Bullies

[Misty_Morning]

.....

 

[starrkers]

I was bullied.

The big girl in my class at one school decided I needed to be shown. Not sure what I needed to be shown, but I needed it. I guess being the new kid in town was as good an excuse as any.

Because Roslyn hated me, I was fair game. I went home one day with pencil shavings rubbed through my hair. Another day the collar of my school shirt was coloured in with crayon. Both of these incidents happened in class.

The day I came home with a black eye, mum and dad went ballistic. Things changed, including the teaching staff

Two schools and three years later another girl decided my face needed rearranging because I was learning to play violin. I spent several months actively avoiding her before she finally got the slapfest in. Then she lost interest and moved on to another victim.

Did I ever mention how I loved learning and hated school?

 

[kromen]

A can of whoop-ass never tasted so good

This was in the early eighties, before handguns, pipebombs and myspace. I was bused to another neighborhood five miles away in NYC. Everyday, I was chased out the school yard by a gang of bullies who were probably doing what their parents told them to.
After about a month, I was met by my mother at the front gate who informed me to kick ass or take a real whupping when I got home. John Woo couldn't have filmed a better fight scene. Six against one. I never knew that a Dukes of Hazzard lunchbox could be such a formidable weapon. When the dust settled, I stood alone with a busted handle of my lunchbox still in my hand.
The bullies never messed with me again, one of them became a friend and attended my ninth birthday party. One day, when I have children, I hope they dont have to go through the same hell I went through, but hopefully I can teach them a more diplomatic way to handle their situations. Either way, Tae-Kwon Do classes are in the budget.

 

[where]

bullied for being fat and then bullied for being English. It's made me the person I am today.

 

[rengadeirishman]

when i was in grade school and middle school i was bullied, then puberty hit, and that in tandem with my father losing his legs and me having to carry him in and out of the house made me blow up, i was no longer short and fat, now i was tall and while still fat, had put on lots of hard muscle under that fat and no one really tried bullying me, i still fought alot, but it wasnt really a bully situation. Apparently i can be quite intimidating.

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

Most people get their kicks trying to bully others.

 

[scheherazade_79]

I had the living crap beaten out of me in the locker area by about six older girls when I was 13.

It started because my mother was vice principal in the school I went to and she'd given a detention to the ringleader. It escalated when I refused to ignore the name-calling and retaliated. It soon became physical - minor stuff like head-flushing, tripping and passing kicks and punches in crowded corridors. And then I had enough of that too, and turned on the ringleader.

I was sent home for a day for casting the first punch, and the other girl and three of her friends were suspended for a week. I nearly got sent away to boarding school after that

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

The ONLY way to change a bully is to hurt them seriously. Then they become the biggest babies there are. But you cant appease them, or reason with them, or appeal to their better angels. You have to hurt them.

 

[oggbashan]

At all my early schools I was physically too big to be a bully.

If I had hit anyone they would have been smaller than me.

I learned NOT to fight because I could do real damage. I wasn't good at fighting when I had to because I had little practice. I might hit too hard or too lightly for the situation.

At one school, one of the bullies picked on a little kid in front of me. I told the bully to stop.

He looked at me, said "You and whose army?".

I replied "Just me."

He walked away.

Later in the day he jumped on my back. I rolled sideways banging him against a wall, then hit him twice in the ribs while the wall was behind him. I broke three of his ribs. I hadn't intended to.

He was still a shit but stopped being a bully. His facade had been broken with his ribs. I was left alone for being trouble.

Og

 

[JAMESBJOHNSON]

I was the pee wee, plus had crossed eyes.

But I was smart, and it occurred to me that if an ass whoopin was a routine part of my day it might be fun to see if I could get my licks in occasionally. So I started trying to seriously hurt my antagonists. Suck up the beating and try and hurt the other guy. Send them home to momma with a testicle missing.

Its amazing at how quickly a bully changes his attitude when you break his leg or arm.

 

[rgraham666]

My school life was a living hell growing up thanks to bullies. And I had no one, I repeat no one on my side.

My dad thought I deserved a good once a week ass whuppin', it would 'toughen me up'.

The school system didn't care. They didn't waste their time on failures like me.

My mom wasn't, at the time, the sort to stand up to people with power.

None of my 'peers' helped. I had no friends. The term I invented for myself in later years was 'designated nigger'. I was the one designated to fill the role of 'the other', the person not like us, the one it was OK to maim because, 'hey, it's not like they're human or anything.'

Can you tell I'm still bitter about that?

 

[where]

My school life was a living hell growing up thanks to bullies. And I had no one, I repeat no one on my side.

My dad thought I deserved a good once a week ass whuppin', it would 'toughen me up'.

The school system didn't care. They didn't waste their time on failures like me.

My mom wasn't, at the time, the sort to stand up to people with power.

None of my 'peers' helped. I had no friends. The term I invented for myself in later years was 'designated nigger'. I was the one designated to fill the role of 'the other', the person not like us, the one it was OK to maim because, 'hey, it's not like they're human or anything.'

Can you tell I'm still bitter about that?

But, you aren't bitter generally are you? And you seem to often stand up for the underdog so, like I said before, it's made you what you are and that is probably a better person than the bullies turned out to be

 

[JagFarlane]

Ahhhh schoolyard bullies heh.

My dad, during high school, was a running back and so for him, never got bullied, as jocks traditionally had each others backs. But one day, on the bus, several of the schools bullys came on to the bus with the intention of whooping some poor kids ass just because he was a bit of a nerd. Next thing their ringleader knows, is he's being thrown across the bus by my dad, whom was always brought up with the lesson of treating everyone equally. When the ringleader and his posse got up to fight, they got the sight of their young lives as my dad and the offensive line were standing there, just waiting for em. Bullying kinda went down, as they began to realize that the jocks were actually, gasp, protecting the "nerds".

For my own part, in jr. high and the first two years of high school I was rather well bullied. Just an easy target I suppose, lil overweight, more of nerd. Got into one or two fights with a couple of older kids, till I lucked out with a neighbor. One of the neighbors kids was a Golden Gloves boxer, and he volunteered to walk me home when I took the late bus. Always do remember that kid as a savior.
When I got to my second high school, I was more determined to change my image. Dropped a few pounds, and just well, was myself. Sure, my group of friends were still known as the school nerds, but eh, we weren't messed with, mostly due to things like me being well known for being in the NRA and such [this was pre-Columbine]. My little brother, on the other hand, had a rather big mouth. He'll never know, but I definatly stopped him from being beat up a couple of times. I always remember one night, going out for a walk, it was snowing and dark. Got hit in the back of the head by a snowball, when I turned around and confronted the kid, I realized he was a sophomore [bro was a freshman], whom had mistaken me for my brother. His face went pale as he began to rapidly appologize and say he thought I was my little brother. Told em straight out to leave my bro alone and that if he ever did anything to him....he'd find out the penalty. -smirks-

 

[cloudy]

I was neither a bully nor bullied.

I had brothers and cousins - rather LARGE brothers and cousins - and while I never started a fight, it was known that I had little problem hitting back, so bullies left me alone.

 

[sophia jane]

I was never bullied, but my oldest son has been. Off and on for the last two school years.
We're now dealing with a very real consequence of bullying. He's depressed. Really and truly, sometimes can't function, depressed. Bullies suck.

 

[impressive]

I was neither a bully nor bullied.

Ditto.

And, IMO, bullying -- while reprehensible -- is only effective if one allows it to be. Yes, it's difficult to overcome. Empowerment isn't easy to achieve or maintain -- especially for kids, who are exceptionally susceptible to peer pressure -- but it is doable and worth the effort, for it has beneficial impact in other ways.

"Lead by example," I tell my kids. Karma is real. It WILL come around.

The Golden Rule is golden for a reason.

 

[wehstar]

I was the shortest and skinniest kid in school, of my age anyway. Fortunately for me I came from a rougher neighborhood, and much more importantly was a very good boxer (thanks to great coaches). I can't say I was bullied a lot, but there was always certain people who thought it was funny (or interesting, or whatever) to push you about. The frustrating thing was being able to box but not really being able to use it. I could punch damn fast and hard, and duck and weave, but there was no training as to what to do if someone kicks you or simply picks you up and throws you across the room. What I could do, if I got close enough, is leave them with two black eyes in less than two seconds. Then I would be perveived by the teachers to be the bad one. This leaves me going on to what I posted here to say:

In our school, if anyone stood up to a bully and thought back, they would be disciplined with equal measure to the bully themself. In fact, if you won the fight, you were in more trouble. If it hasn't changed, it really should do. If it happened in the streets now between adults, the law would be on the side of the defender. The fear of authority drummed into me by my parents translated itself so that I was equally afraid to get in trouble with teachers. I felt the teachers would be on the side of these idiots if I ever landed a sweet left hook on one of their jaws.

 

[rgraham666]

I had the same problem. Except it would be just me that would be disciplined. I was a 'problem student' and the bullies weren't.

 

[jomar]

I was neither a bully nor bullied either.

If someone gave me shit I gave it right back and that settled that. But being reasonably popular and well liked no doubt helped.

 

[Trombonus]

I managed to thwart a bully when I was living in England, but I did it by a much more unintelligent and cruder method. See there were too schools right next to each other, and the older kids would sometimes come by ours after school and pick on us. One such bully decided it was my turn, but I unexpectedly found his weakness. See, I had a little habit back then. I was a booger eater. That's right, I'd pick my nose and eat the contents. So I did this as the bully walked up, and he was mortified! He couldn't handle seeing me do it. So I continued to do it, walking closer and closer to him, and I even offered him some. Then he puked. Any time he ever got even remotely close to me, or some other kid when I was around, I'd reach for my nose. Never messed with me again.

 

[feeeriek]

um trom that was just way too much info...thank you very much for that image...goes and washes brain clean of the memory

 

[Trombonus]

um trom that was just way too much info...thank you very much for that image...goes and washes brain clean of the memory

Hey, it worked, plus I was only 5.

 

[JagFarlane]

-chuckles- Though since this thread was brought up upon the topic of cyberbullies, I do sadly have to point out that sometimes people never outgrow being a bully. In fact, it is well known that we have several of them here upon our board.
That, to me, is one of the saddest things, when people cannot outgrow their childhood and choose, instead, to continue with being a child during adulthood.

 

[Trombonus]

-chuckles- Though since this thread was brought up upon the topic of cyberbullies, I do sadly have to point out that sometimes people never outgrow being a bully. In fact, it is well known that we have several of them here upon our board.
That, to me, is one of the saddest things, when people cannot outgrow their childhood and choose, instead, to continue with being a child during adulthood.

I dunno, I think it works in my case.

 

[JagFarlane]

I dunno, I think it works in my case.

LMAO true true. You being of the opposite end of the spectrum. Heh my bro is the same way...he actually has a complete Ghostbusters costume and like...tons of their toys heh