My Story's not like the rest

I was bullied by my peers yes. I was left out of everything, nobody would be caught dead next to me, and any word spoken to me would ones of ill will. When I was in 4th Grade, our 'Peer Support' group, a little group where we could go for guidance, played a game of Simon Says which featured the main command of 'beat up Harry.' Everyone, including all the friends I thought I had, followed without any remorse. But I experienced my worst situation from someone you're supposed to go to for help... my teacher.

I always felt my best in the classroom. No one could be horrible to me, I could have fun learning, and I could participate in things without being looked at in funny ways. But i faced a real shock. It started in one math class. We were doing fractions, and my teacher than put an example on the board. I noticed something with it and put my hand up. In some way or another, I told her that the example was wrong. She fixed me with a stare of pure loathing, and calmly told me to wait outside of the classroom. I did what I was told, and when the other kids went out for recess, she took me aside privately. She then proceeded to tell me to shut up whilst she was teaching, and to never again make her look stupid in front of the class.

From then on it just got worst. Any hand I raised was ignored, I was constantly yelled at for being rude and annoying, and any corrections I made were met with lunch time detention. I was even given detention for reading silently after completing any given work. Adding to the fact that I was constantly being bullied viciously by my peers, and I was in a pretty bad place. I even seriously considered suicide. 

But i told myself that I would soon, be in high school, away from all I had experienced in Primary, and it was going to be better there,

And it was! I made lots of new friends, where people had no pre-concieved opinion of me, and I was welcomed by all. I was amazed at the kindness of the teachers, and the world just got a little brighter, day by day. By the end of the year, I had thrived in this new welcoming environment, and had yearned the Academic Award for my grade.

My advice: Don't take your own life, because you never know just what will happen. You never know, maybe that amazing person will come into your life, and make it better

I hope sharing my story helps you to confront your own.

Harry Mäe

My story of bullying isn't like the more common experience. I was teased and ridiculed throughout elementary and my early middle school years because of my size. I was a heavy set girl. i didn't look like the other girls in my class. They were skinny and had lighter skin than I did. They made me feel and believe that they were better because they had smaller shapes and fairer skin. I was always at home and never really hung out with anyone from school. my attitude totally changed when I got into the 7th grade. I had an epiphany and realized that the girls that made fun of me and exiled me, weren't much different. They didn't have this grand thing about them that made them more special or better than me. When I realized that these girls couldn't make me feel inferior unless I let them, I decided not to take it anymore. I decided to stand up for myself. I didn't let them ruin my whole day. They couldn't take my sunshine away. I know that sounds cliche, but it's true. I finally figured out how to get to them. Most bullies become bullies because they are insecure with themselves. They purposely try to find someone that they think is worse off than them. Once they pick that person, they pick them apart. They try to find your flaw. When they can't find one, they choose to make fun of what they are jealous of. Bullies are just lonely people who want love and friendship, but they spew out their anger and are completely mean to people for absolutely no justified reason. Bullying needs to come to an end. To this day, I know my worth and they can't reduce me to their level.

When I was little I never had a shortage of playmates. I was one of those outgoing, lovable kids that made friends everywhere. I was used to kids wanting to play with me and receiving compliments from the adults because I was "funny" or "really smart for my age".

 

In middle school I was part of the popular crowd, I was that girl that everybody wanted to invite to their birthday party because I was "fun to be with". In my personal opinion, I was just a clown that had fun while entertaining people.

 

But when I was 12 things started to change...

 

One afternoon, as I was entering my house, my next door neighbor told me my skirt looked "good on me". I did thought it was a weird comment to make, but only because my skirt was the same skirt I had had for a few years now..

From then on my neighbor kept making comments like that every time he saw me, it didn’t took me long to realize he had memorized my schedule so he could be standing on his door every time I had to go or come back to my house.

(I imagine you might have already guessed this part but my neighbor wasn’t a cute boy my age.. he was a grown man of around 50 years old who used to babysit me when my parents had to go to the grocery store)

By the time I was 13 almost 14 the comments had escalated to “your ass looks so good today baby” and “why don’t you come closer so I can actually tell you what I think about your legs?” despite the fact that I had starting wearing clothes 3 sizes bigger.

Now imagine being afraid of even going close to the windows inside your own house, don’t even let me start on actually going out… I was so terrified, I started to develop this sort of routine for when I had to enter or leave my house. The game consisted of being as quiet as possible and figuring out new routes I could take home every day.

My friends stopped being my friends at some point, I’ve forgotten exactly when…  I never blamed them though, I had stopped going to do sports because that meant leaving the house, the only time I did left the house was in the morning for school. Because of that I started gaining weight.

By the time I was 16 I was now the “fat girl” everyone would make fun of because she didn’t have a life outside of books and school.

One day, when my little brother was 12 he entered the house in a rush (an “I’m being chased” type of rush). I asked him what was going on and he started crying telling me that he was scared because our neighbor had told him something.. He was crying so much I couldn’t understand.

That same day we told our parents and even went to the police. I was NOT about to let my little brother become me.

The police couldn’t do anything though, the only proof we had was the word of two little children. I honestly didn’t care because the very next day, while coming back from school with my brother I screamed at my neighbor at the top of my voice everything I had wanted to say for the past 4 years. It wasn’t even enough..

I’d like to say things got better at school but they didn’t. I was stilled being bullied; the only difference was that now I really didn’t care. I felt powerful!

It’s been two years since I finished high-school now and I can honestly say I’m happy.

I have friends that actually know my story and think I’m awesome just the way I am (quirks and everything). A family that loves me and I’m studying what I want.

I can’t say I know a magic trick to make it all better but it does, you just have to know that there’s always someone there for you (even if you don’t think so).

It DOES get better.

All through my life I've been bullied. It started in 3rd grade, and now I'm about to finish 10th grade. In 3rd-5th grade I lived in SoCal, it was pretty nice. I had some friends that lived on my street, and I would hang out with them all the time. School was probably my favorite thing, I loved the teachers. I was always one to get to know the teachers and to get good grades. But the kids were rude. I went to a private school, but we didn't have as much money as the other students that attended. I was called poor, worthless, ugly, dirty, gross. To make it worse, my dad left for Iraq for a year, and it was rough falling back on my mom, because I knew it upset her to see me cry. So I held it in. Then we finally moved to Illinois for my middle school years. Everything was great and to this day, it's still considered my home. I had SO many friends. I still talk to them too. But of course, people would still pick on me. And this time, it was weird. Because it wasn't just targeted at me as an individual, it was targeted at my group of friends as well. I've never been one to really care about what's in style, or what new song has to be on my ipod, or what type of clothes i have to wear in order to be able to socialize with certain people. I'm just out there. My style is different, I don't have a certain genre of music I listen to. I can get along with anybody, as long as they get along with me. But once I left Illinois, everything changed. High school started. I knew as a freshman, the year would suck, and it did. I was called names, I would open my locker and find notes telling me to kill myself, if I ate anything at lunch people would make pig noises at me. The bus was worse. People in the back would yell at me as I got on and off, trying to trip me, make a fool out of me. All I could do is drown myself in music and pretend not to care. It got to the point where I couldn't take it anymore and I walked to and from school everyday. This was probably a stupid decision on my part.. People would slow down just to call me names, throw their trash at me, drive into puddles purposefully. One day, I was thinking to myself, 'In 7th grade, I thought of the kids who self harmed, the kids who got depressed.. I told myself I'd never be one of those kids.' And then I looked down at my bleeding wrists and didn't even try to stop. Once I started cutting, that was my release. Sophomore year, I remember one day specifically. I was in math class and one girl was talking to a bunch of boys and pointing at me and laughing. The teacher didn't do anything so I looked over at them and I said "If you're gonna laugh and point at me, why don't you just say it out loud now. It's not like I won't hear about it anyway. Your words don't hurt anymore. You're wasting your time." and they shut up. I got into the habit of eating in the bathrooms, if I ate at all. I used to have my mom pick me up at least 30 minutes early from school everyday, just so I didn't have to walk through the hallways with all those people. I'd go to the nurse just for medicine I didn't need. I walked alone. I thought people cared. But in reality, I was just another girl with blue jeans. That's what we all are. We're just people. I was pulled out of the high school and put into a christian school soon after the day I stood up for myself. The teachers don't really care what happens, as long as they get their paycheck. I've tried over and over again to make a difference. These scars on my body are not for me to be ashamed of. They are simply battle wounds. I've seen my dad talk about his friends being lost during war and that is exactly the analogy I'm going to use now. You have a friend in a different state going through who knows what at school, at home, and you're scared to death you won't hear from them. Depression isn't an emotion. It's a mental disorder, and I think that's what people don't understand. When you're pushed away, neglected and forever being put down, it doesn't go away. It'll always be there. My advice to struggling kids out there is be yourself. I know it's hard when it's just you against the world, but it's not going to be like this for long. Beyonce has this "character" she puts on everyday. Her name is "Sasha Fierce" because she's terrified of facing the world as Beyonce. Isn't that crazy? Even famous people get afraid. Bullies are going to bring you down, jerks are everywhere. But you have to be the bigger person. You have to let them know that they will not hurt you, they cannot hurt you. You are strong, you are beautiful, and you are loved. Every single one of you. God put you here on this earth for a reason. To Him, to your parents, to me.. you aren't just another kid in blue jeans. And together, we will change the world. :) 

I felt alone. I felt my own brother had turned against me. He would push me on the ground and call me names like Fucker and bitch as the kicked me. I never would go to anyone about this because i was afraid if he found out he would hurt me even more. He even got his friends to turn the people i trusted against me. Even my bet friend started picking on me to the point where my group of friends would leave me out, ditch me and bully me. One day i had the knife in my hand. I was ready to end it all. But i didn't have the courage. But their was one person who was there for me. She would be the only one i could talk to. Even though everyone would say to me it gets better or its okay. I knew it wouldn't. I am even writing this after my brother kicked me on the ground and gave me a bloody nose. Im just glad I could at least hare my experience to tell some people they are not alone.

I was a chubby kid, and I was made fun of from my very first day of
kindergarten.  No one knew that a big part of my food addiction was
because I was trying to shield myself from sexual abuse.  I never told
my parents about being bullied, nor did I tell them about the sexual
abuse.  I endured years of bullying in school until junior high when I
became thin and decided to get angry.  Then I was labeled aggressive and
anti-authority.  Not very pretty things to be when you are a girl
especially.  I have carried that chip on my shoulder my entire life
because it was the only way I knew how to cope and protect myself from
being a victim again.   Life is hard when you learn at a very early age
to never trust anyone.  Life becomes a very lonely road.  I am 50 now,
and I am a teacher.  I decided to become a teacher when I was very
young, I believe, because I was bullied.  I wanted to protect those who
couldn't protect themselves.  So, being bullied has shaped my entire
life including the career I chose.   I don't regret who I have become as
an adult, and I would not do anything else for a living because I so
love being a teacher, but sometimes I wonder who I would have been had I
not been bullied and abused as a child.  Until this day, I am puzzled
as to why my teachers who I know saw me being bullied, never protected
me.  We have to protect our children, even when they are not our own
flesh and blood.  That should be everyone's priority.  

This story is not about what happened to me but something that needed me. My friend named Sydney had some problems last year with bullying, she got picked on everyday, called fat, ugly, stupid and much more. She was at the point where she cut and was join got commit suicide. She followed these accounts on Instagram that where suicidal and cut themselves. She listened to depressing deep songs that i could never imagine her listening to. The sad thing is, is she was a 3.7 grade point average student, doing sports, staying healthy, keeping a smile on her face and believing  in herself. When those people took over her emotions she couldn't do anything about it without getting bullied more. She went to counseling and the only reason she did was cause i told the councilor what was accuring. She didn't want her parents or the councilor to find out but i knew that if i wanted my loving, happy, fun Sydney back i needed to help. I told the councilor and she got help and got everything fixed and figured out who she really was. That took courage from me and Sydney, i was very scared i would lose her if i told someone but if i wouldn't have told i probably would have totally lost her and she wouldn't be here today. It went away mostly in 7th grade, but now it has started up again in 8th grade. I am trying to help her again so she can figure out the right path and get back on track and ignore the bullies before i tell an adult. My help really did change her life because if i wouldn't have cared about her and if i would have been one of those bullies, my best friend wouldn't be here today. Sometimes you need to take a little time out of your day to help someone else's, cause it can save a life.

In September 2008, I was invited to attend a luncheon for this one artists cause. As I was driving with these two other people, we had discussed our favorite artists.  I had shared that I was using this artist music for my gymnastics routines.  I went onto share that I had written a letter to this artist but never heard back.  In December of 2008, I was talking to one of my friends and she said she had heard something about me and wanted to talk about it. I said sure.  As she spoke, she began to ask me if I was constantly writing this artist and his band? I said No I am not. I told her I wrote one letter but never heard back. This friend then told me who she heard this information from. In 2011, I was invited to another luncheon. I had found out that the person who spread these false rumors about me was the one who was running it.  When I spoke to him, I told him that I should have been the last person accused of anything. I said to him "everyone knows you follow the band around and hound them". In conclusion, I am glad I spoke up for myself.  I am sure he won't do this to me again.

I am an adult, I have two wonderful twin sons of my own, I have a loving wife and I feel completely alone most of the time. I grew up in a small community on the East Coast of Canada and I was bullied. I did not recognize it at the time as it was many years ago and I am now 46 years old. To this day though I never want to visit that place again and my wife has always wanted to know why. I was a chubby kid and I now know I likely suffer from Asperger's, even, though I was never labeled with that, I have a son who has High functioning Autism and can see the signs that he exhibits in myself. The affects of long term bullying can make a person angry, untrusting and simply numb. I did not think much about this until I watched Bully for the first time just a few weeks ago and it hit me, it hit me like a freight train and I have been grasping with why this movie touched me so deeply and why I felt like I just wanted to hug alex, his family, all those involved and why I wanted to be there to help. I am sure these are emotions that many felt, but, I lay awake at night with those images coming back to me time and time again. I am mostly happy, have a great family and friends who care, but, I cannot help but wonder how much better as a person I would be if I were supported by my "friends" rather than waiting for me to fail and pouncing on that failure. Tomorrow is pink shirt day here in British Columbia and I will be one person who will be taking part, for the first time.

My story starts in 6th grade. When I was 6 years old, my uncle raped me for 7 months, so as I got older, I found comfort in food instead of talking to people about it, which led to me becoming an overweight child. Kids called me "fatty" and "Taylor the hippo" every day. I can remember going to school and spending hours in the nurses office because I was "sick." I never wanted to be in school and no matter how many times I cried to my schools guidance councilor, nothing was done to stop all of the bullying. I was being bullied by students, but also by a teacher... One day, I left my binders on the bench outside in the hallway so I could go to lunch, and when I came back, my stuff was gone! I looked everywhere, in a panic because I didnt want to get in trouble. My history teacher had taken my things and threw them in the stair case so I couldnt find it. Someone finally found my stuff and they grabbed it for me. When I walked into my history class, my teacher said to me, "Where did you find that? You are not allowed in that staircase!" I told her it was my stuff and she didnt have the right to hide it on me, and she told me, "That bench is like my house! How would you like me to come to your house and destroy it? HUH?? Sound good to you?" I ran out crying and I could hear her laughing and calling me weak, but nobody believed me because the kids were too afraid to admit anything.

All throughout middle school, kids told me I wasnt worth the air I was breathing and they told me I was just a fat bitch. I had boys coming up to me everyday asking me out and if I said no, they went and called me a slut, whore, or stupid bitch. If I said yes, they said wow you really are fat and desperate! I would cry myself to sleep every single night and nobody did anything about it. I would have notes in my locker saying how fat I was and asking if they could use my "rolls" for their hot dogs and hamburgers. I hated myself more and more each day. I wanted so badly to die and never return to that school, and I even prayed to god I would be shot walking home or somehow, I would just die. I put on a fake smile every morning and walked into school, just waiting to be bullied, and every time I complained, nothing was done so I stopped telling people...

When it was time to go to high school, I was excited because I figured it was going to be a fresh start, but it was hell... I became depressed and when kids were telling me to kill myself, I considered it.. I also became severely bullied online in high school. People I didnt even know were telling me to give them my mailing address and they would send me the right "tool" to get the job done. They were encouraging me to take my own life and I would be lying if I said I never sat in my room late at night planning the best way out. Kids in high school were even worse than they were in middle school.. I was tripped, slammed into lockers, had things thrown at me, and people would take things out of my locker. I had to start carrying my whole backpack with me everywhere I went.

Now, I am 19 years old and a sophomore in college. I am still severely bullied online and when I am in public, people say things like, "Honey, you would be happier if you were a size 00, dont you think?" or "Where is your wide load sign?" And a couple of weeks ago, I was on my way to college, when I was going 85 miles an hour and I was going to crash my car and end it because I was so sick and tired of people not listening to me. But before I could go off the road, I saw a cop ahead doing radar and I panicked and slowed down. When I realized I was still alive, I felt dead inside and I hated myself for chickening out.

I am not sharing my story to get pitty... Im sharing it because I dont want anybody else to feel alone and helpless like I do. I want to be the one that sticks up for the victims of bullying because we all know someone has to. So if you could take one thing away from my story, its that if you are being bullied, say something and if you see someone else being bullied, speak up!