In school there are two types of kids: the one who thinks he or she is better than everyone and bullies them and the victim who gets bullied for being who they are. I was the shy girl back in middle school and I hated it.
Besides being shy, I used to wear skirts due to my religion. I didn’t mind the skirt back then, but it didn’t exactly look like it was part of fashion week. Kids would call me names and look at me as if I were a freak. It wasn’t until I grew up and graduated with the same kids in high school that I knew to stand up to them and ignore whatever comes out their mouths.
5th grade
Lunch was the one thing I didn’t like attending. Our class would have lunch at the same time as the class that had the “troubled kids.” They would take my lunch, touch it, and put it back. They would call me names and shove me around in the hallway. The worst part was that when I graduated, the girls decided to put gum in my hair. The last day of elementary school was always a memory that was brought up..
Middle School
Within the first few weeks of middle school, I started noticing that the kids from 5th grade were in the same school as me. I wanted to die. I wanted to move to another state. Another country. Anywhere besides that middle school.
A few weeks after school started, there was gum in my assigned seat. It happened again and again, and I had to clean it if I wanted to sit down. The bullies thought it was funny to bring back the old memories. I wasn’t going to let them push me around anymore.
As the girls continued bullying me, I stood up for myself in the way I shouldn’t have. I ended up being suspended for three days. After that, I ended up fighting and getting in trouble a lot because I stood up for myself.
High School
Once we reached high school — and yes, I mean we, the same troubled kids and me — I didn’t want to graduate with such a record. I didn’t want to fight anymore, I didn’t want to have to keep watching my back every second.
During my junior year, I decided to use my words instead of my fists. I got respect after that because violence isn’t really the answer. It might seem cool and seem like you are a bigger person. But in reality that isn’t true.
Now, I stand up for myself. I’m not scared to dress the way I do because I’m Christian. So to the girls and guys that made my life a living hell a few years back, thank you.
Photo by Roman Grachev on Unsplash
Me too, But I was never strong enough to get over it. And of course, I’m still the same, still being bullied.