I started getting bullied while I was in kindergarten. The older children made fun of me because of how "different" I was. I thought I was just like them since it was a predominately African American school. However since my father was from Nigeria they considered me to be an outsider who wasn't like them. At first they teased my heritage and my physical features. At first it didn't bother me but as I got older the teasing continued. The more I was teased the more I started hating my appearance. I would try to not come to school so that I would not have to face them. Finally I decided to stand up for myself by notifying my mom and other members of faculty in the school. I knew I wasn't strong enough to handle them on my own but with a support base I found courage to confront them and to ask them to stop. Since then my self-esteem has increased and I no longer deny being Nigerian. Those are being bullied know that you are not alone and there are people out who are willing to help. So don’t be afraid to speak up.

-anonymous 

I was verbally abused in high school.  I was called fat, ugly, crazy and  I started to believe it.   I felt that I could never live up to their standards.  I felt hopeless.  I then realized that I create my own story; I determine how my day goes;  I make myself happy, I write out what my life is to be; AND I decided the happy ending.  

Don't let anyone take you JOY!  :>

My first language was Spanish. I'm also American. While learning English people made fun of my accent , My weight , Anything they could possibly think of. I moved to 5 different Elementary schools because I couldn't make friends. Now middle school... I was made fun of my looks because I wasn't the prettiest , The smartest , Most popular.. I stood up , I Become friends with three other people. Who are still my BEST friends we stood up for each other. As in the summer of 2011 We created a group for preventing bulling in the city of Columbia , So far we've reached 6,000 people who've joined our group and took the pledge. I'm in high-school now.. Since then I haven't been bullied.

When I was in middle school I was teased for being fat. I became anorexic.

When I was in high school I was teased for having blue hair and strange clothes. I cut myself up.

When I was in college I had boyfriends who liked to beat me up and degrade me. I let them in hopes it would kill me.

When I was out of college I'd get rude comments from strangers on the street or on the internet for having tattoos and piercings. I started blowing up and saying just as nasty things in return, which surprisingly didn't help (yes you smell some sarcasm there).

...I kept thinking when I graduated from a school I'd be done with all of the teasing and bullying and I wouldn't want to harm myself anymore. That wasn't true. 

I am 25 years old, covered in tattoos, I have three degrees, I've worked a lot of cool jobs and made a lot of amazing friends. Yet, I am still overwhelmingly bothered by bullying on so many levels. My best friend committed suicide after an extremely cruel prank made by his ex girlfriend. I see fellow musicians getting ripped to shreds on YouTube because they were brave enough to share their musical talent, yet strangers have to find a way to be disgustingly cruel about the smallest things. Every time I post music on YouTube- I am afraid.

My idea, and my goal, is to arrange interviews with other people in their 20's and their families who have dealt with bullying, abuse, rape, suicide, etc. To raise awareness that it doesn't just stop and go away at a magical age. To show that yeah, even though some of us are tattooed and smart and real darn cool- every time you say "you obviously have daddy issues" and snicker... It hurts. Not everyone is tough as nails no matter how hard we try to be. A big part of this is showing kids that their "pointless" or "joking" bullying has the ability to stay with someone for many many years. I have a few friends willing to help me with this... But I would be beyond excited if I could set up some interviews with others who have experienced the nastiness of bullying beyond the teen years- did it stop? Did it continue? Did it leave a lasting impression? What is life like because of it? Have you lost a loved one because they couldn't take one more stupid "joke" or comment? Written interviews through email or here or Facebook or whatever totally work, anonymity is okay, if you are in the Seattle or surrounding area (I frequent Portland and sometimes California as well) and want to do a video interview, then that's great too! The goal is not to make people do anything that makes them uncomfortable, rather just spread the message of how bullying isn't something that just goes away.

My name is Traci Constance. I am 17 and going to be a junior in high school in August. I have been bullied ever since the first grade. It started out with me being teased about having Tourett's syndrome by being called a freak and a bunny rabbit and having kids throw carrots at me. I didn't understand why they did that to me. It then got worse where they started calling me fat and ugly, slut, whore, attention whore, preggers, retarded/retard, etc. and I never did anything to these people. I never knew why somebody could be so mean to an innocent person. 

In the 7th grade I started to stop eating cause I believed everybody about me being ugly and fat. So I thought I'd starve myself. I did that for years. I found out I have Anorexia last year and I started therapy in February 2012. I never listened to people. I didn't care if I was dying or getting unhealthy, I just wanted to be pretty. So I kept doing what I've been doing, the thing I was best at, starving myself. I was still getting bullied being called bones, disgusting, skeleton, etc. and it still hurt so bad. 

I still starved myself no matter what people said. I then got down to 80 lbs and I had to be hospitalized in an Eating Disorder unit for 2 months in February of 2013 and got out in April. I hated it cause it always felt like I was eating so much that I would get fat. I still think I'm ugly and fat and people still bully me to this day saying everything that everybody usually says. But I'm battling this and I'm gonna show everybody that I'm stronger than I was year ago and I'm gonna survive this. I just wish that people wouldn't bully me anymore. But, I'm gonna keep my head held high and help people when they need help. And I will always know that my friends and family will be here for me when I need them. 

Not all the scars show
Not all the wounds heal
Under my smile I am dying
The old happy me drowned in pain
All good memories left from my brain
They went flying and faded away painfully
I try to get them back 
But why should I try
I have a broken heart
It is torn apart
It is ripped, it is not put together
I want to die and not live in this world of many lies
I want to cry and let my emotions take over
But what can I do NOTHING!!
I just walk in life with a fake smile and laugh
And pretend nothing is going on in me
Why did everybody walk away from me?
Friends, people, EVERYBODY!!
If you love me then why? Why are walking away
I smile and make everybody think I am happy
I laugh so people don’t think I cry
I close my eyes so I don’t see things
But I can’t close my heart to things I don’t want it to feel
You don’t know how much it hurts
You don’t know how it feels to cry alone everyday 
It is difficult
Should I just keep lying to myself?
And keep thinking the same
Should I just give up?
Should I pretend it is a joke?
Should I choke all lies?
I spoke but nothing happened
I feel like a fool in a stool being made fun at
I am in a pool of pain and sadness

The Summer of 2012 I was raped by my bestfriend. Everybody made fun of me and called me liar. My mom turned against me and gave me to the state because she thought I was descusting. People laughed at me around town saying my mom didn't want me. When I got out of Foster Care, My entire family was forced to sign a contract that they wouldn't speak of me being raped unless I brung it up and they could only be supportive.. It hurt me a lot that they had to sign a contract to not bully me about it.. That isn't what a family should have to do.. That isn't what a Mother should do..It got a little better until my Mother was sent to Prison for 13 years in september.. People told me that my mom hated me so bad that she had to commit a crime and go to jail to be able to get away from me. It was really hard. And then in December A lot of older guys said I had slept with them when I didn't. All my friends called me terrible names and despised me for it. Kids then started to say I was Trained. I would walk around school and everybody would look at me and yell chu chu. It was very hard to walk around school. I dyed my hair black from pink so I wouldn't stand out anymore. That didn't help anything. On December 16th my Dad beat me up. I left home and had no where to go. I went to my friend Christian's house. People started to say I was sleeping with him. I wasn't. I started to cut. And eventually it got really bad. Every night. It got to the point where I hated myself. Almost as if I believed all the words people were saying to me even though I knew I never did any of the things people had said. I tried to commit suicide three times that Month.. Now I am covered with scars on both arms from the back of the elbow down to the bottom of my wrists. People still look at me like I'm a psycho because of it. My three Bestfriends started to post weekly videos about me. Saying terrible things about me.. It went home with me.. Not only all my friends were gone. But, so was my family.. They believed everything people were saying about me. And it killed me. I didn't want to go on with my life.. Travis Lee Middleton suddenly popped into my life and saved me. He didn't care what people said or thought about me. he didn't care about my reputation.. He loves me for me.. And he honestly saved my life(:

I never thought I would have the guts to share my past experiences of once being bullied.  I am now in my 20s having an incredible life, but the scar that bullying leaves with you is so powerful.  If sharing my story helps just one person, my mission will have been accomplished.

My story begins in my elementary school years where most people would only have distant memories of playing in the dirt during recess or learning how to add and multiply.  I, on the other hand, have detailed memories of rejection.  My elementary school was surprisingly notorious for children having hickeys and experimenting sexual immoralities at such an early age.  I just wanted to be a kid.  Classmates would see me playing basketball and tackling boys in a football match during recess time and just enjoying life.  Yes, I was proud of being called a Tom Boy. 

One day during lunch at the cafeteria, I sat next to some girls and was asked a question, “Do you like boys?”  Now remember, I am just a little girl (this was 3^rd grade), so my immediate thought process was “Ewww gross! Cooties!”  So, I responded with a simple “No.”  Right after that day, I heard rumors of me being gay.  That news left me distraught for months.  I cried for many nights because I was accused of being something I was not.  I had strange interactions with people after these rumors were spread.  One time during recess, a photographer for our yearbook gathered me with some girls to take a picture of us.  When we were about to take the picture, I just naturally put my hand on a girl’s shoulder and she screamed “I don’t hang with you people!” in front of the whole group.  I was paralyzed for a second and then I just walked away because I did not know what to do.

I was never physically bullied, but I was mentally destroyed through gossip and hurtful words.  For the first time in my life, I knew what it felt like to want to end my life in order to get rid of the pain of rejection.  The choice I made in the end is what kept me alive today, and that was trusting in the magnificent strength and power of Jesus Christ.  He was and is my hero.  I just began casually talking with Him and asking God to be my armor and protector, and He did just that.  I began sharing His love with everyone I met, and people would start saying, “Naw, she’s just a Christian”, and the rumors and cold stares ceased because they finally knew my true identity, a child of God. 

My name is Abian Hailu. I and people around me have been bullied. At first i didn't think much of it but then this one girl in my middle school was being made fun of and called names. So i stepped in the way and told them to stop. Of course they started to make fun of me but i stood my ground. At the end of that day as we passed each other she stopped me and said thanks. I was happy i helped and was feeling good on the inside thinking i prevented the bulling from continuing. I saw the movie bully and i was in tears. To think something this tragic could happen to such good kids. Its unbelievable. 

I am just a normal girl. I have good friends, good grades, and a good life. The guys in my grade sometimes like to point out how I'm not a size two or three like the other girls, or how I'm not as pretty as my friends. Yes, I know this. I'm a size seven, I'm not blonde. It's only on occasion, but you know what? It still hurts. I cry, and talk to my mom. It really makes me think about what I say and do because I know people have things worse off than I. WE all need to be upstanders and stop the bullies. Stay strong.