I was bullied by a few people that i was supposed to see as family, nothing was done about the way they treated me or acted towards me. It happened for years and now i'm a 20 year old sophomore in college and I'm finally starting to get over what happened to me. 

I was afraid to stand up to them, tell anyone, or even be around them it was  getting so bad. Even when i told someone they brushed it off as just some jokes and nothing too serious, but i took it seriously. I was a little kid that didn't understand why it was my fault that all of this was happening to me, why i was the one that had to deal with this and had to get made fun of. Finally after years of what felt like a battle going on inside of me i snapped, i stood up for myself. 

There were jokes, nicknames, locking me out of houses, laughing at me, ignoring everything i did, trying to embarrass me, but i finally stood up for myself. I wish i could forget everything that happened, but it's made me a better person.

It will get better, stand up for yourself, tell a friend or parents or siblings, have SOMEONE listen to you. No matter what it will always get better, there's always someone out there willing to listen or hang out with you. Getting yourself away from the problem is the first step, there's always a way out. 

it all started when i was in 2nd grade and i got moved to a new school. the kids used to bully me and i didn't know why. I didn't have any friends.. well except for this one guy. I used to visit the principle's office all the time for things i didn't do. The kids used to say mean things about me and used to tell the teacher that i cheated on tests, stole things and made fun of other kids... I got over it. I got to 3rd grade and the bullying continued and so on. I don't wan't to get too specific but i got to 8th grade and all of a sudden it all stopped. I don't know how but it did. I am very happy it did because now i didn't have to be afraid of going to school. So If my life got better so can yours..

When I was in 2nd grade i moved schools to a different state, it was not very hard for me because the girls were so mean to me i wanted to leave. After I moved my new school was ok. Some people were nice while other called me names everyday and other just laughed and made me feel worthless when to thought things were gonna get better a boy was walking in the gym and I was in his way so he smacked me to the ground and people laughed. I felt so worthless. We moved again but back to my home state but to a different school. (The school i attend now ). This time it was a lot easier for me to make friends but this group of girls turned around and talked about me and laughed at me for being myself. I now have 3 friends and with out them i don't know what I would do. The bullying still continues but I am strong and I never  believe what they say.

My 12 yr old daughter has been and still is getting bullied!!She is a tall, thin, beautiful,smart,caring,loving,funny girl.She likes to dye her hair different colors (only her bangs) wears skinny jeans and rock band tshirts.She dresses just like everyone else so why is she the target??The bulling got so bad for her that she started to cut her self she wanted to die...at the young age of 11 she wanted to die!!She would use razors,broken glass or anything sharp to use to cut her thin little body.She would cut her arm and legs..her upper thighs still have the scar of a boys name on her that she "loved" so much.When her school called me to come in and talk that is when they told me she wanted to die my heart sank!!!How??? why???I couldnt understand why she thought she had to try and kill herself.Then came the "reasons" being called an emo fagget,whore,slut,bitch,ugly,stupid,goth,freak and Im sure many more things.We left her school and I checked her into a hospital to get her some help.She was in there for 5 days. When she got out and went back to school rumors were flying that she was locked up because of trying to commit suicide,she had a baby,she was locked up for drugs.She contiunue to cut herslf even after she was let go. She didnt get the help that she needed because there was to many other girls on her unit.To walk in and see so many girls with scars and bandages on them was a slap in the face...This is what the world has come to?Yes I was getting her help even outside of the hospital. Nothing was helping so I brought her to another hospital, one that did help my baby get the help she needed!!My daughter is now a survivor to self harm! She still gets bullied the other day she got spit on tripped and called a lesbo.The good thing is, she didnt hurt herself. Instead, she talked about it and guess what? The school said they couldnt do anything to the girl who spit on her or the boy that tripped her becuase she didnt know who they were.The boy that called her a lesbo got a "firm" talking to.Schools preach about no bulling is allowed but in my daughters school its you get 3 strikes then maybe your out.Kids need to see the result of being bullied!!Just look at my daughter.This is what I tell my daughter, I will always be in front beside and behind you!!I love my sweet daughter and will never give up on her.

Always remember to stay strong and reach out to those who love a d care about you! You are never alone! 

Bullying acn ruin someones life. I know 'cause it has ruined mine. I was that typical student that was friends with everyone and was never being talked bad about. Until one day my boyfriend broke up with me. i hooked him up with my best friend and everyone was yelling at me "why would you do that?". Everyone was making me feel guilty and sad. I went home and cried myself to sleep. A week later another  boy asked me to be his girlfriend and i said yes. everyone found out and started calling me all these bad and mean names. i went home crying and my mom diddn't think anything was wrong because i said i fell on the stairs. The next day people were calling me even more names and said i was 'ugly' and 'fat'. i went home and cried myself to sleep. The next day was the same way and i wanted to go home. when i did my mom wasn't home she went to the grocery store. So that day was the first time i cut my wrist. The next day i covered them up with a'lot of bracelets but my friends noticed and yelled at me. that really didn't help. they said they were going to help me and were never going to leave me. i was thankful for having friends like them. my mom didn't notice my cuts 'cause i had my sweater on. I cut again because all the word people were saying to me were haunting me inside my head. The next day in school someone told everyone i was cutting and they were laughing at me and called me stupid. There was this one boy that saw my cuts and went up to me saying "You cut yourself, haha your emo!" and he left laughing. He didn't notice me crying afterwards. Then this girl came up to me and said move b****. I heard you cut yourelf, you are so retarded!" i went to the locker room and started crying in there by myself. i went home that day and i went to the bathroom and cut my wrist even more and even deeper this time. i took a shower afterwards so my mom wouldn't see the blood. The next day my friends friends saw more cuts on my arm and they wrote me a note saying " We are done with you! We tried our best to help you but now your'e on your own. Dont even bother coming for us for help anymore. Goodbye." I cried my eyes out and that when i had serious suicidal thoughts. They saw how broken i was and didn't do anything. They saw me not eat that whole week and just laughed at me. This girl saw me and told the guidane counseler about me. the giudence counseler talked to me and told my mom i cut. When i got home my mom yelled at me and said i was crazy and then told my dad to come home now. they yelled at me then they cried. that was the first time i saw my dad cry. The next day  in school someone took my agenda and wrote all over it and ruined it. later that day a boy came my up to me and said "hey" and then he punched me and ran away laughing. I cried and the teacher asked me what was wrong. i told her and she did nothing. I still have suicidal thoughts and now that im getting help it got worse. I never have any privacy anymore and no freedom. I even tried to overdose and get my life over with. it didnt work. people found out and said that i should kill myself and that its better without me. Till this day all those words are haunting me and make me feel worse of myself. Till this day i still cut but this time its all over my body and i m addicted to it. Til this day i feel like suicide is still he answer o solve all my problems. I've been told to stay strong but i cant because im already broken inside. sometimes i just wonder when will it end........

I swore, I'd never step foot inside a public school again. The last day of school, my senior year at JB ALEXANDER HIGH SCHOOL in the now famous bordertown of LAREDO, TX, was the last they'd ever hear from me again.  I was already enrolled and studying for my first collegiate exam the week before high school graduation. I begged my parents to let me skip walking. I didn't want a party. I wanted to get the hell out.

I used to be the bully. 5th grade was my peak bully-year. I was obsessed with who was dating who or why that boy wasn't interested in me. I was, e-hem... AM still, a drama queen. I liked attention. I had no fear of retaliation.

Reality check. 6th grade. I'm now the minnow in the big black sea. Apparently people already knew about me before I got there. I'd receive a dose of reality daily. Someone sharpied that "Jessica is a big fat whore!" in the bathroom, or a guy asking me who I liked and then pouring milk on me, or that bitch that stole ALL the tampons out of my bag and told everyone only sluts use tampons, not even taking into consideration that I was on the swim team. She handed those out like candy, saying "Have a good day, she's always open for business". My parents spoke to the assistant principals and anyone else they could, but there was "no real threat" and "they couldn't control what came out of kids' mouths".  The students decided to turn it up a notch. Next came the 5 girls who jumped me in the alley on the way to geography, then the girl who pushed me down 2 flights of stairs and broke my ankle. And don't forget the cheerleader who decided not to catch me on purpose and let me hit my head on concrete. Or my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE. When 3 of the 8th grade football players tried to corner me to have their way with me.  "We heard you're a dirty girl, and you like it rough", "I know what they wrote in the bathroom is true, why don't you prove it to me". Because the idiot of a panel of principals at that school still "couldn't prove or press charges", my mother had to go to the superintendent and have me switch schools to one way out of my school zone. 

Things got better. Until high school.

There is definitely something to be said about the cheerleader stereotype. They are always portrayed as the mean girl, and with damn good reason. I wasn't the "go team" cheerleader. I was the intense gymnast/allstar cheerleader that had over 5 National Championships by the end of high school. My friends went to a different high school. They were classified as "the punks", skateboards, gages and all. We listened to hardcore punk rock and decided to go "straight edge". We didn't drink. We didn't smoke. We didn't do drugs. We were different. And because of that, the 7 other senior cheerleaders that had all the keg parties and cocaine, they made it their mission to make my life hell. 

They dropped the middle school remarks, but created new ones. This was during the myspace phase, so everything was online. I can't even explain the hurt they put me through. I began pulling out my own hair to fight the urge to cut. I had a huge bald spot on the middle of my head because of the stress. My captain, and their evil leader, magically changed her mind that day on how we were going to wear our hair to an important football game. No matter how much I pleaded to my spineless sponsor, the captain won. So there was my bald spot, for the world of Alexander High School to see. They would host "hate raves" in my name. they continuously urged underclassmen that I was the go-to girl to talk about STD's about (back then it was STD not STIs). Word of mouth, I started getting my house and car egged. Then, a pole thrown on my lawn... because the rumors had somehow manifested into that I give free shows with my stripper moves. Then being tailgated on the freeway until I almost crashed into someone else. On.. and on... and on...

This whole time I'm asking myself, is it even WORTH IT ANYMORE? Life should not have to be this hard, and if it is, why should I have to endure it alone. I knew I couldn't bully them back, because that'd just add fuel to the fire. I had to hit them where it hurts. And if you know anything about Laredo, it's the MECCA OF COMPETITIVE CHEERLEADING. There are over 100 National Championships with the private gyms and school teams winning at the most elite levels. I was their top tumbler. Their strongest base. Their best dancer. Highest jumps. Technically, I was unbeatable. But it was my senior year and my last national competition. They knew I'd never not go, because if there was ANYTHING I cared about, it was cheerleading. 

They crossed the line when I walked back in from using the restroom and my COACH, THE ADULT, WAS TALKING SMACK ABOUT ME. Making fun of me. And my mom, apparently. I quit 4 days before nationals. I was the point of everything, so I knew it'd hurt them to have to re-do formations and stunt groups. We were projected to win that year (for those of you who don't know cheerleading, youtube a two man bow-and-arrow double-down... we had 8 of those). I sacrificed my last senior attempt at getting another National Champion Jacket, because I had had enough. I walked into the principal's office, she, along with the sponsor, begged me to consider staying until after nationals, my answer was not a chance in hell. The adrenaline was pumping through my veins, my hear was in my throat, I just wanted to wash my hands of those jerks. I signed my name, and I was officially off the team. Then the adrenaline wore off.

I was still an allstar cheerleader at a private gym, but it didn't help much when I heard the team placed 5th because the two stunts I was in fell. At first, there was a big "HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..." ... then it hit me. Oh. Crap. I. See. Them. On. MONDAY. 

My world became very dark. Hate letters in my notebooks, telling me to just kill myself already, that they'd dance on my grave. They'd snort coke at my funeral in front of my mother. I should "watch my back because they were going to drive me across the border into Mexico, pay the cartels to kill me, and never be heard from again." No words could patch or heal the wounds that came after those words. No one would care if I lived or died. I sometimes wondered if my parents were so sick of dealing with my drama that they'd want me to end it, too.  If I was even their child any more or rather just the burden with a reputation.  Several scary nights followed. Several attempts. Several failures. Several nights praying to Jesus to just take me now. I couldn't find the courage to do it myself, so please, Lord, PLEASE pity me and take me with you now. I want to be free from this place. I was 10 and stupid and apologized for hurting others to gain popularity, and now I have no one at 18. NO ONE. Except my parents. Oh yeah, they love me even if I'm stressing them out with all my baggage. 

It was hell on earth. I wanted to be left alone. My parents saw the warning signs, they found the razors I was cutting with and threw them out. They removed ANY piece of glass or scissors, belts or scarves, they took the last spring out of my mattress before they made me sit by their side at all times. I hated them and wanted to just be left alone in my sad and dreary thoughts. But they fought me. One night I ran out the door, trying to run away to jumpstart my suicide. Who knew my old man could run that fast, but he caught me, wrapped his arms around me, and as I kicked and screamed and struggled to have him let me go... he refused. I'd scream "help! help!" just so someone would distract him for one second so I could get away. He just held me closer. He kept repeating, "I'm not going anywhere. I'm NEVER GOING TO LEAVE YOU! I'M NOT GOING TO LET GO. YOU ARE MY DAUGHTER. I LOVE YOU. I LOVE YOU. YOU WILL ALWAYS BE MY EVERYTHING. I LOVE YOU. YOU ARE WORTH YOUR LIFE..."

I'm bawling as I type this. I have never even told my husband this story of how my dad, with a bloody lip from me trying to get away, holding me as tight as he could, for as long as he needed to, HE TOOK THE PAIN. He took MY PAIN. I wanted to die and he wouldn't let me. I hated him. And I loved him. And WHY IS IT SO HARD?! WHY CAN'T I JUST BE HAPPY?!!

He carried me inside as I choked on my words and tears, and he didn't stop holding me until I held him too. My mom slept with me that night in my bed. She didn't sleep a wink. She knew I'd hit rock bottom on my personal hate scale. No one could hate me as much as I hated myself at that moment. Tears slowly rolled down her  face as she watched me, the 18 yr old baby, cry herself to sleep. In breathless efforts to speak, I'd say something like "I can't do it anymore... I don't have the will to live. Mom, let me go.... just let me go..." but she silently cried as she softly hummed me to sleep.

I probably would've gotten myself killed that night. I had a letter ready and everything. I was 18. Ready for death. I had a plan. I was going to just walk across the Mexico bridge, and knew that the drug cartels now own those towns and those governments... my parents wouldn't ever hear from me again.

I got the hell out of there. I was already a week into my collegiate career even before my high school graduation. I didn't want to go. But I did. For my parents... and for me. I told my parents I wasn't going to college unless I did theatre, my second passion. I didn't want to touch college cheerleading after what I went through in high school, even though I had cheer scholarships. I graduated with honors from Texas A&M University, probably the most conservative public school in collegiate history, but the performance studies department was far from it. I met my lifelong friends, and my professors saw more ability in me that I did. They honored me with a full scholarship to graduate school under the TAMU Performance Studies Department. They are now, also, my friends and mentors. College was the best experience of my life, and I'm so grateful my parents' kept me alive for it.

I swore I'd never step foot into a public school again. I am now the theatre arts teacher at a southside middle school somewhere in Edinburg, TX. I experience bullying on a whole new level here. Professionally, this is my first year teaching and have dealt with several bullying scenarios where my students, without being told a thing, do the right thing and stand up for each other. However, as we as educators are instructed to enlighten and to educate the children about the affects of bullying, they see it first hand amongst the administration towards ME. I sought out a new opportunity to try to help others and teach my passion, and instead, my students see the first hand effects for themselves. They see the constant sabotage, the manipulation, the false accusations. I have just recently learned that THEY stood up for ME. They organized a formal meeting with administrators to talk about the affects of the professionals bullying the new teacher from out of town. I constantly remind my students that a theatre is a community, but this made my heart fill with joy. No one has ever had my back like this, until now. And they are only 11-14 years old. 

The Bully Project has planted the seed and it is growing and flourishing and I am now a patriot for it because when my supervisors thought I was alone, my students, CHILDREN, reminded them that theatre is a community. And that I will never be alone.

My name is Jesse. I am now 32 years old. I can tell you that being bullied in school has changed who I am and has influenced much about my self image and personality. From grade school to the first year of High School, I was bullied. I was a social outcast, a loner. I used to come home from school and tell my parents about my suffering and they gave up telling me how to manage it productively because nothing worked, no one in my school cared. I was called names, publicly embarrassed, picked on, beat up. 

In our grade school, when you were done with lunch someone at your table had to go to the front of the cafeteria and get a sponge and clean the table. Where you sat at lunch determined who you were friends with and how popular you were. I was borderline obsessed with being popular and did everything I could to fit in. I was only allowed to sit at the table if I cleaned it at the end. So every day I sat with kids that ignored me, called me names, threw food at me, inched their way as far away from me as possible to make it seem like if I touched them I would give them the plague, and added insult to injury when I had to clean the table. 

There were kids that would follow me home and try to fight me. I was one of the taller, stronger kids growing up, so maybe they thought it was some kind of challenge to pick on me. I got into many fights, always 3-7 kids to fight just me. Needless to say, I lost more fights than I won, and sometimes winning just meant I got away without getting really hurt. I had weapons pulled on me, had my life threatened, was beaten up in a public park in front of two friends by 7 kids, some with knives. But honestly, I would have taken that every day if it meant I didn't have to deal with the constant verbal abuse at school.

Now I am an adult, but the teasing I got in my youth has shaped me. I have gone to therapy, taken anti-depressants, dealt with feelings of inadequacy and low self-esteem. I question the motives of people being nice to me, I become easily defensive when being criticized even if it's minor. I know that in the end I lucked out. Something changed in me that helped me "bloom" and I made friends and learned how to be sociable. But to this day, I will never forget the pain I was put through in school.

I cried numerous times during "Bully". I am appalled that even now, our educators and school administration are oblivious to the actions of bullies. Either they are unable or unwilling to change what is happening. I can tell you, there is a significant impact to being bullied that scars you in such a way that you never truly recover. Even so, I am still here where other kids made the choice to end their lives. As devastating as it is to lose even one child to bullying, those of us that remain have one very powerful tool we can utilize to end bullying: Our Voice.

Our Voice. Our Voice is strong. One message at a time, one child at a time, one class, one bus, one school at a time. We must MUST change this. A zero-tolerance policy for bullying is needed in our schools. Mental health guidance is needed for kids from troubled homes. Resources need to get to the schools who need the most help. Whatever needs to happen so we don't lose one more child. Whatever needs to happen so our children don't grow up doubting themselves and never trusting another person. We need to do it.

Count me in.

I'm 16 almost 17 and I've been bullied since the 3rd grade. It all started because I liked the popular boy in school. I was only maybe 9? But since that day, my entire life hasn't ever  been the same. I always tell myself that they're just jealous of me but I realized that there is nothing to be jealous of. In 2010, it got so bad that I almost commited suicide. I realized now that it was a childish thought but after going through all of the mental and emotional pain, I thought it was my last resort. My school knew about it all and yet did nothing about it. I still go to that school, but i think there needs to be something else done in school. I get made fun of on social networking sites like instagram and twitter.. It's like every where I go, I have to keep a guard up and I always think people are talking about me when they could be talking about a different person.. I don't have friends anymore because I can't trust them... The biggest question I wanted answers too is, When  is it gonna end? and I won't get those answers ever because no one does anything to help me...