The concept of standing up for myself had been something I’d put off many years after becoming a bully victim, but it wasn’t until the death of my friend Samuel that the reality of the issue arose. When I first changed elementary schools, I was shy and concerned that this would keep me from making friends. I moved to Harper just before finishing second grade, but it wasn’t until August of that year that I actually attended school in Harper. At first, I’d spend my recesses walking the playground and watching children play with their friends. After my first few days of school, students began to bully me about my size, appearance, or shyness. Counselor visits became a regular and my once happy nature slowly became a rarity. I don’t remember how long I’d been in Harper before Samuel and I met. He once stood up for my when I was being called fat and we had been friends ever since. After many years of friendship with Samuel, we had both grown accustomed to summer vacations where we saw very little of each …show more content…
The rest of my summer vacation was filled with restless nights, guilty thoughts, and worrying about what would become of me once school came back into session. Sam had spent 6 years of our friendship protecting me from bullies. I never learned to defend myself before his passing. School started and, to cope without Sam, I carried a teddy bear throughout the school day. One day a kid on the bus decided to make fun of me and I snapped. That day was the first time since starting school in Harper that I had stood up for myself. I learned that the anger people brought to me didn’t have to stay inside for only myself to witness and that I was strong enough to stand up for what I believed in. Since then my attitude has been better, I have slowly progressed to the happy mindset I had as a little kid, and I was finally at peace with
I would follow what Principal Milhoviak did, which is contact my discipline team and get their points of view. Prior to that, I would need to understand the main problem. It sounded like he did that by talking with the sister and getting her story. This is the first step, understanding the situation. The next step is formulating a solution on how to handle the situation. This is where getting other people involved was a great idea. Principals know they cannot do it alone so they need to have a team, especially in these types of situations. The problem was that team offered many suggestions. As a principal I would listen to all of them and also refer to the school handbook. In this case, since the student is not in his fourth period, I would call for the brother and sister back to the office until parents are reached. As a principal the priority is finding the student who made the threat and keeping the victims safe until parents are reached and the team decides what to do next.
Happiness is fake, like something forced upon me; something not real, fabricated and I don’t like it. I’m supposed to like it though. I’m supposed to like everything the government forces on me. I feel like I’m the only person who doesn’t feel content with my life, everyone else seems to be perfect while I’m falling apart at the seams.
Imagine a 14-year-old girl crying in her dad’s car with scratches down her face, neck, and arms. Scratches she received from an 18-year-old teammate while coaches and fellow team members watched. Imagine how scared, betrayed, and alone she felt. No one wanted to help her except her parents. No one stood up for her. No one did anything but stand back and watch the torment occur every day. Now, imagine this girl moving school districts—just as terrified as ever. Except now, there is someone who stands up for her in times of trouble. She has someone to protect and encourage her. The loneliness she felt has been replaced with empowerment and confidence all because one person took it upon himself to make sure she never felt scared, betrayed, or alone again. That girl was me, and the person who changed my life was my basketball coach, Toby Todd.
The school I had gone to for pre-k was the same school that I went to until the sixth grade, no coincidence this was the same school that my mom had worked at. Being in a very small school since I was four till the age of twelve with the same people to talk to every single year really hurt my ability to socialize with other people I didn’t know. I honestly was very nervous in moving schools, I knew I was going to be very anti-social and I was correct. Making almost no friends in middle school I was glad to move to somewhere else, because in my eyes Hamilton (my middle school) was hell. But little did I know later on being anti-social was going to have to
I know what it’s like to feel rejected by peers. When I was a child I was very shy and not much of a sociable person. Many people would bully me and too this day I’m still a little terrified by people. I have a hard time trusting others and coming out of my shell. However, when I do I make some amazing friends. What helped me get over some of the torment I faced from elementary through high school were my parents and my religion. My mom always reminded me that I had individual worth and that anyone who didn’t see that was missing out. Constant years of this reminder allowed me to accept my past and move on. By moving on I was able to start making friends this year.
It felt as though I didn’t fit in with the “popular” crowd. Because I wasn’t one of the “popular kids,” I was an easy target for bullying. I was judged by several of my fellow students because I was heavier than others. The continuous teasing from everyone made it hard to establish and build on my confidence. I tried to laugh off the jokes that were thrown my way, but internally, I was critiquing my appearance. I tried to change my eating habits, but I was never successful. It became a challenge to go to school because I was worried about things that might be said to me. Throughout the rest of middle school, I was constantly pestered until high school approached. The summer before high school began, I made a decision. I decided I wanted to change
I was not always sensitive to people who were different from me. I was more interested in making my friends laugh, even at someone else’s expense, than I was in [.....]. Sarah had been a classmate of mine since I entered Latin in junior kindergarten. She was always different from the other girls. On top of that, she was exceedingly insecure which made her an easy target. In a class of only sixty kids, there is nowhere to hide when a bully sets their target on you. For many of my early years, I am ashamed to admit that I was that bully to Sarah. In music class, I laughed when she sang. My friends and I called her names behind her back. In my most regrettable incident, in sixth grade, I typed an inappropriate message on her computer that resulted in me having to write an apology letter to Sarah’s
Growing up from 7th grade on, something was different with me. I was always anxious and depressed. I began staying home from school in 8th and 9th grade. I was struggling. Freshman year, things started to go downhill. Pushing away everyone who cared about me, had become second nature. My family situation was a mess. I began at a new school for my 10th grade year, and about 2 months in, I was bullied and slut-shamed so bad that I had to leave that school. I developed a substance abuse problem and was using daily. My life was in a burning trash can. One day, I got sent to rehab by my parents. I went to Sunrise Academy and turned my life around. Even though it took me a year and a half, I wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for that day that I was
According to the Youth Risk Behavior Surveillance Survey, 15% high school students from grade ninth to twelfth were the victims of cyberbullying in 2013. This statistic shows that violence in the Internet is increasing and becoming a serious problem in recent years. One of the reasons for this is that people tend to participate more in online discussions, YouTube, and social networking sites, and they fill comment sections with violent and practical jokes which can be described as “trolling.” Many people say that these comments are very necessary for the online environment, and they also have the right to express what they think in the internet due to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. However, trolling comments may actually
When I was merely thirteen years old, my boyfriend never seemed to comprehend the word no. But I never seemed to comprehend that I was capable of leaving him and escaping the relationship that brought nothing but destruction and desolation to my life. Out of fear, I stayed. And I stayed. And I stayed. For three and a half years, I was unable to build up the courage to break away and live my own life the way I craved. For three and a half years, I felt so depressed and alone that I even considered ending my own life.
I was bullied, cyber bullied everything went wrong pretty badly in middle school. Their was one fat dude named Pablo in school who would try to make me feel bad in school every day and he knew what to do every time.For instances he would throw stuff at me all the time in class, flick me in the head, punch me ,kick me,call me ugly and stupid, copy me and scream at me he's gonna beat me up every single day it was like this all day till this one day...
Everyone has been bullied or encountered someone being bullied at some point of their life. Whether it would be physically or verbally both can be exceedingly traumatizing and can have a long-term psychological influence on children’s development. Majority people may define bullying in a more physical term; nevertheless that’s not always the case. The act of bullying can occur in several ways and in reality affect the individual in the same way. Bullying is generally defined as repeated, negative, and harmful actions focused at target throughout a course of time, exhibiting a sense of power difference between the bully and the victim (Olweus, 1993; Limber & Mihalic, 1999 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). A survey was conducted in the United States estimating that over six million children, about 30% in grade six through ten have experienced frequent bullying in a school environment (Nansel, 2001 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005). Many people might debate that bullying is something that every child goes through and is simply a part of growing up, although there are several damaging consequences that happens to the child’s brain. Bullying causes the child to feel upset, isolated, frightened, anxious, and depressed. They feel like they reason they are being picked on is because there is something wrong with them and may even lose their confidence feel unsafe going to school (Frenette, 2013 as cited from Douglas J. Boyle, 2005) Anthropologically, sociologically, or psychologically, bullying can be analyzed through different perspectives and several questions can be asked based on the topic:
Remaining a constant victim to bullying for 11 years significantly affected how I viewed myself and others around me. To most I wasn’t worth giving more than a single glance. I had a gap between my two front teeth, which was a primary target of ridicule. My clothes were “nice”, but they weren’t by the designer label everyone else was wearing. Not only did I dress and look ugly, I was also a black girl- a lighter skinned
I was the nerd at my school. Nobody really liked me and I didn’t have many friends. Actually I didn’t really have any but I didn’t like to admit it. I’ve been bullied my whole life. I’m not really sure why though. I thought that I was your typical kid. But other people didn’t think the same. Let me explain my life so far. My mom, she’s the Physical Ed teacher at my middle school and my dad takes on three different jobs and is never home. My grandma has colon cancer and is living with us since she had no other family in the state. I’ve only had one friend in my life. His name was Kevin. Even though it was in kindergarden I remember it like it was yesterday. We were best friends me and Kevin. We did everything together. He knew everything there was to know about me. I thought I knew everything about him too, but I was wrong. The beginning of first grade I walked into school alone. I looked for Kevin all day but I couldn’t find him. I almost felt like he was avoiding me and surprisingly he was.
“Goodbye my munchkin, and don’t forget to take your lunch box with you.” Shouted my mom, as I closed the door and went off to school. School is my favorite place on earth. It is where I shine, sparkle, and show the world that I can achieve something and aspire to be someone. It makes me feel unique, as I am a person who abominates the feeling of being a mundane girl. I simply smile whenever I reach school, but for the last three months things have been different. I don’t smile anymore.