Were you bullied? Were you a bully? Did you hate or love school because of this topic?

[**Badfish**]

I never actually witnessed any bullying when I was in high school. Part of that I'm sure is because we were so close to Columbine. That happened near the end of my sophomore year. We had an incident my senior year that involved my friend's little brother and ended in lives lost, but I'm not sure it would fall under the definition of bullying. That was more intimidation and brain washing.

After both of those events, the school really banded together, and everyone watched out for everyone else.

[glasscandie]

I used to get made fun of for being really skinny, especially in lower grades (5th, etc.) - I refused to wear shorts for the longest time b/c of that. Past 6th or 7th grade, I don't really think it was an issue (bullying). There was a no tolerance policy at my school for that, even back in the day.

I wasn't ever bullied but I did my fair share of being one. I'm pretty ashamed really.

[BonitaAppleBomb]

There were a few kids that would pick on me in middle school because my skin was darker than theirs. Those same boys came around and tried to date me in highschool and college. I never bullied anyone.

[SweetSimpleThings]

I was never bullied, I always had lots of friends... in junior high (grade 7, 8,9) I got teased from time to time from some of the jerkier boys about being "fat" (which really meant that I had boobs and hips).

There was some pretty bad bullying in my school though - we had a few students that were definitely the brunt of it. I used to think I was friendly to everyone, but in retrospect I could have gone out of my way more for some people. I remember on graduation day watching one girl walk across the stage and thinking "man, I bet she is SO glad this day has arrived."

My DH was bullied very badly...

[LorieB]

I don't remember any bullying when I was growing up but I'm sure it was there. It's just that none of my friends participated in it or suffered from it. Bullying now terrifies me since my oldest just started going to school.

[Lilmom]

I was bullied horribly. I am very short (4'10") and I WAS very very fat. And I had good grades. Yeah, I was THAT kid. I got picked on and bullied every day. I got nasty notes in my locker, people played tricks on me, called me names, I got beat up a couple of times. I couldn't wait to get out of there.

I'm friends now with some of the people who bullied me and to them, it was really no big deal. They really didn't realize that it was hurtful and to them, it was all in good fun and they thought it was recieved like that too! They even apologized. Kids do stupid things.

I'm lucky in that being bullied made me stronger. I got over it, I didn't dwell. It made me a more compassionate person. I would never bully someone. Not everyone handles it like that. Some people stew in it for the rest of their lives (I know several). Me? No grudges. I let go. IT was easy once I realized that they were doing it because their own self esteem was crapola.

Anyway part of me hopes that my kids do get bullied because I think it will make them more compassionate people and realize that beign "popular" is over rated. I really hate it when kids get caught up in cliques and being popular. I'd much rather my children be bullied than do the bullying.

[beck12]

I had bullying in my neighborhood, but not in school until I got to high school...then it was only for the first few months until I stood up to the worst girl & she didn't do anything & after that I had a reputation as being tough...LOL (5 ft 1in & 100lbs at the time). Anyway - the neighborhood bullying was awful & I am sure it is more akin to some of the worst stories I have ever heard... Looking back I am not sure why I didn't tell. I think I was just so afraid & lacked self esteem & wanted these girls to be my friend & I thought if I was nice & wasn't a snitch they would stop. But again - they didn't stop until I stood up for myself & said I was going to tell my brother (he hated these girls anyway) - and that was enough. I was friendless then, but I also wasn't having them beat me up anymore either.

The crazy thing is I am SURE they remember it all so much differently than I do. In fact I am positive. If I run into them now they act like we were all great friends. Weird how different someone's perceptions can be of being pinned down by three girls & having safety pins shoved through their ears can be, huh?

[melkissa2004]

I wasn't bullied and I didn't really bully either. There was a girl in high school who was extremely annoying and used to follow me and a few friends everywhere and we were not always so nice, but we never picked on her or said hateful things. I remember a couple of times we'd go to the bathroom to touch up our hair or whatever and she would come in and butt in our conversations and as soon as she'd go in the stall, we'd run out of there. She also had a bad habit or not giving enough personal space. She'd stand right next to you and would always be touching you somehow. I guess you could say we just avoided her as much as we could but we never bullied her. We are FB friends now and she seems to be not nearly as obnoxious as she used to be. I do feel guilty for running out of the bathrooms or turning the other way in the hallways if I saw her though.
I never witnessed bullying at any of my schools.

[Mikasa]

I was made fun of when I was little so in turn I made fun of kids when I was a bit older. I would not say I was a bully though, I wasn't that mean. Kids are a lot meaner now though and me being mean back then is what is normal now

[ctanis]

I was bullied in middle school big time. It was living hell for me. All because I was shy. I never bullied anyone. I am way to nice for that and I knew how it felt.

you know that kid in every school that everyone knows, but everyone hates, beats up, teases or everyother form of bullying?

That was me

What made it worse is I DID tell the teachers and my parents, and all they told me was "ignore it, it'll go away" um.. no.. it doesn't.

It never stops.

I was pulled from classes all the time, and in special ed, to "learn to stop the bullies" I was very open, I even gave names. But somehow it was always my fault that I was bullied. "if you stoped this, or this it would stop" "if you ignore it, it'll stop" "if you stop fighting back, they'll leave you alone."

Elementery school was horrible for me untill one special teacher stepped in. She was the first one who said it was ok for me to cry, and be mad, and to yell. She was the first one who didn't care that I was "different" I have FAS, ADHD, and Dislexia. She taught me how to be strong, and to believe in myself. She is the one who gave me the strength to not give up. She was an angel to me.

I changed districts for highschool and left the kids who had torchered me behind and my life was so different. I was not only populare, but I was the leader in our group. The other girls looked up to ME that had never happend. It changed my life forever.

[ctanis]

Originally Posted by KimberlyD0

you know that kid in every school that everyone knows, but everyone hates, beats up, teases or everyother form of bullying?

That was me

What made it worse is I DID tell the teachers and my parents, and all they told me was "ignore it, it'll go away" um.. no.. it doesn't.

It never stops.

I was pulled from classes all the time, and in special ed, to "learn to stop the bullies" I was very open, I even gave names. But somehow it was always my fault that I was bullied. "if you stoped this, or this it would stop" "if you ignore it, it'll stop" "if you stop fighting back, they'll leave you alone."

Elementery school was horrible for me untill one special teacher stepped in. She was the first one who said it was ok for me to cry, and be mad, and to yell. She was the first one who didn't care that I was "different" I have FAS, ADHD, and Dislexia. She taught me how to be strong, and to believe in myself. She is the one who gave me the strength to not give up. She was an angel to me.

I changed districts for highschool and left the kids who had torchered me behind and my life was so different. I was not only populare, but I was the leader in our group. The other girls looked up to ME that had never happend. It changed my life forever.

What a great ending.. I am sorry you had to go through that. I worry my kids may get bullied some day. Espcially Jay because he has Autism.

[mayandsofiasmommy]

I think I was bullied a little in 5th or 6th grade. This one girl would often make fun of me, left my skirt, etc. It was awful. Besides that, no. And I did not bully. In fact, in 4th grade I stuck up for a friend- she was Japanese and new to the country. A boy was calling her awful names, so I told him not to and he punched me!

[Nekinna2402]

I was "bullied"
always been very shy, loves to read, glasses (oh how i wanted those contacts lol) and i matured Very early and was the first one to have boobs, hips and period (which had to show up at school - in white pants. still get made fun of for that, sorry for not expecting my period at like 5-6th grade or maye it was before that even? hm can't remember)
So not only was i the loser, i also got called pamela anderson (blond hair and boobs and tallest girl at school almost.. ugh)
and since my name is Anniken, everyone thought it was hilarious that it sounded like anakin skywalker (star wars) so no matter where i'd go i'd get SOME ******* comment..
I also had a ton of other things.. i remember a classmate who threw a big rock after me, hit me in the back and caused a huge bruise.. the coward never dared to say anything but to throw things from a far distance he could!
or what about the ones who tossed all the trash at me because that was all i was worth in their eyes.

I hated school and i still hate that school, when Tanja gets old enough to start first grade (6-7years here) i hope we have moved out of here... i know my aunt was also bullied at the same school and she refuses to let her daughter go there.

oh and no, i never bullied.
i had more than enough with being picked on
i tried to stir away from all the others to have as little contact as possible

I was bullied, a lot. I was teased for everything; I was teased for my name, I was bullied because apparently I looked like a monkey so I was called a "chimp" and "orangatan", I was teased for developing early, I was teased for being a geek and because I liked to read a lot, I was teased because I came to school with bruises (so I was an easy target apparently), I was teased for what I wore, I was teased for my hair color, I was called a mick because of all of my freckles, and there was a lot more. I got beat up a lot. Girls really hated me for some reason and I have never understood why or what I did to earn that kind of hatred. Elementary school was absolute hell. I never bullied anyone because of what I went through. The bullying stopped in 8th grade when I came back from summer vacation and wasn't a geek anymore. Apparently, a female "punk" is very scary to 8th grade boys and girls. No one made fun of me or bullied me after that - and people learned very quickly that I wasn't going to back down and I wasn't going to take their crap anymore. Even though I really hate what I went through, I am also kind of glad I did... those stupid girls in elementary school who liked to beat me up and hate me just made me stronger and better than they ever could be.

[Smashley]

I was a bully towards boys when I was in elementary school (but was friends with them lol, didn't make sense, but used to chase after them all the time and tackle them, then beat them up...all in fun). Then in HS I was bullied. I hated HS... with a passion.

[Mom2Froggy]

I used my bullying experience to become what I am today... a teacher.

In middle school I was tormented, it was hell for me to say the least. My teachers ganged up against me, and kids made fun of me for my drunk dad always getting arrested. For something not my fault, kids made it out to be my fault. So my Mom helped open a charter school that I LOVED and finally had great teachers and got along with kids for the most part....... but that didn't last long. Near the middle of my 8th grade year people spread rumors that I was a ***** and would sleep with anyone, said I slept around, made fun of me for my Dad, it was hell. It was so much hell that I dreamed of ways to end my life, but always stopped because I would of hurt my parents. But it still crossed my mind, I didn't want to live, I didn't apply myself because I thought there was no reason to it, I was miserable.

Finally one day I snapped, I was at lunch, got up to grab a book or something, come back to find my lunch in the fish tank, everyone in the room laughing. Now my school only had 15 kids per grade, 60 kids total in the school. When everyone hates you it was VERY isolating. I completely snapped, started screaming, crying, and ran into the office yelling at my principal to get my Mom on the phone, that "F this school Im leaving you guys dont do **** to help me!" Even though my Mom opened the school and most of the teachers were great, my principal was a ******* and so was his wife, the math teacher. They took turns making fun of me about my Dad too. No one could get me to calm down. My Mom picked me up and I screamed that she had two choices... get me out of town and into a new school (where we lived had only 2 middles schools, I hated both so I would of had to move) or I was going to kill myself. There was no compromising, she had to pick one.

My dear English teacher (whom I still talk to) took my parents aside and said she was very scared for me and knew that my Mom needed to get me out of the situation quickly, because she knew that these were not idle threats, that if forced to stay at the school my parents would someday come home and find me dead from suicide. My mom took me out of school the next day, we packed up, and we left for Denver the next week. I LOVED my new school and fit in so much better with a new start.

But my bullying was very real. It hurt me so much to have so many members in the school against me. So I took it as my lifes mission to be that one teacher to be a friend and to show her students that I care, so that someday when there is a student just like me in the class, who feels like they have no support... they will have support in me. I will never have a student like me in the class feel isolated, I will do my best to be that person that loves that child unconditionally. So from a tragedy I turned my career into a blessing. But my school years sucked, oh man did they suck.

Bullying sucks. Plain and simple. It really, really, really can damage a person for life.

[chlodoll]

I was never bullied. I had a few rude comments here and there when I was in elementary school for being fat ( I wasnt that fat!). Overall I was "popular" whatever that means.

In highschool I wouldn't say I was a bully but I could be another B word to some girls just for a laugh.