Bullying

[Obscene Eyedeas]

Bullies

"When I was a young boy, the bully called me names, stole my bicycle, forced me off the playground. He made fun of me in front of other children, forced me to turn over my lunch money each day, threatened to give me a black eye if I told adult authority figures. At different times I was subject to a wide range of degradation and abuse -- de-pantsing, spit in my face, forced to eat the playground dirt....To this day, their handprints, like a slap on the face, remain stark and defined on my soul."

Eric E. Rofes --
Making our Schools Safe for Sissies http://ssl-connection.**********/index.php/little.png

What bullying is
With all the focus that has surrounded teenage gangs and gun violence, it may be easy to forget that the teenage years are not the only times that children face violent behavior. Some studies suggest that around 20 percent of all American children have been the victim of bullying at some point in elementary school, and about the same number have described themselves as engaging in some form of bullying behavior. Bullying can range from teasing, to stealing lunch money, to a group of students physically abusing a classmate.

Even though bullying is very similar to other forms of aggression, there can be some distinctive features:

The intention of bullying behavior is purposeful, rather than accidental
The goal is to actually gain control over another child through physical or verbal aggression.
Usually bullies make their attack without any real reason, other than they see their victim as an easy target.
Bullies are usually more popular with their peers than children who are simply aggressive.

What bullying can look like in school
Bullies in school are more likely to pick on people their same age, with boys more likely to be both bullies and victims. Girls, when they do bully, are more likely to verbally harass someone than be physical. Boys sometimes use physical attacks, but they are also more likely to threaten and harass one of their peers in a verbal way.

What it means to be a bully
Living in a society where wealth and power are admired, film heroes regularly beat up and kill others, and the weak and sick are often despised, it is no surprise that some children have learned to imitate these values. Research has shown that although bullies tend to have difficulty making friends, they do gain a certain level of popularity and peer status for their actions. It is possible that bullies may be enjoying more respect and admiration from their peers, and bullying behavior, especially among boys, can often be considered normal behavior.

Causes of bullying
Parental relationship
Bullies tend to come from families that are characterized as having little warmth or affection. These families also report trouble sharing their feelings and usually rate themselves as feeling less close to each other. Parent of bullies also tend to use inconsistent discipline and little monitoring of where their children are throughout the day. Sometimes parents of bullies have very punitive and rigid discipline styles, with physical punishment being very common. Bullies also report less feelings of closeness to their siblings.

School failure
Bullies are usually not model students. Very often they are not doing well in school and do not have good connections with their teachers.

What it means to be a victim
Unfortunately in recent years, our attitudes have changed about what it means to be a victim. Many parents and school officials are likely to blame victims of bullying for being weak and not being able to stand up for themselves. This, coupled with the fact that victims are usually warned by bullies not to tell anyone, makes it difficult for them to talk with parents and teachers.

Ten percent of children could be considered extreme victims who have been the victim of bullies at least once a week for a long period of time. These children are often considered younger, weaker, or sicker by their peers. Victims are just as likely to be boys as girls. They often report strong fears or dislike of going to school. These children often report closer feelings to parents and siblings, but whether this causes them to be victims or is simply how they cope with being bullied is unclear. Being labeled a victim is likely to follow children around from year to year. Most extreme victims report having few or no friends and being alone at recess and lunch.

Symptoms that a child might be a victim of bullying:

acts moody, sullen, or withdraws from family interaction
becomes depressed
loses interest in school work, or grades drop
loses appetite or has difficulty getting to sleep
waits to use the bathroom at home
arrives home with torn clothes, unexplained bruises
asks for extra money for school lunch or supplies, extra allowance
refuses to go to school (15 percent of all school absenteeism is directly related to fears of being bullied at school)
wants to carry a protection item, such as a knife



Consequences of bullying
Short term effects of being a victim
Being a victim is very stressful for children. Many children develop a strong dislike of going to school, especially times like recess or gym class. Many victims begin to distrust all their peers at school and have problems making friends. Victims can develop depression or physical illness.

Short term effects of being a bully
Even though bullies are sometimes viewed positively by their peers, they rarely are capable of maintaining close friendships. They are usually not doing well in school and not well liked by their teachers.

Long term effects of being a bully
Bullying is a behavior that is very often one of the first steps to more serious problems. Unless some kind of intervention takes place, the aggression of bullying often leads to more serious acts of delinquency and criminal activity. Bullies are also more likely to use drugs and alcohol as adolescents.

Consequences
Research has consistently shown that the consequences of bullying are severe and range from impaired academic performance to increased risk for suicide. A smaller, but not less influential, line of research has examined the association between severe psychotic disorders (for example schizophrenia) and history of abuse. This research has shown that adults who experience psychotic disorder are more likely than non-affected adults to have a history of childhood trauma, including peer victimization. Could this mean that bullying may increase the risk for developing schizophrenia?
One way to start to examine this question would be to explore whether childhood victimization predicts the presence of early signs of psychotic disorders. This is the strategy employed by a team of British researchers who published their findings in this month’s issue of the prestigious Archives of General Psychiatry. This population-based study examined over 6,000 children at the ages of 8, 10, and 12 who were participating in a longitudinal study of human development in England. The authors measured the history of victimization at age 8 and 10 as predictors of psychotic symptoms at age 12. Psychotic symptoms included the presence of hallucinations (e.g., seeing or hearing things that are not there) or delusions (e.g., believing that people can read you thoughts).

The results:

1.How common is bullying? 2,823 children, or 46% of the sample reported experiencing some type of bullying. 14% of the sample reported chronic victimization.
2.Being victimized during middle childhood doubled the risk of experiencing definite psychotic symptoms in early adolescence (OR 1.94).
3.The frequency of bullying was a key predictor of psychotic symptoms. Specifically, experiencing chronic bullying increased the risk of having psychotic symptoms by 252%.
4.The type of bullying also played a role. While all types of bullying predicted an increase in the risk for psychotic symptoms, experiencing overt victimization (being beaten) combined with experiencing relational victimization (social exclusion, spreading rumors, etc) increased the risk of psychotic symptoms by 360% when compared to those who did not experience victimization.
5.These findings remained stable after controlling for a number of potential explanatory variables, such as prior psychopathology, family adversity, and IQ.
Do these results indicate that victimization cause psychotic symptoms? No. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that victimization may lead to psychotic symptoms, but the nature of the study prevents us from making statements about causation. Although we use the terms “increase the risk for developing x”, this terminology is actually statistical terminology that refers to the probability for finding a specific outcome at a specific time. For example, in regards to the finding #2, being victimized in middle childhood increased the probability that the child would have psychotic symptoms at age 12. This does not address the question of “why or how” such probability is increased.

The authors correctly discussed this issue. Specifically, there is the possibility that children who were on path to developing psychotic disorders also engaged in behaviors during early childhood that made them more likely to be victims of bullying. In such a case, being victimized does not cause the psychotic symptoms. Instead, being victimized may have been the result of factors (such as extreme shyness) associated with later development of psychotic symptoms.

However, it is interesting that the authors found a “dose response”. That is, the more bullying the child experienced the higher the possibility of experiencing psychotic symptoms. Although one could argue that those at greater risk for developing psychotic symptoms elicited more frequent and severe bullying episodes, dose response effects are usually observed mostly in situations whether the predictor (in this case bullying) has a causative role in the outcome (psychotic symptoms). So this ‘dose effect’ supports the notion that peer victimization may contribute to the development of psychotic symptoms in childhood and adolescence

This is a serious issue and should never be taken lightly there is help out there
Click below to see just how serious it is

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gE5yINOn4N4

[SmileyGirl]

wow good job.
this should be stickied.

[OnlyByTheNight.]

I'm stickying this. Its a brill thread. Thanks for making it.

[Watchfulness]

People let themselves be bullied.
It is not the bully's fault.

[Jess]

people should tell their parents or teachers if they are bullied

[Quick_Sylver]

People let themselves be bullied.
It is not the bully's fault.


Is that so? That's why have a scar on my leg because I *let* a few jerks beat me up when I was 9? Okay, that makes loads of sense. Could you elaborate on how its the victim's fault?

[Harley Quinn]

People let themselves be bullied.
It is not the bully's fault.

Lol. Yeah you keep believing that. Victims are called victims for a reason. Bullies are called bullies for a reason. Get your head into the real world. No body wants to be bullied. It happens yes, but it's not their fault.

[Pirate]

People let themselves be bullied.
It is not the bully's fault.

Are you being serious?

So, you're saying these two boys LET what happened to them, happen? (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/south_yorkshire/8518077.stm)

How thoughtless of them. ¬_¬

[hotguy]

I never really got bullied but i help people from getting bullied

[Jackson]

You have given a very nice definition and explanation of the Bullying. It hearts when anyone is abused and perceived imbalance of the power by the more powerful person. This may occur a serious problem when a person is emotionally and physically attacked by the other person.

[JaGo]

People let themselves be bullied.
It is not the bully's fault.

You raise a good point! I totally forgot that wishing you weren't being beat up makes it go away!

[Zeh Crazy]

I've been bullied all of my life, at home and in school. I can tell you that it is part of the reason why I am the way I am...Somewhat resentful to the rest of the human race. :D

[Valheru]

People let themselves be bullied.
It is not the bully's fault.

Wow. This thread explains a lot about me. Didn't realize I was so affected by the bullying I went through in school. I can semi-understand the quote above, mostly in relation to myself in the fact that I was never physically bullied, but words can do as much or more damage then being pushed about by people bigger then you. I was the outcast from the day I joined public schools, (went to a private school from Kindergarden-2nd grade)

I'm slowly healing due to the help of someone who noticed the trouble I was in and pulled me into a group of people that accepted me.

acts moody, sullen, or withdraws from family interaction
becomes depressed
loses interest in school work, or grades drop
loses appetite or has difficulty getting to sleep

Are the symptoms I showed and am still going through but have just recently come out of depression (that I didn't realize I was even depressed until after because I had gotten so used to feeling down.) and slowly getting my schooling and sleeping schedule back to somehting healthy.


Thanks for the thread. Now that I have a better idea of why I ended up like I am, hopefully I'll be able to come to terms with it and heal a bit faster.

[xBRiTxBeaRx]

i never had to deal with bullies, but i have seen other people go through it and it sucks. kids can be soo cruel, but from what i notice, bullies seem to target those that look defenseless. i have never seen a bully go after someone that looks like they could kick butt.

[luvthissite]

Are you getting bullied at school? Do you hate going to school because you are afraid, tired of getting bullied? Pushed, teased, punched, tripped, name calling?

First, tell your parents immediately. Tell them exactly who is doing, when it happened, what happened, and tell them you want them to contact the school principal and school board. If you parents do not do what you think is necessary, you can do this yourself. If the bullying is really serious, either your parents (or if they wont do it), write a letter to the school principal and sent it certified mail (make a copy first), you will need to go to the post office to do this. A lot of bullying cases I hear about, the school claims "we did not know bullying was going on" - BULL SHIT. Sending the letter certified mail will make the school legally responsible, possibly liable, and ON NOTICE, that THEY MUST STOP THE BULLYING AGAINST YOU. If it does not stop, send more letters, certified mail, go see the counselor, document when you went, go see your teacher.

THE most important thing: TELL TELL TELL. DO it in person, AND IN WRITING.
Also, if you are having thoughts of suicide, tell that TOO, in person and in writing.


TRUST ME-if you follow the above advice, I know bullying can be tough (I was bullied), IT WILL EVENTUALLY STOP.

[UnknownError]

Its actually quite hard to tell an adult sometimes.

I've been bullied lots, and made up stories everytime.
I wouldn't feel comfortable talking to my pupil support teacher or my parents.

[welcome_to_chaos]

what he said ^ it is hard to tell someone..very hard. the only time i acually told my mom outright bout it was the other day when i got vodka and tea poared all over me. i felt i had to so that it didnt happen again. :( but unforunaly there have been many times when i havent told anyone

[districtnowhere]

i never actually got bullied but there are some people who do make fun of me.. but i usually just ignore them...

[LozziRAWR]

I get bullied but it only hurts if you take their words to heart, or if you dont do anything about it. Tell as many people you trust as you can if you get bullied.

[smitty35]

The only type of bullying I recieve is verbal, never physical.

[MilitemDilectam]

Be around the right kind of people...you'll be stood up for one day or you'll stand up for yourself

[LifeisLife]

Bullies are usually not model students. Very often they are not doing well in school and do not have good connections with their teachers. This isn't true in my case. I do get bullied but my bullies look perfect in the eyes of the school and teachers and they somehow always have luck and make it look like it's my fault. All the teachers do is talk to them in a nice way during class for example and they never pay attention to me unless I "do something wrong". Most of them also have all A's on their report cards.

[Unsolvedmind]

I receive all kinds especially physical at my school, I get kicked EVERY SINGLE F****** day and can't stand it I either wanna kill my self or just beat the living F*** out of the person. Ever since the end of 7th grade he has been kicking me for no F***** reason. At least school is over! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

[DoctorWho]

I have kids who try to be bad and all but the reason why bullys act like this is because they have an older sibiling or someone older than them doing the same thing

[Schizothemia]

Bullying is kind of a vicious cycle. A lot of it stems from the bully's own insecurities. In middle school, I was bullied a lot because I was smart. There were people who would always mess with me and while it hurt at the time I recognized that ultimately it was their own insecurity that led to their bullying and all of a sudden it didn't bother me.

The reason they feel like they need to be in control is because they ultimately aren't, and are scared of it.

The reason why I said bullying is a vicious cycle is because it typically goes: Individual is bullied by sibling/kid from neighborhood -> Go to school bully kid who they think they can control because they are tired of feeling controlled -> New kid being bullied starts to lash out and bully those around him, ad nauseuem until you get to the kids who just don't have it in them to bully others or who just can't take it out on anyone.

Instead of just punishment for bullying we also need to work on a restructuring of how the bully thinks. Teach him to be accepting of who he is, and stand up to those who bully him, including informing an adult. And adults need to learn to listen to any child coming to them in a time of need. Adults need to realize it's hard for a kid to ask for help, because more oft than not they are discouraged from doing so. Bullying isn't just as simple as the kid just wants control over another, that need of control has to come from somewhere.

[WonderTastic]

i feel every ones pain on bulling i cant even walk down the hall with out some one looking at me or saying something.. my own sisters talk about me. my parents too .. they arent trying to be mean but when the get upset they call me stupid and stuff i hate going through that. i search for love and exceptence and I've recently found it. my girl friend and too other friends i have. lol Ive only told my two friends that im bi curious cause every one would keep bothering about it if i told them... my cosin is a homophobic so, for this whole summer i had to sit here and pretend i agree with his remarks.. i could never tell him or he'll hate me same with my dad.. sorry i poured out on you guys lol just letting you see life threw my eyes

[FcknMarc]

Theres not ALOT of physical up in your face bullying in my school because nobody really has the balls to say anything, but there is ALOT of that bitchy rumor starting and cyberbullying that goes on. Personally I could care less about being talked about, haters come and go.
But if I were ever physically bullied that's totally different.

[MissyBonBon]

I was bullied server of times when i was a teenager. :mad: I told my mom about it and she went to the school and told the principal. But the principal denied the allegation that its happening in the school (so typical). :rolleyes: I was transferred to another school but the same situation happened. I don't know why them guys keeps pickin` on me. Then I heard about
youth camp for teens (http://www.militaryschools411.com/) then my mom enrolled me and after the camp I build self confidence. Then no one bullied me ever again. Coz sometimes the bullies pick on people who cant stand up and fight back.

Its all about confidence to stand up! :yes:

I have kids who try to be bad and all but the reason why bullys act like this is because they have an older sibiling or someone older than them doing the same thing


yupz! thats usually the case.

[lniehus55]

I receive all kinds especially physical at my school, I get kicked EVERY SINGLE F****** day and can't stand it I either wanna kill my self or just beat the living F*** out of the person. Ever since the end of 7th grade he has been kicking me for no F***** reason. At least school is over! HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey man dont do anything to harm ur self. the ppl arent worth harming ur self over. msg me sometime or email me at Email Removed. ~StoppingTime

[Antagonist]

People let themselves be bullied.
It is not the bully's fault.

Oh really? Ha. I have scars to prove that I didnt let anybody bully me. I fought back. Do some bully research so you kniw how bully victims deal with it.

[Vegito]

I am sorry, but it is nearly always the bullies fault. Im not saying that some bullies have problems of their own, but they need to find a different output. Bullies pick on the weak (no offence) and the weak typicaly cannot defend themselves. It is in rare cases that they can, and I applaud the few that do.

[xChrisVx]

What it means to be a victim

I'll tell you what it means to be a victim!!!!!

I sat down on a bench in school and then this boy started shoving me to get off "his" seat. He was the one who got up from it. Anyways, I refuse to move so the great big lump decided to take a run up to get me off it. I move at the last second and the arse bundles himself over the bench. Being the attention seeking git that he is, got up and pushed me as hard as he could. Result, I fell over and bashed my head off the corner of the bench. Accident and Emergency for 5 hours getting my head glued back together.

That's bullying!!!!!!!!.

(Rant over)

[maskkane20]

Got to tell all of you, Word do hurt... But we have to remember one thing when we are being bullied, they are insecure with something about themselves. I may self have been through bullying, and gotten upset over it but now I understand, They are just trying to find something to fulfill their insecurities.

Nothing is wrong with you. You are you, one of a kind. Don't let ANYONE change you! You are here to live your life and make your self happy, not others.. DO NOT worry about what other people think.

[Carly011]

Good job, i was bullied from 6th grade till 11th grade. It was a big part that led to my depression and anxiety(especially social anxiety)

[XxAssasiNxX]

I got prety much all the types of bullying. when theybsay dlnt take the matters in ur own hands is stupid. when my mum found out and tried to fix nothing happend. All these teachers were tellin him off but he didint listen. last year i beat some sense in to him. i nearly broke this guys neck. my freind stoped me. he dosent even wanna look at me anymore. that proves that taking the matters into ur own hands is the only soulition...

What it means to be a victim

I'll tell you what it means to be a victim!!!!!

I sat down on a bench in school and then this boy started shoving me to get off "his" seat. He was the one who got up from it. Anyways, I refuse to move so the great big lump decided to take a run up to get me off it. I move at the last second and the arse bundles himself over the bench. Being the attention seeking git that he is, got up and pushed me as hard as he could. Result, I fell over and bashed my head off the corner of the bench. Accident and Emergency for 5 hours getting my head glued back together.

That's bullying!!!!!!!!.

(Rant over)

See how much society and how much kids like these are fucked up. i hate to admit it but humans are kind of stupid in these sort of things. maybe things like districs need to happen. they just have to really REALLYthreaten these kids if they bully. maybe im being dramatic but the punishiment is death. acully every crime in the world should be a punnishment lf DEATH



Merged. -StoppingTime

[PinkyPie]

wow good job :)

[Troy35216]

at my school telling a teacher doesn't help at all. it only makes it worse

[adogboy]

We had a bully at school - he only tried it once and I had just lost my Mum and Dad in a car accident and I was full of grief, so I hit the guy and broke his nose. He never tried it on again - I let them no I cud use Chinese Marshall Arts. ;)

never back down cus they think your weak if you do ,.let them no you can handle yourself.

Please don't post consecutively. -StoppingTime.

:yeah:No Troy, you gotta nip it in the bud yorself b4 it gets outta hand. Punks will always be punks unless you lay down the law b4 they take over - n watch out for knives and guns cos guys like that ar low lifes. try an get some help with self-defense at school from your Gym teach cos the only thing low life's understand is some1 stronger than themselves - or more clever. Be kool! David :):yeah:

[WoShiDavid95]

Verbal bullying can be shrugged off... although it can escalate really quickly if it's too severe. Physical bullying on the other hand must never be condoned and people subjected to it should:

1) Report it to authority figures ASAP regardless of what the bully threatens to do. Keeping quiet gives him/her exactly what s/he wants and will only perpetuate the bullying.

2) The harder but more effective option is to take up some form of martial arts as self-defense to fend for themselves should the need arise.

All in all, bullies are cowards and having a so-called troubled past is no excuse to engage in such despicable wrongdoings.

[Mirage]

As one poster said above, no matter how small the incident is it should be reported to an adult so it can be dealt with.

[Kacey]

i find it pathetic the capabilites of these bastards, ive heard of many times teachers not even caring because the child is already considered "troubled"

[Cece14]

Being bullied is horrible! I've been bullied since I was in 2nd grade and believe me it's horrible!

[Zenos]

How about people actually try standing up for themselves?

I did and it worked wonders not only for how I viewed myself,but others viewed me as well.

And yes sometimes you just have to stand up to them and use the fists!

[TopThrill]

Seriously, just stand up for yourself and ask an adult for help. I bullied this one kid once, and I didn't stop until I hit rock bottom(being called to principal's office). Even though I was using words not fists, I didn't realize the harm I was doing. I straightened myself out and apologized, and now we're really close friends. I hope my story has inspired you to stand up for yourself, and any bullies reading this realize what you do to people. Please don't hate on me for my past mistakes.

[crepesuzette]

i was bullied as a child. that's why i joined forums, to get support from people. but now it's like even if you are or aren't bullied, nobody seems to care to read my posts.
yeah it was a painful experience as a child, because i cried many times and nobody was there to hold my hand whatsoever. besides, i'm an only child so that'd made sense. If people are going to be rude to me, i wouldn't care since that's just how some people are. if they can't be nice to have a normal conversation with me, then screw them. i don't need them to survive, plus there are tons of people i can approach. if not, then just let life be life. can't change things that cannot be changed.

during my days of bullying, i tried to act like everybody else. i tried to conform so that i would not seem like the odd man out. well that did not work for me. it still got me. i was called all kinds of names and i was stereotyped. a lot of people thought that i was not capable of doing a certain something simply because of my race. I wished they would quit generalizing me like that. it isn't fair.
of course i wasn't always innocent because i think i started it.
first there was a girl whose last name was hard to pronounce. i tried to pronounce it and when i got it wrong, the class thought i made fun of her. however, that was not my intention because i really wanted to know how to pronounce it correctly. meanwhile, i was rhyming people's names and everybody else thought that i was trying to make a fool of them. so people took it all wrong and they began to treat me badly. they all disliked me and from then on, i was bullied by various people. one guy told me to shut up every time i talked incessantly; but i wasn't the only one, so i felt that he was out to get me. fifth grade year was the worst. some stupid teacher made me look bad because i wanted to get transferred from his class. i did not like the class. i did not want to be in it. i didn't even like the kids. i wanted out, but i never got out. i had to endure a year of abuse. i had to put up with some annoying people. i always got into conflicts with them. they then excluded me but i don't know. i never wanted them to accept me. i did not want to know who they were.
then from 6th to 8th grade i was bullied because i told my neighbors( people around me) to shut up because they were just talking a lot. the more i did it, the worse i got. one girl in particular struck out as very mean. she first befriended me, letting me use her supplies when i got there. then she turned against me and began to join the others in making me feel bad. the teachers were not helping too. neither were the counselors. they all accused me. whenever somebody screwed me over, they did not care. whenever i did something to someone, it was my fault and i was treated as if i were a criminal. then when graduation came, there was a lot of apologizing for people to do to me. some did, while others remained the same. of course, i can't change them if they're going to be bitchy. of course, i have also changed my behavior from being bitchy to being more considerate.
then i moved in 9th grade to this new city, which i find is very different from my former schools, because people were just not welcoming. one girl did not welcome me simply because i was new. many people did not accept me, so i knew that if i wanted to be admitted into this clique, tehn i would have to compromise my identity. i was not willing to be that person and even when others did not like me, i was like screw them who cares what those people think. i don't care. they're just plain rude. i would not want to be around them. i did not care if they never spoke to me. as long as they didn't embarrass me or anything then i wouldn't mind.
so i had to work with difficult people, like the girl who did not welcome me, which i had briefly discussed here. she and some other girl snubbed me at best. all the other team members were nicer to me, though they weren't always like that. i got into problems and then i reported the whole group for their behavior. the girl who made me cry a week before cried the day when she had her conference with the teacher. i cried a week earlier at home alone. nobody knew about my pain. i just kept it to myself.
so when these people got bitchy, i just felt like being bitchy back to them. i am a human being too and i ought to receive respect from people just as much as you would like to have others respect you.
so this is my story so far.thanks for your time.

[crepesuzette]

Seriously, just stand up for yourself and ask an adult for help. I bullied this one kid once, and I didn't stop until I hit rock bottom(being called to principal's office). Even though I was using words not fists, I didn't realize the harm I was doing. I straightened myself out and apologized, and now we're really close friends. I hope my story has inspired you to stand up for yourself, and any bullies reading this realize what you do to people. Please don't hate on me for my past mistakes.

i wish things like this would happen to me more often. i really have longed for my enemies to befriend me. and when i'm rude to others, i hope that others could forgive me for being mean. but each person is different. life just stinks sometimes. i don't know what i have ever done to mankind for them to hate me. it's like i'm not part of this world or something. i feel so different sometimes.

[Horatio Nelson]

I have been saved from all this bullying crap by being homeschooled. I am thankful for my parents decisions. I do try my best to help kids who I see being hurt, that's just the way I am.

[crepesuzette]

I have been saved from all this bullying crap by being homeschooled. I am thankful for my parents decisions. I do try my best to help kids who I see being hurt, that's just the way I am.

I saw your post on bullying. on the left, it said you're from california. which part? I'm from there too.

[Horatio Nelson]

I saw your post on bullying. on the left, it said you're from california. which part? I'm from there too.

The southern part. :P

[crepesuzette]

those bullies are stupid for what they do. instead of focusing on how to get an education and land themselves good jobs, they go around taking your lunch money away, vandalizing restrooms, and picking on younger kids. trust me, there's a huge part that they're hiding from the public.

[justin 13]

Is that so? That's why have a scar on my leg because I *let* a few jerks beat me up when I was 9? Okay, that makes loads of sense. Could you elaborate on how its the victim's fault?

Don't waste your time with this guy. I think his comment is rude.

[puffmylife]

Well the best way to counter bully is to fight back. One smack at the face will finish everything. Why would you be afraid? If you count all the sh*t that they'd done to you, then you will realized that you should have fight back at the very beginning.

[EpicTaco]

Luckily, I'm strong enough to ward off most physical bullies, and I even defend those smaller, weaker, or younger than I to stop this. It happens everywhere, and little is really done about it, so I decided to do the work of my teachers -.^

[RunnerRunner]

I am stong enough too to fight them off. I know Krav Maga Muay Thai Cambodian Bloodsport Savate and Sambo and Karate. They still pick on me but as soon as they lay their hands one is when I rise from the fire, a pheonix alive and inspired. Sorry was listening to ETF earlier.

[JamesSC]

I always here about how you should tell an adult, but kids listen better to each other. I think that if we could get enough kids to form something called the Bullying League, where people all over the world, stuck up for those who were getting bullied, it would be better.

[SixSmith]

I think the parents or guardians should guide their kids as well because they are the ones who can really help shape the personality of an individual. To avoid being a bully, surround yourself with kind-hearted people, make use of your talents and don't waste time making fun of others, be mature enough, learn how to love so that you will be loved, remember the golden rule: Don't do unto others what you don't want others do unto you! Peers are the ones who really influence us considering that we are teenagers that's why you really need to choose your friends wisely. To avoid being bullied, stand up for yourself, show them what you've got, prove to them that they're wrong, study well so that your dreams will come true. In the end, you are the WINNER and they are the LOSER. To all of you are reading this, just be kind to unkind people beacuse they need it most. Hope this helps :)

[Croconaw]

Thanks for this post. Bullying really has to stop. :(

[jaismith08]

Just ignore those kind of people and they will just stop.

[kikia11500]

My sister and I moved to the UK from Ireland. People called my sister a slut because they all believed lies told about her. They attacked her and hurt her. They told her to kill herself. She did. My name is MEGAN PRINCE AND THIS IS PHEOBE'S STORY.

[LunarScorpio]

I am not sure if I agree with tell an adult for every situation. Yes, I do if it is serious, but is think instantly approaching an adult with a less major situation can actually work out less well, for various reasons. I would hope that everybody in a school situation has at least one friend that they can get it off their chest to, and if that friend is high enough in the social hierarchy they can try and stop it internally.

Having said all that, if it is serious, and you are facing any harm, telling an adult is the right thing to do

[romes3]

People let themselves be bullied.
It is not the bully's fault.

Really?!

People don't ask to be bullied. As someone who was bullied, I can tell you that it sucks, and it wasn't my fault. I'm someone who sticks up for my self and others, but I still got bullied. So no, it is the bully's fault because they choose to be cruel jerks.

[xxxander]

If there's no bullies there will be no bullied,

[geraldgreen12]

Bullying is one of the major problems US is facing today.

[NathansPen]

If there's no bully's there were no people will bullie

[Tifany]

Really a wonderful post, I got bullied when I was about 11 and even I told the parents, this continued for many months. It was the worst period of my life and I can still feel the scars on my soul. I have to change the school to avoid bullying.

[imtoofab]

People let themselves be bullied.
It is not the bully's fault.
I think it's not their fault, because they didn't ask for it... They didn't say to them like "hey could you bully me please?" "I really like the way you're bullying me..." ....

The US... yes but also in Belgium

[the darkness]

The US... yes but also in Belgium

The UK.......

[stism]

I had this problem until I was 15 Then one day I just got mad and hit the guy in the balls just as hard as I could. He curled up on the ground, then never bothered me again Neither did anyone else.

[Jaffe]

I've read this thread a few times, been about to respond a few times, didn't do it. But here goes, this time.

I was bullied most of my life, but not near as much as a lot of other kids. It was worst when I was little. When we moved from Buenos Aires back to New York City, it got wayyyyy worse. Then in Spain, it was kinda bad, esp at first. When we moved to LA a few years ago, I was just the weird kid in school, but not really bullied too much (some, but minor things).

I think it's better now because:
1. I grew up, I'm not the littlest kid anymore
2. I decided that I'm not afraid to hit back if its absolutely necessary, although I am really a totally non-violent person
3. In school here, there is a much larger potential-victim pool, lowering the chance they will pick me out of 2000 other possible victims.
4. Physically, I don't stick out too much here. Lots of little skinny white-blonde kids around. And the rest bleach their hair to try to be blonde, making it almost "cool" to be naturally blonde.
5. One of the two dominant school populations, Hispanics, are really pretty gentle and nice. Not really the bullying type. Except in the movies.
6. THIS MOST OF ALL, I learned over the years how to hide. I don't try to fit into any groups or cliques, not cool kids, not losers, not goth, not punk, not emo. I'm NOTHING. So nobody notices me. Which is why I have few friends, and spend a lot of time at home. Luckily, I like my family, and have learned to more the last few years.

Probably the worst bullying I have got here is because my best friend is Muslim and obviously Middle Eastern. He gets hated on a lot, and we stick up for each other and so I've got some of the backlash of that. Totally worth it.

Only recently did I start to talk about this stuff to my parents. To my therapist earlier, but that's different. A therapist doesnt run off to school and talk to the teacher or principal. Parents do. And I don't think that parent intervention is the answer. Generally, victims get punished for intervention, and bullies do not. There has to be a different way.

This shit happens, it sucks, and society has not figured out how to fix it. Because society created the issue to start with. The school can't fix it by punishment or any other way. Parents make bullies of their kids, so the solution has to happen, in families, in parent-child relationships, before the bully ever goes to school.

[Ligita]

Hate bullys. Think they can do everything. Sometimes I want just kick they're ass

[Quartz]

I've been bullied before. Although it isn't as bad now, it certainly wasn't pleasant.

I firmly believe that bullies are the result of negative forces around them and within them. They use bullying and harassment as an outlet for all the negative energy and a means of dispelling all that anger in search for satisfaction.

Sometimes, the victim may have done something to elicit bullying. It's not that it's entirely the victim's fault; it's just that bullies find stuff to feed on. If you make yourself easy prey, that makes it all the more easy for mischievous bullies to feed on your sorrows. There might be something you should change.

However, I do think that bullies still have the fault in this. You may think that some people are just begging to be hurt, but that should never justify any wrong actions towards that person. Nothing can ever justify harassment of any kind. You definitely don't want to be the bully.

If you're bullied, don't feel hopeless. There are plenty of things you can do to fix whatever problem you may have - you just have to find it. One good way is to seek help. Remember, if there are mean people, there are also nice people.

If you've been bullied or still are being bullied, I really do hope you'll be able to find a way to solve your problems. (^_^)

[Cadanance00]

I think we have to be careful not to blame the victim. Bullies know what they are doing and they enjoy it. There's no excuse.

[angelina]

not happened so far...but better if we girls should be very careful about this bullying either on line or telephonic

[Godsdaughter]

Thank you for posting this! It was super insightful!

[marinoman13]

Bullying for stuttering sucks.

[MDaniel]

Tell them to bug off and go lick a wall socket. lol

[Aldee]

Bullying is tough and it’s best to tell someone when you feel comfortable enough to do so. It could be an adult, sibling or even someone online.

[Nadin]

I was bullied in the middle school,it wasn't classic bullying though.It caused very much trouble to my life in view that I was depressed for two years and much more.
It all started in 7th grade when I changed schools for the greater good,or so I taught I did.First few weeks were ok until few bullies started calling me fat,stupid etc...
All that was normal,at least in my opinion.
After a moth or so serious problem started happening.One of these more serious acts of bullying was when two boys locked me in men's toilet for the whole day.I had no phone with me and nobody cared and other students taught it was funny.I got over that right after it happened thinking they wanted to show who's the boss or something like that.I reported it to the class teacher and he laughed which was very cruel from him,my mom reported what happened to principle and he solved it by sending these boys to detention.After that they were even more mad at me and they started punching me every single day into my stomach because they knew I had medical problems with liver.I started getting depressed.As I live alone with my mother I could hide some of my bruises.I wasn't telling that much what was happening since she couldn't really help.From that point it got worse and worse,besides half of the male part of the class punching me,now even females started insulting me.I started eating more than usual and I gained 15kg/33lbs.After all that when I did full body examination I discovered that I have medical condition called ''insulinemia'' or in other words some kind of diabetes type one which is curable.I was completely destroyed when I found out that on top of all things.I remember right after I discovered about my condition I got beaten up by a guy from my class because I snooze loudly(what a great reason,right?).I was already one year in that school and principle took no action,he didn't care at all.My mom was practically talking with principle every day or so and he was always telling he will do something.When we figured out that principle won't do anything my mom called police,but guess what?
They laughed.She was pretty shocked when they told her they don't want to waste there time on ''child's game''.
The following year was even worse than the previous one,when I finished 7th grade I taught by transferring to other class I would resolve the problem but I did not.How stupid of me and my mom was that,I ask my self?
Everything continued but now with wooden bats and battons,one day one kid punched me so hard that he broke half of my tooth(I had to get new ceramic tooth but not an implant).Some other unpleasant moments were when someone messaged high school guys that I wanna fight with them,that was a fun day.
I do not want to go any deaper than this but I will just say that one kid took his life by jumping from 8th floor after being bullied(more than bullied) in this school for two years or so.I personally knew the kid and he was a great guy.
After I finally finished 8th grade and I transferred to another school for one year until I start high school(I will start this summer 2nd grade of high school).The ''horror'' finally ended and I'm more than OK now,I've lost 20kg/44lbs and I feel great.After passing through so much and there are many stuff I forgot after having amnesia for very short time(I forgot the right terminology but it was described as amnesia that comes and goes in short period of time) and there is a lot I haven't wrote here.I have my tempo now which consists or running every day and eating healthy food.I still have insulinemia but I expect it to disappear completely in a year or so.One thing that makes my day brighter is violin,I highly prefer to anyone who is depressed to start paying an instrument of some kind.
I still have troubles socializing and finding friends,I have no friends to be honest.I haven't had any for almost five years but I hope to meet some in near future,a real friend hopefully that will be there always as well as I will be there for him/her.
Does anyone know a good way to socialize?
Sorry for any spelling mistakes,it's late out here where I live and I'm extremely tired.

[Diana2002]

Bullying is way wrong :( especially if you do it to people who are more sensitive

[hayley2003]

there are some kids at my school that get bullied a lot, and i mean A LOT. there is just something about them that jerks can't resist and go out of their way every day to make their lives miserable.

it kinda makes sense when in the news there is a guy that brings a gun to school and shots a bunch of people. i mean if a guy is bullied every day for years by the same jerks, no wonder he loses his mind shots people.

[Uniquemind]

there are some kids at my school that get bullied a lot, and i mean A LOT. there is just something about them that jerks can't resist and go out of their way every day to make their lives miserable.

it kinda makes sense when in the news there is a guy that brings a gun to school and shots a bunch of people. i mean if a guy is bullied every day for years by the same jerks, no wonder he loses his mind shots people.

You think it's gonna get to that level in this specific case?

You'd think teens would learn not to provoke the "weird" and quiet people.

Also not all crazies have been the stereotypical quiet type, I remember on the news back in 2012 or 2013, one guy in Washington was known as really social yet he shot all his friends at lunch.

[Just_Michael]

Wow this is really good, great job!

[Fritz]

Bullying never seems to be a problem at my school, of course my friends and i always try to be nice to the new people and help out whenever we see someone being mean. bullying is just bad, but ive been told that usually bullies are sometimes people who were bullied or have bad things happen at home. so the bully should be helped too

[ImJulia]

I luckily do not see too much of it at my school.

[Whadn1991]

It is so terrible how your family can bully you for years ( verbally or physically ) , and you are so afraid and have no self-confidence to fight back :(

[DuderTall]

My girlfriend gets bullied a lot because of her height and that she's quiet. Funny enough, she's a cheerleader so she should be off limits.

I've been her crying shoulder many times. She hates that she lets them get her upset. It's mostly verbal, though one time a kid threw his calculator at her head, she screamed and got up and walked out. I walked with her then to the deans office. She was crying her eyes out the whole time.

The dude got suspended, but nothing else happened, he was the same when he got back. But the teacher keeps an eye on him now.

[TorillWenche]

Bullying is not allowed. For me i was bullied but i had the courage to report and the students bullying me were warned and they stopped.