Bullying.
Something most people don’t realize is that if people were bullied badly in their life, they will have emotional scars and will remember it for the rest of their life. I’m here to tell you my story, how I am today, and how to prevent/stop/stand up to bullying.
The first thing you might want to know is my story. During the last half of elementary school and beginning of middle school I was relentlessly bullied. Most of the time I ignored it but it always hurt. I went to a school where there were less than 20 kids in my grade and 13 were girls. Those girls would point out everything wrong with me. How I was fat, how I couldn’t run, how I was a nerd, how I had no friends, how my family was weird, how I was quiet, how I had a speech problem, I even remember one girl telling everybody (even the boys) how I wear granny panties (Which I don’t). The boys even joined by imitating me and insulting me to the point where I started crying in the hallway. By the end of my 6th grade year, I had two friends in my whole school, was ditched mercilessly by my best friend, and had no one to go to. I remember sitting with my friend Victoria watching everybody in my class go to a party that we were the only two not invited to.
In the 5th grade, I thought if I joined sports, the people in my class might have been more accepting but that was not the case. Nobody talked to me during practices. They also took embarrassing photos of me without even knowing and put them on facebook for the world to see. They treated me like I was a lesser species to them, only having to speak to me if they had to, cutting me for everything, interrupt me if I talked in class. I would go home crying every day, pretend to be sick to avoid going to school, and look in the mirror completely hating myself because of them.
The bullying got to a point where I needed to change schools or I would have done something drastic. The summer going into my 7th grade year I lost weight (around 20 pounds), got contacts, and tried to make friends that went to my new school. It worked and now at my new school I am not bullied and accepted by everyone. Yet, not a day goes by still that I don’t remember their mean words and look in the mirror and hate myself. I heard about my old school from my one friend that still went there and apparently everyone that bullied me still lives in their delusional, dramatic world. They still make fun of people, but at least I am free of that. That doesn’t mean I’m free of their words. Sometimes I suffer from depression, I’ll randomly do crazy workouts because I’m afraid I’m fat again, and skip meals because I feel like I eat too much. I still hate myself and wish I could have stood up to them.
The third point I want to bring up is that if you are being bullied STAND STRONG AND DON’T LET THE BULLY WIN. You just can’t give them the satisfaction of winning or else they’ll do it again, to you or to someone else.
· If someone calls you names, walk away without showing them your hurt and go tell someone what they did.
· If it gets to a point where you cannot absolutely live with it, talk to your parents about switching schools.
· Talk to someone about it. Anyone, your friend, your mom, your sister, or maybe even someone on Witty. Lately, I’ve talked to stay_strong819 about it and she has been through similar circumstances. She’s helped me get over some problems about my body image and we both sympathize with each other.
· Have you heard of Demi Lovato? She is my inspiration and a reason why I am still standing right now. Read about her story.
· If you are being excluded, find different friends and don’t go back to them or else they will get the satisfaction of controlling you.
· Find something you love outside of school. There, you can make friends who don’t know you’re story and you’ll have a different group of friends. For example, I did piano and made friends through that. I also went to a camp and I still keep in touch with those friends.
· Last but not least, STAY STRONG. This is not the end of your life, I promise it will get better. This will only make you stronger so please hang in there for me.
If anyone needs to talk about it, I’m here and I’ll try to help. For all who read this, I freakin’ love you <3
sandnsmiles