To Be Bullied
Updated: Nov 14, 2022
When I was 12, I was in a car accident. After surgeries to fix what was broken, I was left with scars on my face that would change the course of my school years.
“Scar Face” was a favorite for the boys who called me names. Yes, they were mostly boys, and if I could remember their names today I would reach out to them. The girls didn’t call me names to my face, rather I would get dirty looks and the feeling that I was being talked about behind my back – girls can be catty like that. I was miserable, but lucky to have found a good friend in a girl who had recently moved into my neighborhood and was new to the school.
When I was in 6th grade and the accident had just happened, I was treated differently from the moment I came back to school. It seemed my old friends were afraid to talk to me, and when they would, they would be awkward and try not to stare. I hated being treated differently. It was the bane of my existence. I had anxiety, I was depressed, I didn’t talk in class anymore… I was afraid of the continuous stares and name calling – therefore I tried to be invisible.
I know and understand that my experience with bullying in school was not and is not as bad as most students who are the victims of bullying experience. But it happened, and I do not need to try and downplay the situation. I was not harmed physically, there was no cyber bullying at this time, I was not bullied to the point to contemplating hurting myself. However, the kids who called me names truly changed the course of my education and my future.
In the next few posts, I will talk about the effects of kid-on-kid bullying, kid-on-adult/adult-on-kid bullying, spousal bullying, and workplace bullying. I want to dedicate a section to each topic, as there are elements in each category that need to be explored in detail.
I’ll leave this post with a few quick facts about bullying, from StopBullying.gov
Please also visit myvision.org/guides/bullying-from-glasses/, an organization dedicated to combat childhood bullying for wearing glasses.
Be kind to each other, today and always.