I grew up in Brooklyn New York with a very unique and amazing childhood. I am fortunate enough to be both of Chinese and Italian decent, however I grew up very traditionally Italian; Sunday Dinners with my family every Sunday at 2pm, went to an all Catholic School for the better stages of my childhood etc. The only thing was, the kids that went to my school didn't see who I was, they saw that I was different from them. I was ostracized for "acting" Italian when I look predominantly Asian, but to me it wasn't acting. I am who I am and I couldn't change it if I wanted too. For years I would tell my parents I had headaches and avoid school at all costs, I was made fun of for being smart, for caring about my grades, for the way I looked and for the few Chinese traditions I stuck too (Moon Cake during the Lunar Festivals.) What was worse than being bullied was being punished for finally standing up for myself. Anytime I would do something to react, the administrators would say that I started the trouble and that I needed counseling. Finally after years of being abused by these kids I begged my parents to leave the school and transfer to my local zoned public school. Once I left and went to a more diverse place, the bullying stopped and I began to make friends leaving my past behind me. 

Since that day in June when I left my old school I vowed to never be bullied in any way again. I became a championship swimmer as well as began kickboxing and now boxing professionally in order to learn how to defend myself if I were to ever encounter a situation that warranted action. I try to help whenever and wherever I can so that no one goes through what I went through for so long. 

It's time for parents of children/teens in Australia to Speak up and Take a stand for our children and stop Bullies! Enough is enough! I hope someday my children will have the courage to tell their Stories of being bullied. So for now as a parent I'll say Speak Up! Stand Up!

Hi my name is Amanda, im 24 years old and here is my story. When I was in 6th grade I wrote a note to my best friend in class saying this boy was cute, the teacher took it and read it out loud. Ever since then that same boy decided to pick on me along with his buddies (I have a small mole on the end of my eyebrow) and they would say moley moley and other hurtful things. In middle school I had friends and I was a cheerleader from 6-12 grade but I felt so alone and so ugly I ended up cutting myself trying to commit suicide and had to go to a therapist. Mind you this harassment stayed ever since graduation in high school. It also got bad enough where I would make excuses to go to the bathroom to check out my apperance redo my makeup just make sure I looked ok (I still do this). Also I recall cheering on the sidelines for a football game one night and would yell mean things at me and laugh and I was just so embarrassed, at the end of the game I was so upset and so mad my parents had to hold me back from going after him. The teachers and guidance counslers didnt help but the therapist did a little. Maybe thats why I skipped class, school and was in school suspension all the time? Because of him I am depressed most of the time among other things and I have low self esteem. If I could go back in time I would have stood up for myself and fought back. Im 24 and this still gets to me and it shouldn't, sometimes I wish I had my therapist back. It was hard to post this but I am against bullying and I plan on teaching my daughter to stand up for herself and fight for what you believe and who you are. Everyone is different and they shouldn't be ridiculed by it.

This past Monday, 5/12/14, I broke my fibula & dislocated my ankle. That Wednesday was mock interviews in my government class with our mayor and two business people he invited with him. As I had broken my leg a few days before, and wasn't exactly supposed to be at school but didn't want to miss the interview, I borrowed a wheelchair from the school because crutches and the medicine is tiring. Anyway, my name was called to be interviewed. I rolled up to the desk and was asked about my name, I told them it is from the Book of Mormon. Later one interviewer, the General Manager of a local pizza place, told me she doesn't agree with how my religion views women and asked how I felt about it, I was appalled and confused. I told her that I didn't know what she was talking about, that I work with mostly women in my current job and she proceeded to ask if that meant I was in charge of them. Again I was shocked and replied No. She continued to ask if then I thought I was smarter then them. Again at a loss for words I replied Noo? I took my attention away from her and the interview continued. After the interview there was a review part where students we're told what they did well and could have done better. During this she asked why I came in on a wheelchair and not on crutches if my leg was just broken. Because to her that seemed like I was lazy and unenthusiastic about the "job". My teacher told her, "he really does have surgery on Monday." Thankfully she did something to support me. I later emailed the mayor confused at why he let this woman attack my religion and temporary disability in an interview in front of my peers, even though it was a mock interview. Many students even laughed at that time too, at what I'm not sure but they laughed. I'm just glad there are organizations like The Bully Project that strive to end bullying. I would just like to ask if we pay attention to it among adults, teachers, the work place, and why we aren't teaching our teachers, leaders, and such to recognize it and stand up because not one adult stood up for me that day, besides the small thing my teacher said about my surgery.

When i was in School other kid use to call me ñame everewere i go i see them i told teacher and i told My teacher That i want to kill My self i try to kill myself but i Could so if You guys can help me :)

Ever since grade five, I've had days where I wish I wasn't the person I am. I believed everything anyone told me. I'm fat, ugly, stupid, retarded, a whore, a slut, an asshole, a bitch, anything. I've heard it all. I always tried to fight back but it hurt so much inside. I've never felt good about myself. Even a teacher humiliated me by subtly sharing the grades with the class on a test I failed. As of this year, my friends stopped talking to me. I tried to talk to them but they'd turn away. I cried every night in bed hoping that life would change. I was even told to kill myself. Now I'm coming back and I will not stop till bullying does. 

Hello my name is DeeDee Drew and i have been bullied since preschool.... I would go home everyday and ask my mom if i was fat because a girl would call me fat everyday when i was 45- 50 lbs in preschool this went on for a while in kindergarten it stopped for a while then in first grade is when i got glasses and people would call me ugly i'd g home as my mom if i was ugly she said no you are very pretty my baby girl. then second grade came it got more intense i was called fat four eyes ugly and even dad less freak because my dad was taken away when i was in 1st grade. third went by fine only a few names called that didn't bother me as much. Fourth came and by then i was bullied everyday called fat ugly whore slut carrot top for having red hair four eyes etc. i was in the office a lot. Fifth grade is finally here i was so happy for the first few days i wasn't getting bullied then my bullies were in my class and i was called dumb that i need to go back to preschool because i was failing math and i never got a good grade on my math homework. sixth grade came and i had new friends but my bullies from last year were in my class again same thing happened being called ugly, fat, dumb because i had a reading problem and failing math. then finally seventh i switched school i went to an environmental charter school were none of my bullies were  just people to make new friends with no home work just project based work at your own pace school with no grades just credit i have excelled so much but then the spring of 2014 still seventh grade a girl was cyber bullying me for months on end and other people to a boy on my bus one day told me to just in front of the bus to make sure i die and the girl said i was a mistake to be born i should have been an abortion baby etc. so one night i said i was done with all this bullying crap i couldn't stand it anymore i cried all night thought of things i shouldn't have i didn't go to school the following Monday. So that's my story i have been bullied most of my life or at least 9 years of it anyways so thank you for reading this i think no one should have to got through bullying.

i was beautiful when I was younger until my own dad started telling me I needed to lose weight and I thought "am I getting fat?" I didn't pay much attention to it and then when he walked out of my life it became worse. a few weeks before it, I was raped , I was only 8. Him leaving became a big impact on my life that I decided I don't care how I look that's when the bully started , I would go home and cry and ask God " why me?" I started cutting my wrist, not to deep but it showed. I was only in 4th grade.. then 5th grade came and the bullying continued. That year my cousin passed away from a drunk driver and it put so much hurt on me and I got braces and glasses , they had new things to pick on me for. My cousin was a lesbian so they said she was a freak and they called me "traintracks" they would say " you're fat , looks like you ate the whole meal" so much that's when my eating disorder started along with cutting so I grew sick . 6th grade was probably when I hit rock bottom. I cut deep, I didn't eat at all but I still threw up whatever I could even if It was nothing and I tried to commit suicide more than 5 times. 7th grade though, that's when I took a stand for myself and the harming calmed down, so did the bullying but it didn't stop. Im now 15 years old and going to be a sophomore in High School and my boyfriend and the little circle I have of friends help me to be self harm free and remind me that im perfect the way I am, so I've been 2 months clean and the bullying no longer happens although the past still haunts me because I still remember the pain, Im still terrified and everything but im learning how to become strong because I got this far /.\

I just watched the movie, and i wanted to give some perspective to you guys.

I've been working in a high school for 4 years now, as a "assistante d'education" which means that i watch over kids when they're not in class. I don't know if this job exists in USA. Basically we're with the kids watching over their safety and making sure they do their homework, helping them with their future etc... It's a student half time work. So, Bullying happens all over the world. We have it in France too. The difference is how we deal with it : Here, whenever a kid gets bullyed, even if he doesn't ask for help, if I see that, both kids involved in the bullying go sytraight to direction office, we call the parents and make them come to the school to face with their children problem, of the bullyed and the bully. Both. If the bullying involves ANY KIND OF PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, the violent kid gets IMIDEATELY EXPELLED from the school for at least 2 days, and if it has allready happened, for 1 week, and so on. If it's about VERBAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE, the bully will be punished with detention hours and will have to explain in an essai his attitude, why it's wrong and how to change it. If the situation is recurrent to one kid, we ALERT THE POLICE, because we know how far it can go, specially today with internet. I don't know about USA but in France, INTERNET BULLYING, is consider by the law as MORAL HARRASEMENT ans it's punished by the law, if the accused person is minor, the parents wil have to pay amend to the victims parents.

Thanks to this consecuences, bully of course still exists, but in a much less way, and kids have a way to fight it, and someone to talk to in school (us)

So after seeing the documentary i think that you SHOULD ASK THE HIGH SCHOOLS TO RENFORCE THEIR INTERNAL RULES so that bullying = immediate consecuences, either calling the parents, either expelling.

I'm schoked about the teachers attitude. Those people need to be fired. And the parents of the bullys need to understand that if their children don't change their attitudes they will be serious consecuences.

People need to understand that bullying is pshycological harressement and not just a stupid game between kids. ITS THE SAME THING.

So that's my point of view. Sorry about my bad english. Hope this will help.

God bless you all, those who fight against any kind of violence.

Karlota.

I just watched the movie, and i wanted to give some perspective to you guys.

I've been working in a high school for 4 years now, as a "assistante d'education" which means that i watch over kids when they're not in class. I don't know if this job exists in USA. Basically we're with the kids watching over their safety and making sure they do their homework, helping them with their future etc... It's a student half time work. So, Bullying happens all over the world. We have it in France too. The difference is how we deal with it : Here, whenever a kid gets bullyed, even if he doesn't ask for help, if I see that, both kids involved in the bullying go sytraight to direction office, we call the parents and make them come to the school to face with their children problem, of the bullyed and the bully. Both. If the bullying involves ANY KIND OF PHYSICAL VIOLENCE, the violent kid gets IMIDEATELY EXPELLED from the school for at least 2 days, and if it has allready happened, for 1 week, and so on. If it's about VERBAL OR PSYCHOLOGICAL VIOLENCE, the bully will be punished with detention hours and will have to explain in an essai his attitude, why it's wrong and how to change it. If the situation is recurrent to one kid, we ALERT THE POLICE, because we know how far it can go, specially today with internet. I don't know about USA but in France, INTERNET BULLYING, is consider by the law as MORAL HARRASEMENT ans it's punished by the law, if the accused person is minor, the parents wil have to pay amend to the victims parents.

Thanks to this consecuences, bully of course still exists, but in a much less way, and kids have a way to fight it, and someone to talk to in school (us)

So after seeing the documentary i think that you SHOULD ASK THE HIGH SCHOOLS TO RENFORCE THEIR INTERNAL RULES so that bullying = immediate consecuences, either calling the parents, either expelling.

I'm schoked about the teachers attitude. Those people need to be fired. And the parents of the bullys need to understand that if their children don't change their attitudes they will be serious consecuences.

People need to understand that bullying is pshycological harressement and not just a stupid game between kids. ITS THE SAME THING.

So that's my point of view. Sorry about my bad english. Hope this will help.

God bless you all, those who fight against any kind of violence.

Karlota.