to redefine who I was in the eyes of the other kids. Everyone knew who I was from grade 4 to grade 8, and that I was the "loser" among other "losers" in school. And what sucked even more was having to see the new kid learn who I was before I had the chance to make friends with them.

I became a very angry person after that. Hating every day, going to school only to be teased for stupid reasons; such as wearing pants that covered my butt (baggy pants was the thing back then) or covering the end of the spoon because I wanted it to be clean when I used it at lunch. But I knew I was different, I was always told by my parents that I was an old soul in a young body - probably because I grew up with three older siblings.

But what made it harder each and every day was the fact that I had no outlet. I had kids teasing me at school and older siblings teasing me at home. I had no way to release the pressure that was building up within. However in grade 6, I found out that I wanted to do karate. It fascinated me and I knew that if I ever had to defend myself, learning karate would help. It's also the time that I knew I was gay, only another reason to feel different from the other kids. But, I kept this a secret until high school (that's another story).

Going to karate helped, it gave me a place to try again and redefine who I was back then. It allowed me to make friends and know that if school was really crappy that day my friends in karate class would help me feel better. And I am lucky that my parents found the extra money to let me go or I wouldn't know who I would be today. I have been training for 13 years now, I've started my own personal training business because karate taught me about fitness.

But now as I teach, I am able to help other kids who get bullied at school by teaching them that it's alright and that they have someone to talk too. I have also had the opportunity to turn other kids around who do bully because if they want to learn self-defense and love to come to class, they need to know that Sensei James does not teach bullies how to do karate.

I hope other kids find their escape - whether it's karate or any other hobby out there and I hope that parents take the initiative in making this possible. Because if my parents did not make my wish come true I do not know the type of person I would be today.