The Conclusion

 

I hope you took something away from the experiences in my life. This section was an attempt for me to find a way to stop this childhood bullying from happening in the first place, as I don't want to see another person become infested with it as I have. The bottom line is, whenever someone puts someone else down, it hurts like Hell. Standing by and doing nothing, and laughing at the put downs, also hurts like Hell. Try to imagine yourself in that person's shoes. How would you like it if someone called you ugly? Or stupid? Or a dork? Or whatever insult is hurled around these days?

 

I would have loved it if someone would have stood up for me, or befriended me anyways, not caring what anyone else thought. If you feel like there's nothing you can do to help someone you know who is being bullied, start by being their friend. Insult the person who is bullying that person back, so perhaps they learn a lesson or two about what it feels like. Just don't sit by and do nothing. That person who is being bullied is most likely hurting a lot deep down, even if they don't seem like it. I know because I was.

 

For the teachers who decided to use me as a form of punishment, I want to tell them to stop doing that. I sincerely hope it has stopped by now, but if it hasn't then definitely they have to stop doing that. You are only making the matter worse for the kid who is being bullied. I have realized over the years that the teachers must have known what was going on, but they, like the silent observer, did nothing about it, and the decision to move the bad kids around me made me feel like even the teachers didn't like me. If I had even one teacher come to me during those years and tell me that those idiots were wrong, that I was beautiful, it would have made all the difference in the world. We must work together to make school an enjoyable environment for every student there. There's no way you can enjoy it if you dread going to school, as you don't want to hear once again that you are ugly (or whatever insult they are hurling around to students).

 

I also want to mention to the teachers that I feel a little angry that nothing was done to stop this behaviour. Back in my day, it wasn't called "bullying" at all, it was called "teasing" and it wasn't taken very seriously. The old saying, "Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me" is actually not true at all. I am still feeling the sting of those words 20+ years later. Please don't sit by and let it happen. Do whatever it takes to stop it.

 

Honestly, I still don't think calling it "bullying" is going to stop it entirely. In fact, the only thing I think will work is if you call it what it is: Verbal Abuse. It should be just as punishable as physical abuse. If a kid gets into a fist-fight at school, he or she is usually given at least a detention if not a suspension. The same should apply to verbal abuse. A bruise on your cheek will heal within a few days. A bruise to someone's self-esteem takes a lifetime to heal. Believe me, I'm still trying to heal from these old wounds, and the memories continue to plague me to this day.

 

For the person who is bullied or feels as though they are being treated as an outcast, as I did, I want you to know that you are not alone in this battle. I went through it myself as a kid. It hurt a lot. I know how you feel. I know there are days you wish you could just punch someone who is particularly rough on you. I know that you feel very alone. But, you are not alone. I realized over the years that I could not have been the only person in the world that that happened to. If you feel like no one understands your struggle, I want you to understand one thing: I do. I want to hear from you. I want to help you through it, and help you come to some realizations that it took me years to figure out. I don't want you to feel that there's no way out. All those idiots who made fun of me in school haven't amounted to anything in their lives at all. In fact, most of the really bad ones who were insulting me horribly are either dead now or in jail, or working menial jobs, or just huge losers. Karma will get them all back in the end. Trust me.

 

I also want to tell the bullied kid that you shouldn't just take it in as I did. As I previously mentioned throughout my story, the biggest regret I have in my life is that I didn't fight back. I didn't defend myself. I just sat there, absorbing every information in my head like a sponge, and recording it for future use. Don't ever try to ignore it, because that won't make it go away. The jerks really don't care if you are reacting to it or not. They just want the laugh. So make the laughers laugh at them so the jerks know what it feels like. You don't need to use violence to solve this problem. As I figured out with the man in Burger King, they really don't like it when you challenge them verbally, and I'm sure they wouldn't like a taste of their own medicine back at them either. The best way to fight back is insult them to a large group of people and get them to laugh. It's just what the doctor ordered!

 

Now I've completed telling you all my story, and I did so because bullying is still very much in the news today. I want to hear from you as well. Tell me your story by sending me an email. I want to stop this behaviour once and for all, and want to encourage people to get out of that horrible situation. What do you think will solve this problem? Let me know... I'd love to hear from you. 

 

Blogging, creating this website, and writing is inspiring me to write this story into a book. I will keep you posted on that.