Now that I'm almost 30 looking back at how bullying affected me all through middle school and into high school, I do believe it lead me to make poor decisions. Students would call me fat, ugly, worthless, better off dead, and many other things that kids hear all the time. I became less involved in school, with family, and other social groups I used to love. I became secluded and had many thoughts of taking my own life. I was threatened constantly by a group of girls were relentless. Despite all the times I talked to teachers and counselors they ignored me. So I found a high school boyfriend that was known for being a bully and the bullying stopped. I then found myself stuck in a domestic violent situation for many years until I was 25. I have had to spend years in therapy, have seizures due to the physical abuse from bullies. I am now in a very loving relationship and I still struggle with the effects of bullying. Bullying effects the victims for life. My heart breaks every time I hear of a child being bullied, I know what they will deal with for the rest of their lives. As adults we must stand up for children and we have to help not just the victims, but the bullies, both sides are desperate for help!

When I was young, I was bold. I remember my first day of kindergarten. There was a single girl across the room, holding a chair like a lion tamer. All of the other kids were on the opposite side of the room. I asked why. ONe person answered, that's Heather. She's mad because her mom held her back a year, and didn't tell her. I walked over to Heather and got her to talk to me. I calmed her down and from then on, whenever she saw me or I her, we remembered that time. I don't know how or why I changed from that girl to one cowering in fear, having near panic attacks at the idea of going to class that day. I'm not sure when or how my peers knew it, but they decided that I was not like them, and that it would be hilarious to torment me. They put gum in my hair, made fun of me for various reasons, I was a late bloomer, so they would tell me things like my bra would fit better if I wore it backwards. I was shoved into lockers, gum was put into my hair... It became so bad that my teachers started in on it. One incident involved the girl behind me harassing me so much that I stood up in class, and pushed her chair as far away from me as I could. My spanish teacher took me out into the hall, left the door open so all of the kids could hear, and proceeded to ask me questions that basically insinuated that she thought that I had anger issues. When I moved to a far larger school my junior year, it was wonderful. Nobody cared who I was. I was so insignificant that they didn't bother to bully me. It was wonderful. To this day, I feel the scars. I try to remember that the brains of most of my bullies were not fully developed in the frontal lobe area. These bullies did not know that I would feel this forever. They did not know that because of this bullying, my brain learned to fear. My brain learned to be sad. I now am bipolar, and while I do not, nor can not blame this entirely on bullying as I had a genetic predisposition to it, I believe that it definitely played a part. What I truly want others to know is that, this period of your life, where you believe that you can no longer handle the abuse, humiliation, hurt etc, it will end. Once you enter college you will form new friends. You will learn that your desperate need to fit in as an adolescent, doesn't matter. No one will care if you are the nerd or the prom queen. In fact nerd becomes a name to be proud of. I am a nerd, I tell people readily. I am proud of this. I finally went back to college, and I no longer intentionally attain C's to fit in, I'm proud when I get A's. Be who you truly are, and don't allow others to take that away. What's funny is that every year in high school I would have others sign my yearbook, and that is what they would inevitably write. Be yourself. Don't change. You will survive, and what others think of you truly doesn't matter. 

The first time I remember realizing I was the "fat kid" I was watching my friend run to second base and seeing the tendons behind her knees stretch and flex. Mine didn't do that, because they were too pudgy for anyone to see the tendons. From that day forward I was hyper aware of being the "big girl". And it was so strange, people could call me ugly, or nerdy, or stupid, and I would be fine. But the dreaded "fat", that was the end of the world, anything but that. The worst I remember it getting was in sixth grade computer class and a boy named Adam. I recall thinking to myself, "Why do you care if I'm fat? Why do you care about me at all? What have I ever done to you?" I tried so hard to hide it from my parents, especially because at that time my father was dying of cancer, but it wasn't always possible. Mother's know, they just know, and she would tell me, "Ignore them. You are NOT the problem, they are and it's themselves they don't like. They're just taking it out on you". And over all, it was some pretty darn good advice, but you can't always just let that anger and hurt go. It doesn't just disappear, you have to purge yourself of it. I lost the weight, and along the way I learned the world won't end if I stand up for myself, but sometimes the bullying WILL. And, most importantly I found my "thing". And all that hurt and resentment and anger and confusion, that was roiling around inside me for all those years, I use it. I channel it. It doesn't matter what your "thing" is, as long as it's something you're passionate it about. And you will take this negative, horrible experience and you will make it into something positive. Use it and you will win.

I've been bullied since I was in 6th grade. I was always called: medusa, loser, bigfoot, ugly, bitch, gross, manlady. I've been told to cut myself, and kill myself..and I've been picked on because I'm mexican. People even comment on my Pansexuality, and it gets to me. And I have depression and other things, and so I don't know what to do because we told the school about it, and we've always ''kids will be kids'' ''they'll stop eventually...'' AND IT NEVER STOPS BECAUSE NOBODY REALLY CARES. School officials can SAY that their gonna do something, but it's one thing to SAY it, rather than actually do it. I'm sick of everything, and my mom has tried doing something about it, but nothing comes of it. People snicker and whisper about me, and tell me that they don't wanna sit next to me because I'm a freak, and ugly, and unwanted, and I shouldn't be there. It hurts a lot, and people need to understand that victims have feelings, and they SHOULD get the parents involved and say ''look, your kid has been bullying other kids and causing they emotional distress, and has been causing them to be anorexic'' or whatever the situation may be. It's reeeeeally upsetting that the schools DONT CARE that kids are being bullied everyday, unless their popular or pretty, or their parents are associated with the school(PTA etc) it's annoying and it's HORRIBLE because kids are dying and nobody is caring. Kids are getting anorexia, bullemia, they are cutting themselves, and overdosing, and skipping class, and doing drugs, and drinking, and trying to commit suicide, and getting anxiety and depression, BECAUSE OF ALL THE BULLYING THEY GET EVERYDAY OF THEIR LIVES THAT THEY HAVE TO PUT UP WITH UNLESS THEY FREAKING DIE TRYING TO PUT UP WITH IT, AND TRYING TO IGNORE IT, WHEN IT'S NOT THAT EASY. UGHHH. people just suck.

All throughout middle school and my freshman year, I tried my best to befriend people. I tried to fit in with just about anybody that would accept me. I thought I had friends, until little by little people started acting cruel towards me. They called me names, picked fights with me, and I thought they were joking. I tried laughing it off, until one day one of my so called friends punched me in the face for standing up for myself When he was picking on me. It didn't stop there.. It followed me. It didn't stop until my sophomore year when I'd joined the wrestling team and our school Marine Corps jrotc.. By that time all the weight training and leadership classes molded me into a new person. I stood up to the bullies that year, and they didn't mess with me ever since. But I continued standing up to bullies whenever I'd witnessed it myself in the hallways/ classes. I befriended the "little guys" as much as I could. I didn't realize how much of an impact I'd made until one day before I graduated and joined the military, one of my friends came up to me and told me how much I'd impacted his Life. I didn't know what I was truly capable of until that day.. And ever since, I've strived to make an impact wherever else I could.

I started getting bullied when I was in fourth grade. I was new to the school and I didn't know anyone. People started calling me gay and fat, and what seemed to be a million other mean names. What really upset me the most was that no one even knew who I was. They never took the time to get to know me. Whenever I told the teachers or the principles they would say "I will talk to them and get them to stop", but it never stopped.

When I was in seventh grade I began to self harm. I started to believe all the things that people said about me. Because I was at such a young age in my life I didn't know if this was how the rest of my life was going to play out. 

One day a teacher saw my arm when I was raising my hand to answer a question in class and told me to come talk to her in the hall. She pointed out my arm and asked me why I wasn't telling anyone about this. The truth was, I was telling people about this. I told my teachers when people called me a names and picked on me. I even went to the office several times to talk to the principle directly about it. But nothing was changing. The officials at the school would only talk to the students, as if that would stop them from harassing me. It would stop them from saying it to my face, but not behind my back. 

Today I am a freshman in High School. Throughout the years of being bullied, I have learned to ignore the people who don't say nice things. People still say rude and disgusting things about me, but with the help of my friends and family I am able to go through life happy. 

I am hunted by my past because of bullying. I try to make my own children fit in by making sure the have new (name brand) shoes, nice clothes, and anything else that could make them "one of the cool kids", but in reality I just dont want what as happen to me to happen to them. I lived in a small town in South Dakota where there wasnt a lot to do or a lot of kids, but for some reason the Rice kids (as they called us) where the blunt of everyones jokes. For my older brother it was way worse because he got beat a lot on the bus, kick at school,pushed into lockers, and so forth. Kids were mean to us for all kinds of reasons. We heard the speeches from the teachers, princapals, and school officals about stay away and tell, but nothing as this movies has proven gets done. It got to be so bad that in high school kids were saying me and my brother were having sex with each other. It got so bad for him that he ended up just dropping out and being a no body like everyone said he was. The sad part is that me as a mother now I see what my brother went through, through my son. He is picked on daily at school. Mind you I've moved from the small town to las vegas nv. Since he has been in school out here we have me a couple of times, but each school its the same story. He gets bullied. I go and talk and talk and talk, but it doesnt change nothing. Even when I ask whats it gonna take you calling me because my son was sent to the hospital and even then your going to blame him in some way. He is truely a special child loves with his heart open, and always sees the good in people. He has his problems, but thats what they focus on. Hes been suspended for fighting but he was protecting himself. He has got to the point like (ALex on the movie) that these kids are his friends.Sad...I dont think Dominic is the type to take his own life, but he is the type to take someone elses. He has told me I want to hurt them, kill them, and I tell him that would make you like them and he is at the point now that he doesnt care. He is sick and tired of getting it day in and day out. Then when he does do something to feel better about everything its going to be my fault as the parent and what did I teach him at home, but we send our kids to these school for daycares now a days. They dont teach and they arent protecting them so why are we paying our taxes dollars to theses so called schools? Maybe I'm just blowing of steam, but this movie has pissed me off! When the princpal stop the two boys whent they were coming in from lunch or whatever and the one in the stripe ( red and white) shirt didnt want to shake the others hand, she got mad at him! Gave him a speech about he was just like the other guy, but let the other boy walk off because he offered his hand, come on the only reason he did is because he knew he was going to be able to keep doing what he was doing to the poor boy. I hate the the world as turned into such a horrible place to live in.We are parents need to start teaching our kids equallity. We are all the same, we all bleed red at the end of the day. We need to take a stand and all become one against bullies :)

When I was in 2nd grade there was this girl and she was really mean to me like calling me names.  But this was when it all started.  So, I normally play with these 3 girls and they were good friends but there was this girl who was new and I wanted to play with her and be nice.(BTW she pretended ghosts were real but I didn't judge her and playing like ghosts were real was fun.)  So anyway, she told the teacher that I was spying on her.  So,  me and my friends that I normally play with were in trouble and the teacher talked to us after recess about it.  And me and my friends were like, "We didn't do it you have to believe us!" Sadly in the end all 4 of us had dentention for a week and the "new girl" was so happy about it.  Luckly I have no idea where she is right now.  She bullyed me for 2 years.  And that girl was my friend for 1/3 of the school year.  Only one of my friends in the 2nd grade has been my friend since the 2nd grade she's awesome.  Well, yeah that's it.

Um it started nine years ago to still remember getting called freak for that first time it started after that . They would run an round me calling me demon child loser throwing stuff at me shoveing me into locker walls. Im still scared to go in to the bathrooms because the girls would gang up on me and push me I have been through so much I'm ready to switch schools but I can't if I do that i give up sports right now I have no friends I'm hated by almost everyone it's not fun being a freshman and sitting alone during lunch I just wish it would stop its bad when I have to quit basket ball because I don't get to play at all and the reason why is that the girls are like oh well she hurts me or oh she has a disease so that's almost all of my story but it's hard to get through freshman year like this

I started getting bullied when I was a Sophmore at school,My "suppose" best friends would sit there and talk stuff bout me one day then the next day comes and Im getting laughed at for how I look and  who I'm dating. Well a year goes by and it gets worse I'm a junior now and I just realized how mean people can be. I was getting called a bunch of mean names and it's like it got worse everyday. One day I told myself I had enough and tried to commit suicide,I thought it was the only way out.... But I failed... About a month goes by and I fell Inlove with my best friend... Who soon killed himself because all the depression and angry he had.. I got blamed for it.. I was getting threats on Facebook saying if they saw my face at that school I was done for... I wanted to die. I wanted to take the hard way out of life... Things got worse... I went to sign myself out of school and all the names everyone was calling me...All the threats I had.. And it wasnt even my fault.. To this day I get bullied but I ingore it. Committing sucide isnt the easy way out,Standing up for yourself is. Dont let anyone tell you your not worht it because to me you are!