It all started with a lie. A bad man trying to sneak his way into a young girls heart. It worked. The day I met him in person, he ended up being a monster who ruined a few years of my life. Rape is one of the hardest things someone has to deal with. Especially if you are so scared that you end up going through it alone. I went 4 years before I told anyone and almost 5 before I reached out to my family for help. 

Within those few years of dealing with this alone I went through some tough times. I had to deal with personal feelings of hatred for myself and extreme distrust in others. I had to deal with the thoughts in my head that were telling me I was nothing more than trash. So that is how I treated myself. I was 15 years old and started to act out severely. I was looking for positive attention from guys to make myself feel better. I did things I am not proud of. One day it just became to much. 

I tried to take my own life once but couldnt bring myself to doing it. I then went into a downward spiral of stress and depression. This was all at the age of 15 and 16. It got to the point where it was taking a toll on my physically. I had to see multiple doctors and missed a lot of school. When I did have the chance to go to school, I was stuck dealing with the teachers asking a million questions and the stares from the other students. I didn't know the rumors flying around school at that time. I was left with no friends at all. This is when I made my choice to finish high school online. After about a month or so my mom received a letter in the mail. It was addressed to my mom and said it was from the junior class of my high school. It was a handwritten letter saying that I was a slut and dropped out of school because I was pregnant with a random guys baby. It included many other insults and even some mean remarks about my mother.  That was the last straw. 

I finally couldn't take it anymore. I was hurt for the very last time. I was broken but not beyond fixing. I didn't know who it was that sent the letter but I stood up for myself and made the truth public via facebook. I told them that they couldnt hurt me. I told them that I was done hiding from the bullying. I was done letting one terrible night ruin the rest of my life.

From that day forward I grew. I finally came forward with the truth to my family and got the help I needed to cope with what happened. I spoke out against everything that people had ever done to me. As of this moment in time I am almost 20, living on my own, working, and paying my own way through vet tech school. I didn't let them win. I won. I WON!

I am now an advocate of The Bully Project to help other people see the light at the end of the tunnel. Let us all stand up and join hands to end this disgusting mess called bullying and maybe we can save a few lives. 

    It was 4 years ago that i started to experiance the affects of bullying. I was only in 6th grade. The grade were you start hitting puberty. Were youre either all that or nothing at all. Obviously, i was labled in the nothing at all group.

   My time at school was hellish, I was called names, shoved about and made to feel isolated and sometimes I still do. I am still bullied. Is complete b.s. I am a sophemore in highschool. I still get garbage thrown at me and people knock my books out of my hands. I cry every night. It makes me feel like im not worth it.

   When in reality. I am.

It started in elementary school... Around 3rd grade my dad started giving me trouble at home. I was abused, but rather than dealing with it in a healthy manner, I took it out on my peers. I was bullied by others, but that didnt justify my actions at all. I was mean. I hated everyone else because their parents loved them, and I didn't feel that mine did. I realized how I could be hurting people... I realized how I had changed. I had gone from the sweetest, most kind-hearted, and generous young girl, to the girl that everyone was afraid of. In 8th grade, I vowed to stop. I decided that enough was enough. Even though my parents were going through a terrible divorce and I was dealing with it alone, I decided to help others instead of dwelling on my life. I ended up being the friend that saved someone's life, I prevented his suicide. I helped him grow. In high school I was picked on yet again. i wasn't the prettiest girl, not matter how badly I wanted to be. I had terrible acne, and I was awkward. I wanted to be pretty... But everyone else kicked me down, telling me I was ugly and that I would never be pretty. They called me pizza face, butter face, stupid, ugly, worthless... You name it. It was terrible and tore down any self confidence I had. But, I stayed strong. I pushed through it. And 4 years later, I walked down the halls with confidence. I had gone from the ugly caterpillar to a beautiful butterfly. But I never let it go to my head. I still made friends with the new kids, and I talked to the less popular crowd, because I was still my dorky self inside. I loved that. I was friends with the popular kids and the not-so-popular kids. I chose to hang out with the people who stuck by my side when I was "ugly" because they were the true friends. They didn't care what I looked like, they liked me for me. Now the boys that once called me names are trying to get my number. It's funny how the tables turn, but O will always remember who I am and the struggles I went through. I encourage you all to stay strong, because you never know what will happen. 

I remember being "picked on" on my first day at Primary school. I was four and a half.

My time at school was hellish, I was called names, shoved about and made to feel isolated up until  was around 16. I was also humiliated by teachers, lunch ladies and class helpers who would pick on me to get a laugh out of my peers.

There are certain events which stick in my head more than others. One being a day when nobody would talk to me.Every time I walked into a class room the entire class would hold their noses and turn their backs on me. I have no idea why! I was only 9.

I never told my family about the bullying, I’m not sure why. I just remember being at home, feeling safe and relieved. I was in high school before my Mum knew anything about the traumas I had endured. I wonder whether I was just so used to the treatment that I didn’t see it being unusual and therefore didn’t feel the need to report it!

At 39 I still feel the effects of my childhood bullying. I have spent years in therapy but I am now, at least, able to put some of it behind me and deal with the feelings which are left behind.

The greatest test of my strength has been dealing with my own childrens experiences of bullying. I turn into a pro active justice machine where they are concerned and at the faintest sign of trouble I am banging on the Head teachers door demanding action.

I have taught my kids that they should never have to deal with bullying of any kind, that they must report any abuse or violence and that I will always do all I can to sort things out. I have made sure that they have the skills and confidence I never had but most of all I have taught them to always be proud of who they are and never be ashamed to be different!

I'm now about to be 21 years old, but i have always been bullied, as far as i can remember. But it really started when i was in middle school. To other kids it was i never smelt right to them, or the fact that i had bad teeth because i didnt get the right vitamins to help them stay strong when i was a baby. The nicknames i got stuck with me til i graduated high school pretty much. I got smelly, hairy bucktooth, and so much more horrible names. It didnt help that my family life at home was just as bad if not worse. I had felt like i had no one, cause even my "friends" when bullying me behind my back. I had felt so so alone, i started to hurt myself in every way i could. Just to feel human again. I had done some terrible things, even started up drugs and was hardcore into them for 3 years. Now to this day, im clean and sober just recently got married to the other person that saw through all the pain i was going through and is my high school sweetheart. But i have nasty scars that i can never get rid of, that i see everyday all it just reminds me of all the bullying that i had been through.

My son is a member of an anti-bullying organization in his high school. I help with fundraisers and in any other way that I can. My husband and I are trying to reinforce taking a stand against bullying with our three kids.

Being "normal" is overrated. I say embrace the unusual. Be an individual.

I am gay and legally blind.
I have been dealing with bullying all of my life. I am still dealing with it at 23 years old. Watching the documentary Bully is so devastating to me. 
We need to STOP BULLYING because all of these youth suicides are not okay. It’s time for the movement to end bullying to really be front and center. 

I've learned that it gets better, but I've had to stay strong for so long. 

I suppose I started to get bullied when I entered high school. Or at least this is when I started to notice it. I had always gotten bullied because of my weight. I was never physically abused but I was verbally abused. People would always make joke.

The worst year for me was probably freshman and junior year in high school. I never had a problem making friends. I had a lot of friends. I'm not sure if they noticed the bullying but none of them ever spoke up for me. I remember this one time in a class I had. These two boys were fight and one said " stop or i'll get kelsey to sit on you". That hurt. Those words really cut me deep. I pretended I didn't hear it because I didn't want them to know how much it hurt me. In another class they would whisper " precious" under their breath. They were referring to the movie with the full figured girl in it. I pretended I didn't hear those things either. The one straw that broke my back was this one kid who would always call me black Jupiter. It got so bad that I finally told my brother and he told him to back off. I don't know what I would have done without my brother. That year I was very depressed, I had suicidal thoughts, and I had tried cutting myself. I had never told my family about this. If I hadn't asked my brother to stand up for me I don't know where I would be today. I really wish he knew how much he helped me.

In junior year of high school I got another bully. At my high school on each floor we had a huge open space in the middle. When I would walk by the third floor he would whisper and point at me and sometimes shout things. It got so bad that I would walk around the entire floor just to avoid going through the middle and seeing him. I remember one day thinking that I should just go up to him and say " how would you feel if you knew I ended my life today because of your bullying", but I didn't. I never told anybody about my troubles. That is my one regret. If I had told someone then maybe that would have saved me some pain and trouble.

I am now a college student. I still get looks sometimes and I can tell they are looking at my weight. I am still very self conscious about it, but I have learned that it doesn't matter what everyone else thinks, only what I think. I honestly believe my family saved me from killing myself. Although they never knew about my thoughts, they were always there for me and supported me. They were the base that I could always come back to, and they would fight for me no matter what. I could imagine disappointing them and ending my life. I would never want to put them through that pain.

My ending message to this is be around people who support you. If you think one of your "friends" is trying to bring you down then they aren't really your friends. They should be making jokes at you behind your back. And remember that your family will have your back no matter what. And if they don't then there are always websites like these to lift you back up.

       Most of my life i was bullied, but in this month there was this kid bullying me. We were in the same after school program because i was a grade older than him. It was around 5o'clock and i was lonely and my friend her cousin was the boy who bullies me. 

      I went over there where my friend and her cousin is, there was alot of kids there because he was "popular". When i walked over there he said "hey there nerd!!!" He calls me that because i wear glasses. I cant help it.

       So i was being all quite because i was very shy when ever i get bullied i don't tell on the person. I'm scared they'll get me back. Anyways he kept saying "why aren't you talking!!"

        So still didn't talk i was standing up while he was saying it. He grabbed a Big, sharp rock and was saying he was going to stab me and he kept doing gestures saying he really was. His friends saying "YEA GO GET HER!!!" i yelled for him to stop. I guess he really didn't understand what that meant. So i ran to my consoler she sat him out and said if he tried doing that again he's going to be kicked out

        I am still bullied , but since then i know i should defend my self.

thanks-be strong, defend your self <3 you

BYE!!!!!!!!!!

I was always being bullied most of my life. Now I am in 8th grade and in my 6th period class this one kid called me "Dumbo!" I went back to school the next day and told my counselor about what happened. So he told me that he took care of it and I knew that it was the right thing to do. It is almost the end of the year for me. :'( I can handle most of the bullying now but when I can't take it any more I know what to do in the future. Thank you Mr. Toledo!

 

Thanks for reading.

-The shy girl