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Ever since I can remember I have been bullied, but it really started as soon as I started secondary school. There was this one girl in my class who, along with her cousin, singled me out and for 3 years and continued to bully me. I was never physically bullied but I think that verbal bullying is in some ways worse as the scars from that can take longer to heal! I decided (wrongly) to take matters into my own hands. I started calling her names and even though I knew I was just sinking to her level, I found that it got to her, so much so in fact that she told a teacher! The tables had turned and she didn't like it! The trouble came when I got called into the teacher's office and was told not to bully this girl. I couldn't believe my ears! I told the teacher how this girl had been bullying me for years and I was just trying to get her to see how much it hurts. The teacher luckily was sympathetic to my situation and although she warned me that I mustn't bully she spoke to the girl in question and the bullying stopped! After about 6 months we began to become friends and have been ever since. I think she realized that I wouldn't put up with being singled out. As for her cousin, he stopped when she did! The moral of this is, don't ever give up and never ever think that being bullied is your fault, it's a problem with the bully not with you. The sooner you can come to terms with this, the stronger you will become. Show them that what they are saying is like water of a duck’s back, even if inside you are really hurting, and believe me I know how painful words can be! Finally, when the bullies are getting you down remember "You are worth ten of them, so don't let them get to you!" Reply from B-Free.ca Thanks for sharing your story Jennifer. You’re right - bullying is never the victim’s fault. And although standing up for yourself is the right thing to do, sometimes there’s a right way and a wrong way to do this…as you discovered. Glad to hear that you opened up to your teacher and that you now have a new friend. Well I have lots of experiences but I’ll share 1. I have always liked the Red Hot Chili Peppers, but I had kept it in because some kids in my class just liked other stuff like FOB or like rap dudes, but one day I said I liked them and they all started laughing until one person stood up 4 me and now everyone likes the Chili Peppers. I wonder if it weren’t 4 him I’d be made fun of 4 what I liked. Reply from B-Free.ca Good for you for being true to yourself and not following the crowd. We’re also very glad to hear that someone had the courage to stand up for you. Perhaps you’ll have the opportunity to pay it forward one day. A boy used to slam my fingers in my locker and I told a adult and they helped me Reply from B-Free.ca You did the right thing Jacob. We hope everyone remembers to speak up and to not suffer in silence. If you don’t find the help you need right away, keep speaking up until you find someone who will help. From the start of the eighth grade, I couldn’t seem to do anything right. I developed early and was always uncomfortable in my own skin. I never really fit in. By ninth grade, I had found a group of kids I considered to be my friends. They would tease me non-stop about my baggy clothes and body shape and roll their eyes when I “couldn’t take a joke.” As much as they teased me, they would still invite me along when they went places on the weekends and after school. I started to suspect that I was only around so the group could entertain themselves at my expense. I put up with it because I didn’t have any other friends. One day that spring, we were hanging out in someone’s basement after school. The boys in the group were making sexual comments about what I was “hiding” under my baggy top. When I started to blush, the boys knew they’d hit a nerve. They got louder and more vulgar. The girls were laughing. I tried to laugh along with them, but I couldn’t. I wanted to leave, so I stood up. Two of the boys pinned me to the wall, laughing and groping. I fought, but I was embarrassed and knew if I got upset it would make it worse. I shut my eyes and waited for them to let me go. Then one of the girls spoke up. “Why do you guys have to be such perverts? Leave her alone. You can’t get a girlfriend so you have to force yourself on someone? Nice.” And they stopped. Just like that. The guys got defensive and kept joking around, but they left me alone. I turned and walked casually up the stairs, then ran the rest of the way home. I stopped hanging out with that crowd, deciding that being alone was better. Sometimes I still go to the mall on weekends with that one girl who said something. I wonder what might’ve happened if she had kept quiet.
It’s not that I cared so much about what I looked like. It was that everyone else seemed to. Most of the kids at school called me “Bucky” or “Austin Powers.” It had been that way for almost three years and it still stung every time. The worst part was this girl I liked named Susan. I was too self-conscious about my teeth to try to talk to her. Months passed with Susan having no idea at all that I liked her, and me counting down days until the year ended. The teasing hit a new level one day at lunch when one of the popular guys figured out I had a thing for Susan. Because it was lunch, he had an instant audience for his routine of Austin Powers’ one-liners and imitations of Susan being grossed out at the idea of kissing me. I had become good at acting like ignorant comments didn’t bother me, but knowing that Susan was across the cafeteria didn’t help. I looked over in hopes that she had left, but she hadn’t. She was glaring at the guy making all the jokes. I couldn’t tell if she was embarrassed or mad. Suddenly she stood up and walked over to the funny guy. Very calmly she said, “Bad teeth can be fixed, but I have a feeling your lame sense of humour is permanent.” Then she sort of smirked and walked away. The crowd dispersed. A few people gave her dirty looks. Lunch was over. The school year ended a few weeks later. I never did round up the courage to thank Susan for sticking up for me, but I got the impression that she didn’t expect me to. I never heard another Austin Powers impression again.
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