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"One time I
saw someone being a bully to another person. He was punching
and calling him names. I felt bad for the person being bullied
and wanted to help, but I was afraid that he would then pick
on me. I didn't do anything and that made me feel bad for
not telling."
12-year-old male student, New York
"In sixth grade, the guys used to bully
certain people around all the time. "The guys" as
in almost every guy who wasn't one of those certain people.
It was a power struggle. They were trying to fit in or make
themselves feel powerful or seem accepted or well liked. They
would call them names and start verbal arguments - fortunately,
physical violence rarely occurred at our particular middle
school. But they would make it clear that the people they
bullied were socially unacceptable, and they would never be.
The bullies would call their victims on each quirk, on each
sad attempt to be cool, on each oddity. Today, one of these
victims is the editor of his high school newspaper. The other
is me."
16-year-old male student, Texas
"When I was in grade school, almost
every kid in my grade bullied me because of my size. My real
friends helped me get through the situation and so did my
teachers."
15-year-old male student, New York
"I felt bad because they were bullying
my friend. I told the teacher and the teacher made the bully
stop."
12-year-old male student, Wisconsin
"As a seventh grader in a new school,
I was a bit scared. I did not know if I would be able to find
any friends. I was afraid that I would not fit in. Suddenly,
my worst fear became a reality. On the first day of school,
I was accompanied by my mom and my aunt to the bus stop. They
also took the school bus with me. When I stepped onto the
bus, I was met with a burst of laughter. I was confused. Suddenly,
I heard the words, "Look at that Chinese kid. She can't
even take the bus by herself." My face turned florid
and hot. I was deeply embarrassed. I sat down on the front
seats of the bus with my mom and my aunt and ignored the kids
on the bus. But they continued to taunt me and bully me, all
throughout the bus ride. Every kid on the bus were teaming
up against me, vituperatively harassing me. I felt mad, but
at the same time powerless. I knew I could not evade the situation
I was in. As I got out of the bus, I walked gloomily to school.
This was the first day of school and I was already feeling
sad and unwelcome. At school, however, I did find friends,
plenty of them. I became happier. I did belong in my own group
of friends, just not in the group of kids on the bus. My resolution-
I decided never to ride that bus again. I took the T instead.
It was just as fast. Besides, who would want to stay with
a bunch of bullies?"
16-year-old female student, Massachusetts
"I used to be bullied by people who
thought I was weird because my mom was gay. I felt really
bad and wanted to attack that person back until my friends
stood up for me. Then I thought that maybe the bully had never
been in this situation before so I felt sorry for him."
12-year-old female student, Georgia
"One time a friend began to bully me
because I didn't share the same taste in music. They tried
to make me feel inferior and insecure. However, I did not
make a change in my music selection and told them to leave
me alone. I felt empowered for standing up for myself, and
they no longer bothered me for my difference of opinion."
17-year-old female student, Maryland
"One time I have witnessed bullying
was in 9th grade (last year). A girl who wasn't as pretty
or up to a lot of people's standards was being bullied by
"the popular" kids. They were making fun of her
because she didn't look a certain way and because of her home
life. When I saw them attacking her like that I quickly stood
up for her. I did this because no one should go through that,
and that they are the ones hurting themselves because she
could of ended up being one of their good friends, but because
they teased and bullied her they will never know what a great
person she really was."
15-year-old female student, Maryland
"I remember an experience back in fifth
grade when this girl I knew use to take advantage of me because
I was nice to everyone. For some reason she saw my friendliness
as a weakness and she tortured me because of it. I would put
up with constant teasing and then one day she went too far.....
She beat me up. I couldn't figure out why she was putting
me through this. Turns out she was jealous of me because everyone
liked me more than her. She felt better about herself by making
me feel bad about myself. After she beat me up people didn't
want to be around her, so In the end she ended up hurting
herself more than she hurt me."
17-year-old female student, New York
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