My son is 7 his name is Eric, he has been bullied since he was in young 5's its a form of pre-k, but he is in 1st grade now, he has gone though Hell and back at the age of 18 months I new something was different about him, he didn't want to be held hugged loved like most babies I've seen when I was going up, He was my 1st child and that's all I wanted to do but he would get mad even angry when he was hugged, he would often make noises out of no where when he got excited or upset too I thought it was kind of cute he had a delay in his speech too but years went on it was time for headstart, the teachers didn't treat him like other students they even told me to take him DURING a Christmas Play this broke his heart and that was the beginning  of him hating school!!! In Kindergarten he would come home crying every day  because his teacher was mean his friends were mean I told Eric theres no way the teacher is mean, then he told me stories how she would make him sit out of the group and kids would tell him he's weird, he stinks, they called him sweatpants poor boy and even told him he was mean, as a mother this broke my heart! I listened to him cry everyday these this at first I told him to just ignor them they'll stop, they didn't then I told him to tell them that him and his mommy would pray for them and it didn't stop one day he comes home and was physically attack, I started going to the school during his lunch reassess to watch Ive seen him punched kicked and a worse I was told Eric was in trouble not the other students be of him defending himself, I was told the play ground aid saw him hitting at students it was because he was trying to get them off him is all, I tried to defend him but this was no good to the principal  all I was told im not allowed to sit and watch I'd have to sign in first but that wasn't my point Eric did no wrong I saw the entire incident, but I was asked to take my son home, and this continued I got fed up with how he was being treated by students so I stepped in and found out that this group of kids that were bulling my son day in and day out, but come to find out that one of the boys family members  was a teacher at that school, I also found out that the teacher was indeed treating my son unfair, and this upset to the point I was crying, I was at his school dropping off his lunch he forgot and looked in the class room before knocking just to see him but instead I saw this, "Eric about 7 to 8 feet away for all classmates his head on his desk, he looked so sad, I look at the teacher reading a book to all the other children and not once did I see her turn to show my son pictures or to ask questions or even to see what he was doing" he was let in a corner by a book shelf just like a piece of furniture, and this broke my heart, ((I now listen to him when he tells me his teacher is mean to him because this wasn't right!)) but I knocked loudly on his class door the teacher turns and asks how may I help you, I bluntly ask why isn't he sitting with the rest of the class, she took me out in the hall and stated, we cannot have him sitting with the other children because he's disruptive, he makes noises, chews on things or his sleeve and touches things on his desk and we cannot have him disturbing the other students who are learning, this made me mad! I didn't know my sons rights or wasn't aware of his condition YET, he was going through test but we have come to find out he has Asperger's, after I was aware of his condition I told the school what was going on but nothing change but this did explain a lot, why my alarm clock was taken apart and I thought he broke it but he surprised his mommy by putting it back together and it still works to this day 1 year later and now that hes out of kindergarten he has an awesome 1st grade teacher who has helped him in so many ways this year was a good year for Eric, I only pray next year 2nd grade will be the same as 1st grade and nothing like Kindergarten!!! there is so much more I could say about Eric's story but I'll say this he writes it now not others Ive helped him where others have torn him down and if some one is mean I listen, Stand up for him now always and for as long as the good lord lets me, I'll do this for him my other 3 children and anyone else, It's not ok to bully child or teen or even adults, It's WRONG!

i'm 36 years old.

i survived childhood bullying, but i still bear the scars. i still battle with anxiety attacks and trust issues that the whole event caused.

my story started when my family moved from the house i'd always lived in, when i was 8 years old.

i started my 3rd grade year at a brand new school. i had no friends there. i didn't know anybody in my grade at all. i was also small for my age. i'd always been smaller than most other kids my age. things started well. i met some other kids who seemed nice and who were friendly with me during the first week of school. things seemed to be going well. i was getting used to my new school and new friends.

then, one day, it all went wrong. the playground bully noticed me. noticed i was small and new and didn't really know how to fight at all. he was in my grade too and he was 11 years old. it started with small things. being pushed into walls "accidentally" or with him "accidentally" stepping on my feet or my fingers whenever he could get away with it. always whenever it was recess. and he had a team, a gang, of younger boys who were closer to my age who would distract the teachers who were supposed to be watching the playground and keeping order out there.

he would always wait for the teachers to be distracted before he set in on me. i'd been taught that when you're being hurt by another kid, you tell a teacher or other adult. i did this. i did it EVERY TIME he attacked me. i told EVERYONE who'd listen, but nobody did anything to stop it.
then, things evolved from being pushed into walls and such to him hitting and kicking me and just generally beating the daylights out of me. this happened EVERY DAY there was school. some days EVERY TIME we had recess. i never really knew when he was going to appear and do whatever he had in mind that day, but i KNEW it would happen at some point during the school day.

this went on for months. my parents felt powerless because they didn't know how to help me. talking to the school didn't help because the school just suggested that maybe i wasn't "old" enough to be in 3rd grade ... even though i met the scholastic guidelines to be in that grade. anytime my parents tried to address the issue with them, the school would suggest that my parents have me put back a grade "for my own good"

the whole first semester of school, i got beat on every single school day. i came home with bruises and other injuries. i eventually stopped telling the adults at school what was happening because they weren't going to help me. my new friends, they deserted me because NOBODY wanted to be friends with the new girl who had become the playground bully's new favorite toy.

so, i started playing by myself. i found games i could do alone. i learned to like playing hopscotch. my school had the pattern for the game board painted on the concrete in one area of the playground. ... so that's what i usually did. or i played on the playground equipment alone. always alone because whenever i'd go into an area of the playground, everybody would leave. they ALL knew what was happening to me, but NOBODY was willing to speak up and help.

i don't know at what point i started hating school. i used to LOVE school, but at some point, i started to HATE it. i started begging my mom to not make me go anymore. i begged and pleaded because i KNEW 100% what would happen that day if i went. it was guaranteed. after this, i hated school. always. this experience totally destroyed my love for school and i never got it back. school became something to be endured, not loved.

and one day, the last day of school before winter break, i was playing hopscotch by myself. the place where the things were painted on the ground was kinda isolated, but i'd stopped caring about that long before this day. my attacker waited until i was on one foot getting ready to make a hop, then he came running from behind me and straight-armed me to the ground. this was during morning recess. my pants were torn, so was my shirt. my knees were both scraped up badly, so was my face and right hand and arm. i don't remember crying out when i was knocked down and injured, but i must have as badly as i was injured. yet, nobody came running to help me. i don't remember crying after, but again, i must have. and nobody was there to comfort me. my wounds went unattended. the school didn't even bother to call my parents to bring me clean, undamaged clothes to wear. i was NEVER told that what happened was not my fault, not by anyone at school.

the ultimate betrayal to me and the last straw for my parents came when i got off the school bus that day. because my parents were totally unaware i'd been hurt at school that day. and by the time i got home, the school was closed until winter break was over. my mother was beyond livid when she saw the way i looked coming off the bus because our bus stop was right in front of the house we were renting.

the very first thing mom and dad did, after they made sure i was as ok as i was going to get, was take pictures of my wounds and my clothes. then next thing dad did was spend all that winter break talking to lawyers to find out what his rights as my parent were and my rights as a child and a student of that school were ... AND the RESPONSIBILITIES the school failed to live up to. i was totally unaware of what my parents were up to at that time, but they told me they'd take care of it and make SURE it would NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

when school started back up after winter break ended, i didn't return to school immediately. i didn't return until late in that first week after. and then, it was with my daddy in tow and we had an appointment to see the principal of the school. i got to watch as my daddy told that man what was going to happen. the man tried to tell Daddy that he couldn't do what Dad was asking him to do, so Daddy TOLD him that he WOULD do it, or else. and then Daddy went on to explain what "or else" meant. it meant that that principal, the school, the teachers, the school board had ALL failed to protect me and to provide a safe and nurturing environment for me to learn in. AND that every person who'd failed me was liable for it and he would sue ALL of them, individually and as a group, for every penny they had.

i KNOW my daddy meant every word he said. my daddy always said EXACTLY what he meant and NEVER made idle threats. my daddy made sure the man believed, too. and he definitely did, because i was assured that the abuse would stop immediately. and it did.

see, that kid who beat me up daily for 4 months, his little gang friends ratted him out because even they felt he'd gone too far. and about a week after my daddy had laid down the law with that man who'd failed to protect me, i was called down to the principal's office out of class ... and there, in the principal's office, sat that boy at the big round table in the principal's office. he was crying. ... and that day, the man who'd failed me for months told me that what had happened before would NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN.

i didn't find out until much later that the boy had been spanked for his actions and that was why he had been crying that day. and i didn't find out until years later WHY he'd been doing what he did. apparently, his home life was less than awesome and his parents really had no interest in what that boy or his sister did or failed to do. so, until my daddy had FORCED my school to stop what was happening, he'd really never been told what was too far and what wasn't. plus, he was 11 and still in third grade.

in 2004, the boy, now a grown man, found me working at the local Walmart store. he came through my line with his wife and 2 kids. i could tell they were his kids because they were built like he had always been and they had his hair and complexion. ... and in front of those 2 kids and his woman, he APOLOGISED to me for what he had done. i could tell that it had been really bothering him for probably a really long time. and i did another thing i've always been taught, i forgave him. because he needed it and i needed it.

that school, still in operation, NEVER apologised to me for what happened. they have NEVER admitted that they did wrong or failed me. and they probably never will. i have to learn to accept that. and i have to learn to accept and move past what happened. because that terrible thing that happened almost 30 years ago still haunts me every day. i'm always afraid and i never feel truly safe. i don't know how to trust people, not really. i have to be in complete control of everything that's going on, or i get really uncomfortable and start to have anxiety attacks.

mine is the face of an adult who survived childhood bullying. this is what happens when it's not addressed and stopped as soon as it starts.

i can't change what happened, but i can learn from it and i can use it to teach others that this is NOT ok. it is NEVER ok to allow kids to treat each other like that.

i have watched one of my best friend's kids go through being bullied and i made really sure that child knew what happened wasn't caused by anything she did or failed to do. i told her that it was NOT her fault. and i helped her mom get it stopped. i know how it feels to be in her spot. i WILL NOT stand by and watch any child in my life bully or be bullied.

i know that it is unlawful for a school or other learning body to fail to provide a safe environment for learning to occur. i know that EVERY child has a RIGHT to go to school and not have to worry about being attacked by other students; not mentally, not physically, not emotionally. and that's how it is. if you take nothing else away from my story, remember that. and make sure you know both your rights as a parent and your child's rights as a student. it varies slightly from state to state, but the general core of the thing tends to be the same. be an advocate for the kids in your life because sometimes their voices are ignored by those in power.

I am a grandmother raising two beautiful grandchildren.  The oldest, Meagan, just graduated with honors. She was always very popular in school.  Always in athletics.  She never wanted to miss school.  My grandson is 13 years old.  He is overweight, very quiet, not active, and has a disease called Gynecomastia (benign enlargement of breast tissue in males).  I noticed this year he did not want to go to school.  He always had a headache or stomach ache.   He refused to do any kind of athletics.  The only thing he wanted to do was band.  A couple of months ago I told him he did not have a choice about being in athletics because he needed the exercise.  He became very upset.  I walked into his room and he was holding a picture of his dad and tears were streaming down his face.  He did not cry like that at his dad's funeral.  I told his sister what was going on and she went in to talk to him.  He told her that he was being made fun of in school.  One of the boys that was bullying him had been his best friend since they failed first grade together.  His friend would also grab him in his privates when he would go to the water fountain and bend over to get a drink. I talked to him for a long time and let him know how much I loved him.  The assistant principal was notified and he talked to Michael.  He told him to just ignore them and walk away.  This upset me even more and I called the principal and set up a meeting.  The parents were notified and the bullying stopped.  I am still not satisfied because more needs to be done in the schools.  The next child might not have a grandmother like me that will not stop until something is done.  Schools are being notified about the bulling and nothing is being done.  Children are committing suicide because they cannot take it anymore. This really scares me because this could be my grandson that takes his own life.  You would have to see the tears that ran down his cheeks to fully understand the frustration and pain I am feeling now.

i have many stories like this, I remember one time while sitting down before class three lads pushed a desk into me pinning me to the chair so i couldn't stand up. two of the lads then held my arms so i couldn't break free, the third lad lifted his leg and kicked me in the face repeatedly. just because it was fun. the teacher arrived after they finished and surprising didn't notice the blood or bruises on my face and i realized even when you speak out teachers didn't care about students only getting paid. that was many years again and i found my fists since then. i still have many physiological problems with trusting and interacting with people. but life does get better. people later in life do want to be your friends and want to know you as a person and the bullies will disappear. i went thought many years of torture but i'm now Ok. so hang on 

Hi im alyssa and this is my story.

Its just funny isnt it...?! that people who are always supposed to be there for you...just kill you from the inside. My dad has abused me for four years now, im 13 by the way, i go to my dads house every second weekend, if i feel like it. He doesnt like me for me, im just not good enough for him or anyone, i just cant deal with it any more. I get hit and beaten up, he will make me dress like a skank and i cant do anything about it. I have tried telling my friends, but they dont get it, they are just going on with their perfect little lives while im drowning in my own thoughts. 

I recently went to the doctors and they said i have depression and anxiety, this really hurt because... i mean... im only 13. I just cant seem to be happy any more, and my friends are all kind of ditching me because i am no fun. I ended up in hospital last week because i fainted 7 times in 2 days because my body cant cope with my stress, i am scared my dad is going to take me away, and that is really hard for me to deal with, because he has so much money and he can do what ever he wants with me. 

I just want to be normal like my friends and its so hard. but i have now stopped seeing my dad for a little while, maybe this will help out with the stress.

If any one has any advice or something that can help me get through this, it would be a life changer. xx

When I was in elementary school I was very outgoing. I was friends with practically everyone in my classroom and thus never experienced bullying myself. However, as my peers and I moved up a grade again and again, my best friends began to pick on kids who did not necessarily "fit in." In 5th grade, in particular, my two best friends were very cruel to two other boys, constantly calling them names and even physically hurting them. One day after school, when it was just my two guy friends and I sitting in the classroom waiting for our teacher so we could talk to her, another classmate of ours came in. This boy was one that my friends really liked to pick on. Now to save you the gruesome details, that afternoon, while there was no adult supervision after school in our classroom, my friends beat up the other boy. They hurt him pretty badly and when it was over the boy just got up and left. Where was I? Well all the meanwhile this was happening, I was sitting on a desk...laughing - even though I did not find this funny. A week or two later if I recall correctly, this boy moved schools and we never heard from him again.

Now I personally believe that what happened this day could have been prevented. I also believe that the person who did the most damage her was me. I was the bystander. I sat there and allowed my own friends to hurt this boy without doing anything about it even though I knew it was wrong. Nonetheless, I pretended like it was fine, like it was funny to me. 

Years later, I searched for this boy on Facebook and all over social media. Unluckily for me, I could never find him. I did, however, find the other boy my friends picked on. I sent him a message, apologizing for never sticking up for him and allowing my friends to treat him so poorly. He never replied to me - and I don't blame him.

It's hard to understand or sometimes even empathize with people who are being bullied when you have never experienced this yourself. But we cannot fool ourselves either. By not acknowledging the problem, we ARE part of the problem and probably one of the most crucial parts. What I did as a kid, I am not proud of. I cannot go back and change time and fix my mistakes or the mistakes of my friends. However, I can speak up now. I am now in college and although I do not see bullying as often or frequently as I did when I was a child, I know it still exists. I could never understand why someone would want to hurt another person for absolutely no reason and I still can't. Finally, though, I am taking a stand and attempting to do my part to inform others and help others who have been part of this. 

We are the problem, but we are also the solution. 

Last year I was a freshman in high school. One day I was walking to the auditorium when a girl who was previously my best friend threw three snowballs at the back of my head. She found it funny and started laughing at me along with some other girls. During the assembly I was standing next to her. She was still laughing about the incident with the snowballs. I was ignoring her and trying to pay attention so she stomped on my foot. Her decision to stomp on my foot ruined my life. I had injured a toe on that foot months before, but it was healed. When she stomped on it she broke a piece of bone off of my toe. My doctor told me months later when I was still in bad pain that I would need surgery to remove the chipped piece of bone. When I finally had surgery nine months later I received more bad news. When the doctor opened my toe up my knuckle was shattered, but held together by the skin causing it to not show up on x-rays and a MRI. Due to the severity of the injury I developed a nerve condition that still is not better 5 months later. I now have to go to a hospital for a month for rigorous impatient therapy in hopes of relief. Because of this injury I have been unable to attend school. I went from being a straight A student to receiving Cs and I may not even be able to finish the tenth grade. On top of all the physical pain I was caused because of this girl's actions I also lost all of my friends. When she hurt me my mother brought it up to the school administration. Because I told on her the bully spread rumors around my class. She also hid my back pack and text books in a hope to make me late for class. She also made mean comments to me for months to follow and she still picks on my on the off chance that I see her.  

Because of this girl my life was turned upside down in a matter of a couple of months. Bullying is a terrible thing no matter how severe. This whole experience has affected not only me, but everyone in my life. The only positive thing that has come out of this is I have learned who my true friends are. Also I have been able to see how I have hurt others in the past and I have been able to make amends with those people. 

If you know anyone who has been bullied encourage them to go to an adult because you don't want to let it get bad like it did in my case.  Thank you for reading my story. 

Blood. Dripping down her soft arms, sliding past her finger tips and trickling on the floor. With cries for help suffering inside her mind, she stood in fear. No one could help now, she thought as the sharp blade drove further into her wrist. Tears just pouring down her cheeks, and she needed a faster way to end this entire trauma. “Stitch, are you in there?” She heard outside the bathroom, as the fists of her own sister pounded on the door. It rattled and shook, but Stitch refused to unlock what held back all of her problems. She sat in horror, pulling her hair and screaming out all the pain. Stitch couldn’t take it anymore; she dropped the blade out of her shaking hands. With her being so mad and alone she rose up off the floor, wiped her tears and unlocked the door, only to find no one standing there. Just a figure of black mist stood in front, with a cold chilling feeling surrounding her. There was no one, and nothing but voices screaming in her face. Stitch didn’t understand why everyone was yelling, it was like they were attacking her. Every nasty word said would bite and pick at the bruised skin she had, tearing her apart bit by bit. Covering her ears and screaming “Get out”, Stitch couldn’t get rid of the comments that were being thrown at her. One after another they came faster, louder, meaner; the words were bold and strong, cutting into her skin like a knife. Every deep cut would sting and remind her of the things she thought she had done wrong. Stitch didn’t know what to do, the dark figure grew larger and she was stuck in the middle of it all. Every word and horrid memory was surrounding her, taking her down to the floor. Stitches broke, and finally said “enough!” she couldn’t just stand here and take the pain anymore. So when she got up and opened her eyes, she saw herself standing in the mirror. Stitch looked at her reflection only to find no bathroom, no blades, nothing harmful was to be seen. She didn’t understand how bad things could have gotten if she didn’t say something. Not realizing how horrid people’s comments are, they stick with you forever.  They haunt you and will never go away, but what the image in the mirror was; was Stitch herself if she kept it all inside. Cuts, scrapes, bruises, and bleeding…cries for help that wouldn’t get out. But when she really looked at herself, there was nothing but faded scars. It’s been a while since Stitch had thought about those people who hurt her. In fact she’s living a great life, feeling free to do as she pleases, nothing bottled up inside and only good things on the outside. Stitch had been on a horrible journey by being seconds away from taking her own life, to just standing up and finally saying enough. She ended it all by speaking up, it wasn’t easy but it was worth it in the end. The things Stitch went through to put her in that situation weren’t just people calling her names, it was everything around her.  All she’s ever worked for, everything she tried to do, even when she put others before herself, they all just crumbled. Not one person helped in return and everyone left her, she sat alone for days; even weeks. When she wanted to cry for help, something always told her “no, keep it inside, they don’t need you” So that’s what she did. Eventually things got worse, and she couldn’t take it. It wasn’t until she cracked and finally spoke up that things turned around and got better.

It was sophomore year and I had just finished my lunch and was returning to my locker to put my lunch bag away when, she came up behind my locker door and closed it on my arm which was still inside my locker! I started to tell her not to do that and to stop picking on me as other students were walking by me heading to class, none of them stopped to help me or defend me as most of them just kept on walking by. I yelled at her and told her to go away or I would tell our principal on her. Meanwhile, she told me I needed to watch what I said or she would hurt me again! Another time, I told her I was going to my friend's house as she was supposed to take me home due to my mom working and her mom told her she would pick me up. I asked my mom if I could go to my friend's house and she said that was fine, so I told the girl I was going with my friend and she yells at me "WHATEVER BITCH." My friend didn't like her attitude either so we just walked away after telling her. My friend didn't get involved in any defense against the girl not like I had. I have been bullied and hurt physically and emotionally by this girl.

When I went to school in California, I got bullied and picked on. When I went to gym class, there were some girls who pretended to be my friend. I felt like no body cared who I was there. Everyday at lunch, I was sitting alone or I was eating lunch with my mom in her classroom. I just dreaded of going to school or going to gym. The worst part about it was that if you told a teacher, she was going to fix it but they don't. I didn't feel safe there. Now I am out of there and I have a good group of friends who like me for who I am really. I don't get why they bothered me in the first place.