Nobody wins (Bullying in Schools)

Member Name: forrest

Product:	Bullying in Schools
Date:	06/03/01 (14 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None

Disadvantages: Unnecessary pain and suffering

I guess that people are probably right when they say that children can be the cruellest. When I was at school I was on the receiving end of the stick. The reason, why there were many:

Slightly over weight and no good at sport.
Tried hard in the lessons.
Didn't have a girlfriend.
Joined the Cub Scouts.
Wore shoes and not the latest trainers.

All of these added up to the torment of being a boffin, poof, useless, teachers pet and so on.

In later years my interest in the work deteriorated and this I believe looking back was in trying to be accepted. About the same time, many of the kids that had ignored me or been against me in the past suddenly became friendly expecting the help I could offer. As most kids do I ignored the past and got on with the present, which was to help them.

The bullying made it very difficult to go to school and make friends. Apart from the physical bullying, which I was fortunate not to suffer (I was one of the biggest in the class) the mental torment of not being able to talk to people about last night, the weekend or even making plans for the week makes it a very lonely existence. I know as many others do that I dealt with it on my own. It was no one else?s problem and only I could deal with it.

This has probably made me a tougher person than I would have grown up to be, but I do think that I could have achieved more had I enjoyed school and not wanted to try and fit in. I have done a review on "Never Been Kissed" with Drew Barrymore. It is a funny film with moments that anyone who has tried to be accepted can understand.

I still see some of the bullies about now and they speak to me as an equal. But I will still never know why I was chosen as the target perhaps it was because I never showed them that it hurt and dealt with things silently and personally.

It is something that should never happen as nobody deserves to suffer at the hands of others an
d you hear the stories of children taking their own lives which is shows that people act differently.

I do know that other children are not the only recipients of this torture as there was a group of kids at my school that took pleasure in harassing a slightly wacky teacher of mine. He eventually left and was on the verge of cracking up.

I have no solution and do not see that punishment can be the only option as this will just make them resentful and they will want to get back at someone else weaker than them, but it must stop or be viewed more seriously by those that can act.

For all those out there that have or are suffering the best advice I can give is not to deal with it alone, but not to involve people that can only kick up a fuss and make things worse for you.

Summary: