I can relate to the below posts on Yahoo and poem from a survivor about bullying. As people get older, the abuse gets worse, and the only thing to do is to become more resiliant. I can recall wearing socks to school as a kid with holes in them because I was broke and had no other socks to wear and getting beaten up by my mother who had 'issues' at the time. The thing is that I discovered that the crooks, later in my life, were the perpetrators of bullying. Crooks and Crime and Ethics, again.
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Regards,
Kimberly! :)
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Lynda Frederick, a graduate of Orange Glen High in Escondido, Calif., in 1987, posted a heartbreaking poem about her experience on her school's 25th class reunion page.
Excerpts:
The post resulted in an outpouring of support and regret from former classmates.that little girl who came to school with the clothes she wore the day before
instead of asking why.. you picked on her...
the little girl who had bruises and was dirty
instead of asking why.. you picked on her
that little girl was me...
that little girl had love in her heart to share with all but no one wanted it...
this WOMEN has grown up now
however the little girl inside still crys
because her childhood was shattered
"This poem touched me so bad I could not sleep. I cried," Lisa Wallace told NBC San Diego. Wallace and many others contacted Frederick to apologize for those years. They've created a scholarship fund in her name and raised money to fly Frederick to the reunion, and she has agreed to go.
Frederick says she has forgiven her classmates.
Former classmate Kristi Malone remembers the bullying incidents but felt powerless to stop them. "I felt so bad for her. But never thinking in my head that I could stand up for her," she told NBC.
Frederick says she had a troubled home life and graduated a semester early, moving across the country to Seneca Falls, N.Y. She now has three children of her own, including a 14-year-old daughter who is now dealing with bullies at school.
"I tell her to look at the people and say, 'Listen,'" says Frederick. "'If you don't like what I'm wearing, if you don't like the way I look—don't look!'"
- GW
Today, the idiot school administrators would have you arrested for defending yourself. And, they wonder why the problem is so prevalent.
HARRY •There was one guy from school who was bullied because he was small. People called him Josie instead of Joe. I remember seeing the picture in the paper of him receiving the Silver Star for bravery in action and the Purple Heart in Vietnam. I've often wondered how the a-holes who messed with him all the time felt when they saw it. Most of them had gotten college deferments or joined the National Guard and stayed home. I talked to him a couple of times after he returned. He went to college and became a high school teacher in another town.
Met Fan LouJoe the HERO won in the end-God Bless him and thanks for his service. I am a 'Nam vet too and to get the Silver Star he had to save his buddies' lives. Way to go Joe!
- DeputyDawg
Thanks for your service, Met.
howard@Met.Glad to see that I am not the only Vietnam vet on this board tonight.Welcome home brother.
Boppity •Everyone thinks bullies are victims themselves and must come from horribly tragic abusive homes, but the biggest bullies I knew were the rich, popular in-crowd kids. Sports jocks and cheerleaders and country club brats. The kind of kids the adults just LOVED were the crulest and most hurtful to outcasts and those who did not fit in.
- Suzi
I agree. The bullies at my school were the rich popular in crowd kids. The teachers all loved them and would never believe they were bullies. In fact, there were students in the middle school who were outcasts and themselves bullied then in high school they became jocks and became bullies.
- Mimi
And guess what? They never grow out of their delusion of superiority. They are the ones who, typically, end up as part of the 1% or at the least running some major corporation.
- Boppity
I've always said it takes a real jerk to want to be a "leader".
hmmmmmmm •In HS i remember a boy being picked on and physicaly abused by others every day. He was a quiet, shy yet smart kid. I once stood up for him in gym. By graduation, I decided got to know him better. The last week of HS we actualy walked home together, his mom had asked me to stop in for a while, so I did. When I walked into his room, he had trophies and photos of himself in fighting national martial arts competitions. I may amazement, he was a championship 2nd degree black belt like his dad. Till today, I just cant understand why he held back on those cowards. I hear he now owns a few dozen martial arts franchizes and is a stunt guy for big time celebrities. Just something for all those bullies to eat.
- WP •
Glad to see one class grow up and own up. I was bullied from 7th to 12th grades at a christian school no less. Bullies don't realize the hurt can last a life time. Forgiven? Yes. Forgotten is another story.
Mish • Charlotte, North Carolina •I was bullied. I use to wear the same blue jumpsuit to school everyday and my sneakers were worn thru... It's the price you pay when you end up on welfare because your mother decides she doesn't want someone to beat and cheat on her day in and day out. And then you think that maybe brighter days are ahead when your mom picks up double shifts so she can etch out a better way for you and your siblings... but all that comes of that is her continued absence and the opportunity for you to be molested because there's no one around to see. Yeah... I feel for this woman. I feel for anyone who has ever been bullied in any way, shape or form.
TimBrock • Denver, Colorado •Anmyone remember being mistreated by others in school. And then the teachers would just say "Ignore them!"
- BRYANN • Guatemala City, Guatemala •
Unfortunately the mental scars never go away. You carry it forever.
- Whitney •
You shouldn't make fun of someone's clothes or social awkwardness. I knew a boy from my High School who was made fun of by his peers. He was a poor boy from the projects who couldn't afford new clothes. He didn't get a car for his sixteenth birthday. All of his school supplies were second hand. And people teased him for not being able to afford the things they could. And I thought those people must have been the lowest creatures to ever walk the face of the Earth.
Kathy •I was bullied. Fat, red hair, turquoise glasses (my mother picked them, and she was one of my bullies through my life). I got over it. I'm 61 now.....still fat.....red hair has turned to gray, glasses are modest. If you bully me now, I'll laugh at you because you're the one that's pathetic, not me. Bullies are just insecure, unimportant people that need attention. Besides, we're all beautiful in God's eyes! (I can see the thumbs down now.....)
- m •
i was bullied by my teachers and other students. i'm half black/half white and was one of the only "minorities" in my school. my teachers told me i was a poor student and would never graduate. other students said i slept around and was pregnant and had std's. everyone (including peers) always chimmed in my race, calling me names and saying "you won't understand." all because i was "different." i never talked to anyone. the rumors wern't true but they still hurt. i dropped out after my sophomore year to become homeschooled. i just turned 17 and now i have a high school diploma and i'm going to college in august. i'm going back to my old school and showing it off to the teacher who said i have no hope in life and am nothing but a screw up ;]
- yahoo user •
I had a crap childhood, i was bullied, BUT I also bullied someone. I feel so bad about it now decades later. I wish i could apologize to the kid that I bullied but could never find him. So John Mons from Michigan, I'm truly sorry. :(
Carole Jones •Shame on anyone who bullies another....you don't know what they are going through, you don't know what goes on in their homes....try being a friend to someone who is being picked on...so sick and tired of hearing about kids bullying others...parents need to be on top of their kids about this kind of behavior...it is not acceptable!
Melanie •I think we the adults need to be the example. I see more bullying in these Comment Sections than I ever saw in all my years in school. The internet breeds ambiguity, and that gives normally nice people free license to be hateful and mean.
- Kris • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania •
I bullied a mentally challenged boy in grade school. Kept pushing him down a small hill as he tried to climb up. It continued until he began to cry. All of a sudden it hit me how much of a terrible thing I was doing. It made me sick to my stomach. I helped him home and couldn't even sleep that night. I still think of that incident and it sickens me still today. I am 65. I have tried to teach my kids and now my grandkids to treat those less fortunate with respect. That one event changed my life, I believe for the better. I don't see how anyone who bullies someone weaker can find gratification in these acts.
- backinfulldistrust •
For the victims of bullying, there is always hope.
And life after graduation does get better.
For the predators, the only hope is repentance
and atonement. And life after graduation for them
is a downhill spiral.
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