I was bullied relentlessly when I was in middle school and high school. I was lucky. I transferred to a very progressive high school in Nashville when I was a rising sophomore, and when I experienced bullying even there, the school took prompt and efficient action and dealt with the students responsible.

I am now 31 years old. And I want to send the message to everyone out there who reads this that it DOES get better. It isn't just a catchy slogan or a YouTube video campaign. I went on to college, found my place in the world, and then went on to have a successful career, a nice home, and a good life. More than once I wanted to take the easy way out. And I am so glad that I didn't do it. It will get better, I promise. You just have to wait it out long enough till that happens.

And in the meantime, stand up for yourself. Stand up to administrators at your school, stand up to those around you. Call attention to what is happening and hope that it will be corrected. But even if it doesn't, know that this too shall pass...

My name is Melody, and im 15 years old. I've been bullied since 6th grade for being lesbian and fat. On the first say of school in 6th grade i had no friends, I was alone when i ate lunch. I sat in the corner of the cafeteria. I was being bullied and being called names constantly after about 2 months of being called names. I started to cut. And no one in my dads side of the family knew i was lesbian. During dinner time or while we had family time they would eventually come up with that subject and mention how disturbing gross and how much of a SIN it was to be lesbian. After that year i moved in with my mother. I decided to come out of the closet with her. She accepted me. But once i started school here. It was like another living hell. I had ONE best friend she was bi. And everyday while we were walking down the hall people would called us names.. And once i hit my locker there were notes stuck to is that had the words faggot stupid whore ect. By the time i got to high the next year i had made a lot of friends. But when these girls had tried to jump me i dropped out because i was scared. I came back the next semester things were going good till my best man committed suicide. Everyone was just MAD at the world for bulling and then people kept at it with me even tho everyone said they were against it. I got called thunder thighs. And till this day i still am. Ive tried to end my life 2 times now i dont have any friends. Except my boyfriend.. All i need is someone to be there for me. 

My name is sarah. last year I made a new best friend named Isabella. Little did I know she liked my boy friend and wanted to turn all my friends on mE. she succeeded, but she did it very slowly. In the spring of 2012 I broke up my boy  friend and she dove in and stole him. She kept calling me stupid and even got some of my friends to call me a s word or a wh word. I felt so alone. But that was just the beginning. She gave me a letter one day that said all these horrible things about me that seemed so true. I received many death threats. Some even by my other best friend. i had such a hard year I had thoughts of killing myself over and over again. I have never felt so alone. my wish is that no one will need to go through what I did.

I'm a 13 year old girl who is a lesbian and just a little bit different then other people. I used to be popular and cool with everyone through elm. But then in 5-6 grade I moved away and went to a new school. People have been treating me like a different person then I was before.. I told one person at my new school that I was having a crush on a girl and she told the whole school and then everyone found out and starting saying a lot of rude stuff and made fun of me just because I was gay. I would go home almost everyday crying on the bus wanting help. I don't have much of friends but atleast I have one who can care enough to be my friend and forget about what other people say. I am a cutter and a person who has tried to commite suicide a few times... I got put into a hospital for a couple of weeks just so I won't kill myself. When I came back everyone called me worse names.. Attention eater, dyke, and they would hit on me and push me around just because of what I am. I want all this stuff to stop. I have gone for help but nothing seems to work.. Bullying has got so bad for me and my friends .. I wish it could stop!

Every person has been bullied in some shape or form in their life. I lucky enough have not been bullied to the extreme just some usual name calling back and forth as a child and I'm thankful that I have not had to go through it. On the other hand my bi brother was bullied all through elementary school and high school. He was always the small kid, never amazing at any sport but he still did have friends. It was always the older guys that would pick on him but he never showed weakness he would always come home with a smile. My brother is 19 now, he still has not got his high school diploma, he just got his first job, he was in and out of youth centers since 16 and no has his own apartment. He really hasn't done well with his life and gone where he could of. I asked him the other day "why his life turned out like this?" since he had so many ambitions as a child and all he said was "because I let people get to me, I was told I wasn't smart enough to do school by guys in my class so I dropped out, I was always picked last and nobody anted me on their team so I just gave up on sports, I let the bullies control my life, and I never stood up for myself" I could see him tearing up a he said this. I still now have people making fun of him at my school o my face which makes no sense to me since he hasn't been there for 3 or so years. Bullies are horrible but they are everywhere in our lives. As an adult you will have bullies at your work, it seems like these days you can never get away from them. All I want to say is don't let them get to you cause once they do, they win. 

I have dealt with bullying for a long time. At first my life was great. I had friends that I loved and they loved me back. And then one day my Dad decided that he wanted to go gamble everything away and we were forced to move from my happy childhood home into Galt, a not so happy hometown. Ever since we had moved I lost touch with all of my old friends. Even worse, I was stuck in a new town and around new people. I had zero friends and the ones that I tried to make would only make fun of me.

At the new school that I attended (third grade) things were worse. I was made of fun all the time, in and out of the classroom, all the way till I would get home. the teachers would sit there and pretend to be reading, as if I didn't notice their "constant" glances at what was happening in the class.

I remember to this day, that I beg and cry to stay home both the night before school, and the morning after.

The worst part is I told the teachers at the school but they wouldn't do a thing. Twenty-six years later, I found out that they didn't even bother to tell my mother. No attempt what-so-ever. How did I find this out?

Well, it took me that long to open up about it to someone. See, I always wanted to be the cool guy. The one with a lot of friends and a pretty girl around him. I didn't want to be the kid who was weird or alone. I knew I couldn't have this fantasy life so I lied to everyone about having just that. No one asked questions so I kept with it. For fifteen plus years no one asked why no one would ever come to my house. Can't believe that...what...the...hell...???

I am not certain, but sine I was the only one at a table alone during lunch or recess, and I never had someone to just talk too, I am reserved today. I don't talk unless spoken to, and when I do it comes out with a nervous tone. I strongly believe that bullying is the reason for my "quite" personality. I also believe that it is the cause of depression, nervousness, loneliness, and my "shyness".

So let this be a lesson to every bully out there. Bullying not only effects the present, but it strongly effects the future of that poor soul as well.

Also, to note, I had one friend in High School that I could trust. We were more friends after school, as I've never her in the school. But I was such an insecure asshole that things didn't really happen the way that I wanted it too. So I was stuck hiding in my "corner".

I have been bullied ever since I had got into new classes for the second quarter. I was excited to see how it would turn out. Let's just say the first three days were ok then we got into our new seats I sat right next to this kid named Robert and then the person behind me his name was Hakiam it started out ok. They started to make fun of my name by saying Mic-ae-la, some people called me an over achiever because I'm like a nerd, they made fun of my hair, my cloths, how I dressed, my name, that I cant go on facebook/myspace/twitter/instergram, or that I'm not allowed to go on youtube, showing me things that I shouldn't see like inappropriate things, when I walk by people they hold their breaths as if I smelled bad, spreading rumors, that I'm sensitive, one time I went to the bathroom and they said cheater why did you cheat becauase after midterms the teacher said that we could use our phones right after I . Everyday I'm in that class I end up outside the classroom crying riting this I'm watching Bully. 

Micaela Andreotti

My son is 13 yrs old, he is the sweetest,caring, most thoughtful  loving boy. If you are an adult and get to know him you can't help but fall in love with him, he has an innocent sense of humor hard to find in today's youth, he strives to make people smile or laugh. He often tells me his considers the staff at his school his only friends, this breaks my heart! The kids at his school often mock or make fun of him, I know this because he has a twin sister in the same grade as him and she tells me. My son also knows he has no friends at the school cause no one talks to him during the day and he sits by himself during lunch time. Any outside interaction is usually mocking his interests of certain video games and is misunderstood by him as people trying to interact with him. It is impossible for him to know how mean these kids are being to him cause he has high functioning autism and most times he doesn't know its happening and I cant  prove it is happening! My hope is there are kids out there willing to stand up for the awkward kid,"loner","Nerd","loser"or "gay or lesbian". Many times it only takes one kid to stand up and say its not right then others will follow. I also hope there are parents out there who will teach their children to sand up for those kids, that it is admirable to do this, as Im teaching my daughter this. Compassion is the key to the future of us and our children and their kin.

well i got bulled ever since 1 grade to sort o now it gotten better since i am in 8th grade almost in 9th but i always wonder why??? people bully other people when they didn't even do anything it is because they hate their self's and now ever since people bully by one by one kids and teens died or cut their self or depressed out i learn that you need to be strong to bullies so the will give up or speak up and i hate when people bully me i wanted to cut or kill my self or just die cause they got to me and now i still wont to but just think people love you and care about and will miss you and  your dreams will die down so lets try to "stay "strong" forever and i still want to cut but my mom will find out and i always wanted to starve my self  but my will notice cause she makes dinner i live with my mom  and i  just cant take it anymore 

I was picked on from grade school all through high school. But, it got progressively worse in high school. (I was the tall and somewhat nerdy girl growing up.) I wore glasses and always towered above my peers.

I could get along with anyone and had no problem hanging out with the special education kids - even though I wasn't one myself. I caught flak for that, but I didn't care because people are people to me. In addition to being tall and towering over the boys- yes even through high school, add in my nerdy side and general love of learning and reading and well let's just say I wasn't in danger of winning a popularity contest! Haha Oh, yeah I was also a major tomboy. My parents knew I was picked on and encouraged me to fight those who picked on me, but I chose the higher road and instead looked forward to the day when I got out of school and went off to college.

In high school, I had my stuff stolen, was tripped in the halls, shoved into lockers and called names like: Special Ed, Sasquatch, Big Foot and Lezzie. To this day I hate nicknames. I had my car vandalized on 2 occasions and was followed around school by a group of 3 girls who harassed me at every turn. I only lost my cool once with them one day when I was cornered by them and it they wouldn't leave me alone. I punched the lead girl and knocked her to the ground - leaving her out of breath. (It earned me an after school detention and they left me alone for awhile, but started up again.) I was already 5'11" as a 14 year old freshman and I could've totally beat them up if I wanted to, but that's not me. I didn't have a lot of friends and I hated high school. I kept to myself a lot and concentrated on graduating. My sophomore year was dark, but I worked through it and made it to graduation. 

I was told so many times by my peers growing up that I wouldn't amount to much because I was dumb and weird. Well, they were wrong. I am now 30. I hold 2 college degrees and am now working on my professional degree. I am much happier now and working in a career field that I love. I have good friends that like me for who I am. I am glad I remained true to myself and didn't let them destroy me. (That would be like letting the bullies win.) They don't know me and they don't own me. I am the captain of my own ship and I'm heading to some really great places... All 6'3" of me. :) So to those of you out there struggling to make it through... Just hang in there. You're worth it and you're going to do great things with your life. It might not seem like it now, but it does get better. :)