Were you ever bullied at school?

[u2bonogirl]

I was advanced on by my freshman year history teacher.
he would say things to me in class in front of everybody that made me embarrassed
Like he wouldnt mind seeing me strip

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

Perverted school officials... .

my painful shyness was actually snottiness and started following me home every day

Ditto. Kids tended to think the same thing about me...but the thing is, when I was younger, if I tried talking to certain people, I'd always get weird looks, looks that gave the impression that they weren't really interested in what I had to say, so naturally I stopped talking to those people-if they weren't interested, why bother continuing? And of course, there were kids who'd say things to me just to see what my response would be, to see if I took their bait. Didn't fall for it.

Yeah. Elementary and middle school were crap for me-got picked on because I didn't wear the latest fashions, I didn't wear the Abercrombie & Fitch stuff and things like that. I wore a dress my grandma had for a play one time, and all the other kids in the play started laughing at me and giving me weird looks and making fun of my dress. Excuse me, but my family's never been uber rich, okay? We've had some pretty big financial struggles in our lives...I'd like to see them try and deal with that for once, might help 'em learn some humility.

I notice the topic of school uniforms has popped up a bit in here...personally, even with all that I went through regarding the kids making fun of me for my clothing choices, I still don't support school uniforms in the slightest. If it isn't clothing kids will be made fun of for, it'll be something else. You can dress kids exactly the same, but the problems will still be there. These problems will only stop when the parents of the kids who do the teasing actually do their job and teach their children to treat others with respect and to not make fun of them for such trivial things as clothing choices and all that.

Anywho, let's see, other stuff that happened during my school days...in 8th grade some guys in my English class thought it'd be oh, so funny to throw staplers in my hair during class...afterwards I'd be pulling them out of my hair throughout the rest of the day. And I got picked on for being so quiet, and some kids thought I was a goody-two-shoes and all that, too. And some kids made fun of me when I started developing in late elementary school. I'm not a big person at all, but kids did make cracks regardless...for some reason, they seemed to equate that with whether or not I was still a virgin.

One thing that really irritated me was when kids would see me and immediately start whispering to each other while glancing in my direction. Why do people do that? Each time that happened, I'd always be thinking, "You know what, I know full well you're talking about me, so why don't you have the guts to say it to my face?" (these were the same kids who would look at me weird if I tried to talk to them. And they wonder why I didn't talk much in class. Gee...). Course, that's not to say that I enjoyed the comments to my face, either-got called all sorts of names, like "bitch" and stuff. But I'd still rather know what their feelings are than have to go through that lame-o routine (doing that just makes someone wonder even more-just what are they saying about you?).

And then there were also these two kids who sat in front of me in my math class in middle school, and they, whenever papers were passed out and kids in front were supposed to pass copies to the others in the back, would take my copy and wrinkle it up or tear it or something.

And it wasn't just me...those same kids were mean to my friends, made comments about their weight or other various things regarding their looks (one of my friends had cerebal palsy, and she got made fun of a lot), and then some kids were mean to the guy who became my boyfriend in high school (9th grade). And they'd give a lot of my teachers hell, too.

I moved to a new town before 10th grade started and finished out my high school years at the school in that town, and from there on out things were pretty good-the kids there were overall a lot nicer and I got along with a lot more people. So at least there's that upside. But s to everyone else here who's been the victim of bullying. It amazes me that some people can be so harsh, so rude.

Angela

 

[MissVelvetDress_75]

Thankfully I wasn't.

 

[dandy]

yeah, i dont think i could ever face my exbullies. i'd walk away really fast in the other direction if i ever recognized them in person.

there is a chance that it wouldn't be as bad as you might expect, actually.

my worst tormentor spent four years trying to make my life as miserable as possible, threatening to beat me up if i didn't let her cheat off my tests, deliberately trying to get me in trouble, and just generally being a pain in the ass. anyway, she was working at one of the local supermarkets a few years after high school, and she ended up having to fetch me yogurt one day. it was kind of bizarre, seeing things in such a different context--she had no choice but to be polite to me. she acted like she had never met me before, but there's no way she didn't recognize me. i realized that it didn't really matter that she picked on me all those years back. i turned out to be a better person because of her--i know how it feels to be treated like shit for no reason, and i will go out of my way to make sure i treat other people with consideration and respect. i can only hope that somewhere along the way that she learned that lesson too.

 

[u2bonogirl]

I remember seeing this guy a few months ago, he was serving ice cream at cold stone and I was in line. I had to do a double take and realized that I had beaten his brains out in 4th grade for trying to literally strangle my incredibly dorky friend, Isaac
I turned around and left
the guy has some mental things going on, and he snapped once, he could snap again
nevertheless I still felt kind of bad for beating him up that bad even if he was trying to commit murder

 

[For Honor]

My school career was one of complete transistion.

I have been to several individual school buildings.

(optional reading) - - - Shenendehowa, the largest school system in the state, essentailly, was my main school. (Shenendehowa, as in, Native American terms in the middle of white suburbia. ALl the schools have Native names, but, just this year, we "were forced by PC" to change our mascot from a Native American to a new selection. Now, it is ... "the Shen Stalions".) But anyway, I spent kindergarden to 3 at Shen, at Skano, one of the elementary school buildings. The Shen Campus is like a college campus - it's huge. Midway through 3rd, I left to go north to Saratoga Springs and live with my grandparents. I almost went to Shen's rival - Saratoga. But Schuylerville was closer, and I spent 2.5 years there. IT was much smaller, but a good school. Then I came back to Shen, but back to Acadia, one of the middle schools. No... It was Arongen first, then Acadia for middle school. Then after that, to Koda. The 3 middle schools are 3 buildings connected. Then Highscshool Wests, for Freshman and Sophs, and then to East, for Juniors and Seniors.

..........

 

[For Honor]

(main stuff)


ANyways... I wasn't picked on until I came back to Shen, and started highschool, essentiall. Honestly, I was completely... an outcast. I was shy, and I didn't know anyone. And I had acne very badly. Or that is what it seemed, but really it wasn't that bad

The worst thing was I thought whenever a girl looked at me, like, at all, I thought they were looking at "my face", instead of looking at me because I looked good, or was plesant to look at. Which, of course, all encouraged my reclusiveness and reservedness.


There was only one time that I was majorily picked on, and felt really bad. It was in art, and it was a few weeks before 9/11, I remember, in my freshman year... Basically, some kid, a punk, knocked off my hat and stomped on it. I was wearing a hat because it was an insecurity thing, and it was easy to do, because now we were in highschool you could wear a hat. But that was one of the more humiliating moments, because I could have stopped it. I don't really think about it anymore, but I say that was the worst. It was right in the middle of class, with a lot of "girls" that I 'liked' and it was embarrassing.

But I was always in transition.

ANd that made it odd, because by time me senior year came around, I had a lot of good friends, but I was totally independant from anyone. Which was actually very attractive to a lot of people, I find out now. In that school, everyone was always in their own little bubble, clique. I refused to have one, and I didn't, so I walked between them all and had friends who were rich, like Diane, "president" of the Latin Club, NHS member, very well off, and friends like Sarah, who is a bit of a... loose person, very liberal, yet insists she is a hardcore republican She has some issues with truth, reality, and accountability. But she is an amazing person just the same. Friends like Frank, who has his own band, and other friends who are good people yet are questioning themseves and what sort of person they are, like "Jose" and his sexual orientation.



The thing that most got to me in highschool is that people were so quick to exclude. It has to do with there are a lot of "classes", super wealtyh $100,000 + year earners, and then people like me, who live in trailer parks. FOrtunately, I have had a good enough family and they have shown me a good shot at being a success at life. I know a lot of kids who don't have that. Some, for instance, have to listen to their parents fight all the time, even though her parents are religiously strict, catholic, etc. They yell and make life horrible for her, and she's fallen into drinking and getting high.


So... I say... if anything... I was just amazed as to how easy people shut out others. There was always a lot of tension, and more than one classroom was divided up. I suppose all of them are that way, though - divided. But people were always amazed, and asked me why I talk to people, and why I listen to people.

I was just amazed as to why people didn't want to listen.

------------------------------------------------------


So really, there wasn't a lot of bullying. There was just psych harassment and shunning in my school. I feel bad for the teachers, because sometimes they got hammered, and ... and one time, even the bus driver. People ... like.. refused to look at things from the other side, and thought that they were the victem, that the world owes them stuff. One day these kids were harrassing my bus driver because she was late due to the earlier bus riders giver her so much trouble. BUt they kept hasseling her... and it was amazing. SHe is someone who is trying to do you a favor by getting you home on time, yet you disrespect her competely... needless to say, I interviened, and stopped the kids. I just don't like things like that.


In my school... the lasting thing will be that... everything seemed set in stone, and you were predestined a fate. Few things change as far as who you hung out with from 8-12 grade. Yet there were over 650 people in my graduating class. It was amazing how so many people could be so guareded. I guess the anonyminity simlar to a big city helped....

 

[For Honor]

The one thing about highschool I remember was gym


Thats when kids were the worst. Boys. That is when people bullied the most. I got a reputation for standing up to people I thnk, and I guess that earned some respect. But I never got into a fight, ever. Which is surprising, because I could have, and was about to more than once. But I think people know when they are being asses and doing something wrong, and if you can explain it to them without getting too emotional, they will listen and understand.

But yeah... it was mostly environmental bullying, lol. Money, circles of friends, cars, jocks, etc. Most of the kids drove better cars than the teachers, and it was just..........

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

i got picked on a lot. to the point where i've blocked it all out. so all i can tell you is it didn't really start until i moved here to tennessee (middle of 6th grade) and got really bad in the 7th grade to the point where i told my mom at the end of that school year if she made me go to that school for 8th grade i'd kill myself over summer break (and i wasn't joking). that's about all i remember. it got better but never really went away. i just never really fit in here in tennessee. i guess i'm a floridian at heart. it was a shock for me because i was one of the popular kids at my school in florida, then i was the outcast.

as for specifics, i can't tell you what anyone said or did to me. i've blocked it all out. therapy never really did help.

 

[cell]

I had a lot of good friends, but I was totally independant from anyone.

thats how i was in high school...very independent, didnt hang with any crowds. i mostly hung out in the library at lunch and did my homework. yeah...i was so cool lol.

 

[daygloeyes2]

i got picked on a lot. to the point where i've blocked it all out. so all i can tell you is it didn't really start until i moved here to tennessee (middle of 6th grade) and got really bad in the 7th grade to the point where i told my mom at the end of that school year if she made me go to that school for 8th grade i'd kill myself over summer break (and i wasn't joking). that's about all i remember. it got better but never really went away. i just never really fit in here in tennessee. i guess i'm a floridian at heart. it was a shock for me because i was one of the popular kids at my school in florida, then i was the outcast.

as for specifics, i can't tell you what anyone said or did to me. i've blocked it all out. therapy never really did help.

I've blocked alot of the stuff from middle school out too. But every once in awhile something triggers a memory that I've stored away and, well, it's not good.

 

[KhanadaRhodes]

I've blocked alot of the stuff from middle school out too. But every once in awhile something triggers a memory that I've stored away and, well, it's not good.

yeah, same here.

i didn't even remember about my threat until my mom reminded me of it recently. it's amazing what the mind will do to make you forget traumatic things.

 

[For Honor]

thats how i was in high school...very independent, didnt hang with any crowds. i mostly hung out in the library at lunch and did my homework. yeah...i was so cool lol.

I spent everyday of my senior year lunch in the computer lab. I listened to U2, and sometimes worked on stuff, but it was nice, because it was quiet and relazing, and all the aides there were really cool with me, and let me do things because I was a good kid and didn't cause problems. I got one of the aides to sign my yearbook, and that was really nice.

However, it always looked like I had something important to do, which was sort of cool I guess hahahaha. I always "had something to do, somewhere to be". It was a bit of an illusion, because I would just rather be there than anywhere else, but so be it. I enjoyed myself, and I don't have any regrets. If not in the lab, then in the quiet part of the library

Few things are better then eyecandy in the lab or in the quiet section of th library.

 

[beli]

Meeemmmorrries.

I was teased for being pale. Thats quite a sin here. The only people who didn't tease me for being pale were the Aboriginal kids who teased me about my flat feet.

I moved a lot so I was always the new kid in town. Plus my father was the manager of the mine and most everyone else were children of the workers so the kids automatically hated me.

The I moved to the city so I was automatically an outcast for being from the outback. Because I'm quite opinionated I was teased that I was a lesbian. And I coped the shy = snobby/self centred garbage too.

Oh the joys of adolescence. I never understand when people say it was the best time of their lives. It sucked. Big time. I'm glad I'm way away from that kinda crap now.

 

[meegannie]

In the 8th grade, an older girl decided that my painful shyness was actually snottiness

I got that a LOT in school. I had (and still have) absolutely NO social skills, but I had to work up the courage to talk in class because I was afraid I'd get bad grades for low class participation, and then I got branded as an arrogant know-it-all. My AP Econ teacher announced to the class one day that I was the most arrogant person he'd ever met. People still think I'm mean/rude because I'm quiet and don't know what to say to people, but now I almost never disagree with anyone or state my opinions (and if I do, I automatically regret it) because I'm afraid people will think I'm arrogant.

I also got voted as the ugliest girl in my class my freshman year of high school...at least I was the best at something!

 

[dandy]

I got that a LOT in school. I had (and still have) absolutely NO social skills, but I had to work up the courage to talk in class because I was afraid I'd get bad grades for low class participation, and then I got branded as an arrogant know-it-all. My AP Econ teacher announced to the class one day that I was the most arrogant person he'd ever met. People still think I'm mean/rude because I'm quiet and don't know what to say to people, but now I almost never disagree with anyone or state my opinions (and if I do, I automatically regret it) because I'm afraid people will think I'm arrogant.

that pretty much sums up how people perceive me, too. most of the kids in my law school thought i was a stuck up bitch because i was so quiet and shy that i'd go out of my way to avoid interacting with people. i find it endlessly interesting how many people are threatened by quiet. sometimes it's good to shut up and only speak when you have something valuable to say.

I also got voted as the ugliest girl in my class my freshman year of high school...at least I was the best at something!

wow, that's incredibly mean. and shocking. i've seen pics of you, meggie, and you're gorgeous. idiots.

wrong on all counts.

 

[Halifax]

Why do people always equate shyness and quietness with being snobbish? To me, being shy/quiet is the total opposite of being snobbish. At least quiet people know when's its appropriate to keep your mouth shut.

 

[GibsonGirl]

I wasn't bullied in high school...I was bullied a little in primary school, however. My father moved us all to Saudi Arabia from South Africa when I was nine, for work reasons, and I was forced to go to an American International school for the next four years. Initially, it was very hard to adjust. The kids there (99.9% American) used to make fun of my accent all the time. It got to me so much that I had to actually start talking in a fake accent just to fit in. They also made fun of my surname (it's not my fault that my father's an Afrikaaner!). Not to mention my clothes - apparently, if you didn't have clothes purchased in America, you were somehow subpar. I'd never experienced such prejudice directed my way before in all my life. I hated going to school...I even tried to voluntarily break my arm once to get out of going for a few days.

It's safe to say that people from the United States did NOT sit well with me during that first year in Saudi. The taunts soon died down, thankfully, as did my dislike for Americans. The accent thing still affects me to this day, though. Whenever I'm around Canadians, I automatically feel like I'm back in that school yard with a bunch of giggling kids pointing at me like I'm some sort of exotic animal...

 

[Moonlit_Angel]

I also got voted as the ugliest girl in my class my freshman year of high school...at least I was the best at something!

.

That's awful. Didn't the teachers or whatever notice that?

Dude, those kids are idiots.

Also, agreed about the upside to being a quiet person .

Angela

 

[U2democrat]

when i was in preschool i WAS the bully. i'm a small person so i compensated by beating up the boys in my class...my mom thought it was hilarious to see this little 5 year old girl cornering two guys but ever since then from 1st through 8th grade i got picked on and teased like no other. but thankfully i moved after 8th grade and things have been alot better since.

 

[tiny dancer]

Grades 4-10th I was made fun of because I was sick. In 8th grade kids were horrible to me. It got so bad that I didn't have any friends.

 

[u2bonogirl]

I got voted the most athletic in 8th grade and had to pose next to the class dick head for the yearbook
I would have rather been voted ugly than be associated with him
Now that I think about it, I would have rather been bullied at a younger age then endure the sexual harassment I went through in middle and high school.
I did get teased for filing sexual harassment on a guy who attacked me in the hallway and humped on me in front of everybody and left bruises on me.
And for filing it a second time in the same year on a guy who trapped me in an empty hallway and tried feeling me up

 

[For Honor]

I remember a really bad time when I totally destroyed someone and broke them down.

It was horrible, because I was just doing it to get other people to laugh, and I ruined a kid because of it. It is the only time I have ever really done that to someone, and I didn't like it. In fact, the experience probably scarred me more than it did him, because it was like ...

"wow... how did I do that?"


We ended up working together in a class as seniors, and we got along really well, though.

He was one kid... we did personality test like in 8th grade, and he was the only kid, who, like me, was in the middle, between introvert and extrovert. His name is Rob, and he is a good kid. I apologized to him the day I did that "thing", but it was just something that I probably won't ever forget.

I was ashamed of myself

 

[For Honor]

And then when I came back from Schuylerville...


I saw my old best friend, Ryan.
He recognized me

He said "It's me Ryan"


And I ... froze.
That is the only other regret.
At that point, he was a normal kid. He grew a lot....

Wow.... holly crap....
flashbacks from when I was in 1st grade.......

We would ride home together, oon the bus, Ryan and I. And I remember making up stories about my cousin who was away at college. I don't know why or how- the reason for me to make up stories. But I said that my cousin sent me letters, and in no way shape of form did my cousin send me any sort of letter.

Kind of strange. But I remember making u p stories for some reason... Doesn't make much sense though. Was I lieing about something? I don't remember clearly.

------------


And then... wow, I was.... even back then lol.
There was a discussion someday, and mind you, we are little kids, like 1/2nd grade... but I was talking about what it looks like to be lovesick. Hahahaha. I have no idea how that came up either. And I wasn't thinking about it, just one of those innocent things. BUt I guess that sort of hints at my view on love n ow, and why I read facial expression. Powerful facial expressoins on women are fascinating to me.


And then the first day of school, ever. I remeber waiting for the bus, and my mom getting emotional. I also remember my teeth chattering as we waited for the bus. I was "the human typewritter" heh.....


Isn't it nice how memories flow sometimes? Well, hopefully, good ones....

 

[Liesje]

I was never really bullied in school. Well, when I was in preschool (I was 3/4), I was shy and never really talked so then in kindergarten everyone would ask me why I didn't talk before and I'd just shrug. Nothing more than that.

In my neighborhood though....that's another matter. We were pretty much the only white kids around, so I was routinely referred to as just "hey white girl!", not in a nice tone. There were some guys down the street in the business of stealing bikes, stripping them, and selling parts. I can't remember how many times they took our bikes. The worst was this family that live around the block. They had these two HUGE fat kids, a girl and boy, still living at home well into their 20s and they would come over and steal our dolls and riding toys and call us names even though they were like 25 and my friend and I were 6. Their parents were no better, they all sat on their porch eating, smoking, and fighting very loudly. We'd stay inside if we knew those people were around. We also had a lot of trouble w/ other neighborhood kids coming over and using/stealing our yard toys and riding toys so we never even go to play with our own stuff. One time these guys who were in a local gang (this was back in the early 90s when there was basically a gang war going on in our part of town) came by and shot my brother and myself with some sort of gun full of beebees or little pellets. So not the biggest deal, but we were only like 6 and 4 at the time and my brother got hit in the head and had this huge welt and was screaming. My mom came running out screaming exactly what she'd do to those guys if they ever touched her babies again and she called the cops. Eventually the kid responsible was shot and killed in the gang war. Some of his buddied came over when my dad was hanging Christmas lights and made some snide remark and my dad decked him in the face (wooo! go dad!). Basically looking back I did have a fun childhood, but all of my fun memories happened away from home b/c we lived in fear even playing in our own yard.

 

[Mrs. Edge]

A spoiled little princess bitch in one of my classes made up a song about me because I had to wear the same pair of jeans a few times in the same week

So is that why you now own about 50 pairs of jeans?


But seriously these stories are so sad.

The "dark ages" of my life were between Grade 4 and 8. We had moved from the suburbs to downtown, and I had to go to a wealthy school full of children of lawyers and doctors and such who lived in fancy houses. The only reason I went to this school was because it had a french immersion course.

I had glasses and wore dresses. They wore Cotton Ginny's and Jordache and other designer 80s wear. The girl who was the current outcast befriended me immediately but she was stronger and meaner than me so my only friend was also kind of a bully.

The kids were incredibly mean. Physically the only thing they did was to try to force feed me food found on the playground frozen in the snow....and there were threats but not much happened. Mentally it was horrible. Taunts, notes left in my desk, stuff written on bathroom walls, being picked last at gym, etc etc.

I was so afraid I spent the day on the public transit system. I got home at 12 thinking it was after school and that's how I got caught. I also pretended there were teacher development days to stay home, was sick almost daily and wrote fake notes from my mom getting me out of gym.

In grade 7 I found a new friend at a new school, and I must say I did some mean things to her too, but nothing like what happened to me. More just practical jokes. I did have these two mean kids on either side of my locker and they would shove me back and forth between them. Tara and Scott, I still remember their names.

Highschool was a blessing because I was totally invisible. I had some friends and was below the radar. I never had a boyfriend though so it made me very unhappy!

 

[cell]

I also pretended there were teacher development days to stay home, was sick almost daily and wrote fake notes from my mom getting me out of gym.

i've done that too. and then other times i told my mom i jsut didnt want to go. she understood. she let me stay home, alot. its a wonder i even passed onto the 9th grade at all.

 

[u2bonogirl]

Thankfully that Tara wasnt me

I remember this time I visited my mom while she was going through beauty school courses and she wanted to test perming on me



I had a bob cut and it raised the hair up and away from my head
That was the most terrified I had been, thinking that I would have to go to school like that and people would tease me.
It was absolutely awful. I had no front teeth and this FRO
My best friend was the school nerd, he had urkel glasses and highwaters
Who was going to defend him if I was now a dork?
But when I got to school I held my head high and sported that puffball like it was the latest rage and nobody gave me shit for it.
Nobody but my friends at church. They asked me if I had gotten electrocuted
It was all in attitude. There were plenty of things people could tease me for. I always had hand me down clothes, and my socks had other peoples names on them. Boys names mind you
My hair was always cut horribly, I had freckles and a lisp, I was short, and i ate school lunches.
But nobody picked on me because I carried myself like I had confidence which was in actuality not true in the least bit.
I got tormented elsewhere from other people.
But I think thats what saved me through elementary and middle school.
And in blowing off the "cool" people they tried to suck me in all the more.
Reading all these stories I realize how horrible it could have been for me
Im sorry that all of you went through this stuff

*edited to say*
I never had to pretend to be sick to avoid school because I got sick all the time. Every other month it seemed like I was out of school for a week or two. So I probably missed out on a whole year of school over the years

 

[Mr. BAW]

I had glasses and wore dresses....

Yeah, wearing the panties your mum laid out for you!!!!!

 

[angelordevil]

My teasing came from my name and my looks. Kids had all kinds of fun with my name, Kip. They'd yell out, "Hey, Kippy Peanut Butter!" (which was an attempted witty reference to the similar-sounding Skippy Peanut Butter brand, for those new to North American grocery products).
I'd also hear "Hey, is your name Kit? That's a girls' name."

Most of these name-callers were chumps of the highest order, but it still made me feel bad To make matters worse, I had a bowl-style haircut that bordered the line between masculine and feminine. (Hey, it was the sytle of the time...but I guess it did make me look like a girl at a certain angle.)

Fast-forward to present, and that girly boy has turned into a man...YEAH!!! (he said in an animated, Tom Cruise-jump-on-the-couch kinda way

As for my former teasers, one of them filled up my gas tank the other day at the service station...I actually felt kind of bad for him.

For anyone getting teased or bullied now, it's important to know that you can survive the turmoil and go on to something better beyond those often torturous moments.