My name is Claire.  I’m sixteen years old and I was first bullied around the age of three.  I have been bullied both physically and mentally.  When I was bullied, I felt like there was no escape and that it would never end.  I kind of felt like it was my fault and that I was the one doing something wrong.  I now know that is not true.  I fortunately don’t get bullied anymore.  I overcame bullies by joining a club!  When I was younger, I was unbelievably shy and timid and I would cry at everything, literally.  So, my mum got me into scouts, which has become one of my favorite things in the world.  It helped my confidence and my self-esteem loads, which in turn helped me learn to stand up for myself.  I also spoke to teachers and such, which helped. 

I think both online bullying and in real life bullying are equally as bad.  Any type of bullying is serious and no one should be put through it.  I think that people bully because they are jealous, unhappy with themselves, or they have emotional pain.  I believe there are many reasons why people bully -- but those reasons don’t make it acceptable.  I prefer not to interact with bullies.  I’m not nasty to them though.  I’ll be civil.  I won’t just stand by and let someone be bullied if I see it happening. 

If you’re being bullied, keep strong.  It’s them that have the problem, not you.  It really does get better.  It may take time, but there are people out there for you.  Just never give up.  It hurts the bullies more to see you happy, so show them you are the bigger person by rising above it.  People are here to talk to you if you need it, including me.  I’ve received death threats, become anorexic, and even thought about suicide because of bullying.  But I got through, with the help from loved ones and friends.  Find something that you enjoy and get stuck into that, it can be your escape in a way, like scouts for me.  You ARE better than them.

_{Unicornnn, a new member, shares how she was bullied:}

My name is Daria.  I’m 14 and in a few days I’ll be fifteen.  I can’t remember the first time that I got bullied very well, because it was a long time ago.  But I can remember the first time someone said something to me that I felt like offended me was probably in third grade, so I was 8 or 9.  I didn’t know what bullying was then.  I didn’t think it was wrong or anything like that, I thought it was normal to get teased.  Mostly people called me different names.  Also i remember when I was younger in 3rd grade this guy started to kick me and punch me but I just tried to ignore him.  I remember one time when the same guy talked something bad about my mom, not only he bullied me, but he bullied my mom too. 

I felt really stupid...I couldn’t even defend myself.  I feel like I wanted to defend myself, but I couldn’t.  I always wanted to talk back and answer smartly but i just couldn’t find my words.  I still get bullied from time to time, but not much.  They look at me like I’m a piece of trash and sometimes talk bad about me when they’re all together.  When I was younger, I used to care a lot and really got mad about it and confused and always thought to myself, “What’s wrong with me?”  I realized it only later.  Right now I don’t really care, I ignore them because they want attention.  To stop the bullying, I ignored them and tried to understand that they might have some issues or family problems, or they were too immature to understand what they were doing.  I think any sort of bullying is bad.  It affects you, it really does. 

Online bullying can affect you just as much as real life bullying.  I think people also bully because they’re trying to look tough or cool.  Sometimes bullies have no education from their own parents on how to act.  I absolutely dislike bullies.  I won’t even waste my time talking to them, just simply ignore them.  Not hurting them or verbally abusing them, just ignoring them.  Many people think that only girls are getting bullied, but this isn’t true: both girls and boys are getting bullied. 

I know this sounds cheesy, but just say strong, hold on to your friends and to your family.  Ignore the bullies as much as you can and never waste your time talking to them because they’re not worth it.  It could get worse.  I hope one day bullying will stop.  Nobody deserves to be treated that way.  It can affect you.  Seriously affect you.  Even if you mean it as a joke, it can still hurt.  Just don’t do it because you can.  Don’t do it at all because you don’t know people’s past and what they’ve been through.


_{Yes, because a hot pink stop sign and some cool fonts is gonna help!}

You may not believe it, but even Mother Hen has been bullied.  And it hurts.  Here I am to answer the same questions I asked those girls.


_{Yes, this is me when I was younger!}

I was in the seventh grade when I first got bullied.  I was never bullied physically like some of the other girls interviewed, only mentally.  Seventh grade was the hardest year for me because I had a family tragedy.  Boys in the grade above me were incredibly nasty and not only bullied me but slandered my parents.  I was completely incapable of standing up for myself when I was vulnerable.  I told my parents about it and they helped me handle it.  To this day, I still think about the embarrassment I felt when I was bullied and how low I thought of myself.  To this day, I still think I may not be good enough for boys and I may never be found attractive.

I don't still get bullied.  Bullies are hurting on the inside and it's important to know that bullies are hurting so much that they have to take it out on someone.  Usually, they are not able to vocalize to their parents or friends about how much they are hurting, so they have to take it out on you.  

I think that online bullying can be worse than real life bullying.  When I was fourteen, I was hit with another family tragedy and I again, for some reason, got bullied.  This time, however, it was online. I got lots of death threats, even from my friends.  I was unable to stand up for myself and relied on others to help me through the hard times.  It's sometimes harder to deal with online bullies as you're not able to physically confront them about their actions.  But just remember -- people who say things anonymously don't deserve to say things at all.

The most important thing to do, when you're getting bullied, is tell someone.  Wether it be a friend, parent, or teacher, they're there to help you.  And when you're being bullied, you need to stand up to the bullies.  And sometimes you need all of the help you can get.



Thanks for sticking in with this long Wednesday special!  Make sure to leave a comment letting me know about your experiences with bullies and how you've overcome them.  

Thanks for reading, as always!  See you on Sunday.  I promise, my kitchen will be cleaner...
（人´∀`*）