shit, I got pushed around a few times... and I pushed some around as well, but I never beat them up because I didnt make all that many enemies, I just gave people a hard time...

and yes, the girls at my high school were crazy as well... some keyed cars, cut tires, all crazy shit

7/31/2006 9:20:23 AM

7/31/2006 9:26:49 AM

I was always the kid who got picked on when I was younger. I've always been short, and all through school I was way shorter than the other kids, that made me an easy target of bullying. I had to drop out of Boy Scouts because the older scouts picked on me. I wished I had learned at a young age to beat the living fuck out of whoever was picking on me.

One afternoon at the playground there was another kid who was throwing sand at me, I threw him into the jungle gym bars and broke 3 of his teeth. That was awesome, and he never fucked with me again.

In high school I was on the wrestling team, so I made good friends with all the wrestlers and most of the football team that way. They all had respect for me since I could throw people around < 103lbs

7/31/2006 9:51:04 AM

I got picked on cause I was a fat kid, it stopped when I threw some kid into a locker and he broke his wrist.

7/31/2006 9:59:10 AM

Quote :

"I had to drop out of Boy Scouts because the older scouts picked on me."

I am an Eagle Scout and an assitant scoutmaster now and I know that there is a certain amount of hazing that goes on with the younger scouts... I was subject to it but made it through and tortured my fair share of tenderfoots... The truth is normally, the scouts that wont make it anyway drop out because they get picked on (im not saying this is you) but most of them dont listen and dont do things to help out so people pick on them and give them shit all the time...

In high school when I was a freshman about 7 seniors (and we went to a small high school about 100 per grade) were in the scout troop with me and they took me to parties and brought me to school so I didnt really get picked on because I was in with the seniors

I did the same for the kids in the troop when I was a senior and they were freshman

7/31/2006 10:17:11 AM

How did I know TWW would be a jackpot of bully stories?

That advice on Yahoo! just exemplifies the gap between theory and practice of raising children. Sure, it sounds good on paper to have your child be a pacifist and "walk away, tell an adult, don't fight back" but you assume the kid has those options available to him.

When I was growing up, I tried the non-confrontational stuff and it never worked. The bullies don't understand that shit, and often telling an adult would only make it worse next time they caught you.

If I have a kid who gets bullied, we're promptly enrolling in martial arts classes. I'll make sure he/she learns proper self-defense and when it's ok to use those skills. That's what I did for a couple years (though I should have stayed with it). One time when I was about 8, I made a point of breaking boards in the front yard so the neighborhood bullies could see me. They stopped messing with me after that and I never had to fight them!

7/31/2006 10:22:58 AM

There was this prick named John-John McBride who was terrible little bully. He was short and mean and would throw things and had set my hair on fireonce at the bus stop. I told my older brother about it and he asked me if there were any black kids at my school. At the time there was one black kid and he just moved into the area (I grew up in the very white suburbs of north philly) and my brother told me to hurry up and make friends with him. And I did, he was a nice kid.

Well one day at the bus stop, John-John decided instead of picking on me, he would pick on my little sister. All of a sudden I went into protective mode, I thought to myself "I'm the only one who is allowed to mess with Emily, anyone else would have to answer to me" -- so I started to stand in between them and the punk wouldnt leave us alone. I ended up pushing him and he fell on the ground and everyone laughed. He then got up and found a huge concrete/cedar block and threw it as hard as he could at my sister. I stepped in to block the hit (she was just a small kid- something like that hitting her could have really damaged her, he was aiming for her head) and pushed her away and the block went right into the back of my leg and torn out a chunk of muscle and years later I still have a huge patch of ugly scar tissue right at my calf down to my left ankle. I am standing there staring at this flap of muscle/skin like it doesn't hurt and realize holy shit! Meanwhile my new black friend just got to the bus stop and immediately starts chasing John-John's ass and catches him and starts beating him, I run over and with my good leg I kicked him in the stomach a few times, and then ran home. That John-John kid's parents immediately took him out of that school, and I never heard of him again. I think my parents went apeshit on them.


I have a whole shit load of Girl Bully problems from after I moved down south. And that's another thing, the girls I grew up with, up north- would never treat anyone like the girls I met down in New Bern did. Sure, there was some teasing but nothing you could point at- but my school was like more than half jewish and the other half was christian/jehovah witness/asian-- I think we all kinda decided what would be the point-our parents were all friends and we were all so close. But I couldnt for the life of me think of a time that we had treated a new girl with the same disgust as the girls down here did to me, and for many years after I moved also I had to put up with it. It wasn't until after I went to college that it got better.

[Edited on July 31, 2006 at 10:39 AM. Reason : ]

7/31/2006 10:26:23 AM

wow thats pretty fucked up

7/31/2006 10:35:35 AM

Pretty much all of the confrontations with bullies I got was between 7 and 14, once I got in high school I learned to carry myself better and was more athletic.

Speaking, though, of getting actually hurt by a bully: When I was 8 I was riding my bike around the neighborhood minding my own business and the 12 year old bully down the street was practice casting his fishing rod with a bolt tied to the end of the line. He was casting it into the cul-de-sac and reeling it back in. Well the fishing line is clear and it's dusk, so I didn't see it and evidently I kept getting in his way and riding over his line. Instead of telling me to stop he just bum rushes me as I ride past his driveway, pushes me off my bike and I ended up sliding across the pavement on my chin. I'm pretty sure my parents went apeshit on his parents and he never messed with me again. That's partially because he got sent to military school after that

7/31/2006 10:48:37 AM

Quote :

"I am an Eagle Scout and an assitant scoutmaster now and I know that there is a certain amount of hazing that goes on with the younger scouts... I was subject to it but made it through and tortured my fair share of tenderfoots... The truth is normally, the scouts that wont make it anyway drop out because they get picked on (im not saying this is you) but most of them dont listen and dont do things to help out so people pick on them and give them shit all the time..."

I got picked on because I was a small kid for my age. Super small, my nicknames in the past have included Shrimp and Mini Me. The older scouts picked on me because I was the runt, not because I was a bad scout. I was a fucking MacGyver of a boy scout, I just didnt know how to kick ass and stand up for myself at the time.

The real problem was the scoutmasters didnt care, it was a bad troop. Hope you're a better scout leader than the ones I had.

7/31/2006 10:50:12 AM

yeah sorry, I mean i was short and pudgy so it not like I didnt and dont still hear that shit all the time and it bothers me... its a shame a good scout quit but it happens all the time... very rarely does one make it to Eagle that does not deserve it... I turn my head to some of the things that happen because you have to let the boys work it out themselves... I cant come running in to save them like I did my younger cousins who are about to become Eagles now...

7/31/2006 11:02:39 AM

i found it very effective to just ignore them, then beat the shit out of them when they threw the first punch. after a while, they tell the other bullies to leave you alone because you're fucking insane.

7/31/2006 12:02:16 PM

these stories make me wonder why so many people think that being a kid was the best time of their life...

7/31/2006 12:04:21 PM

Quote :

"BULLSHIT. That was more puberty than race. Anyway, what middle school did you go to?"

More puberty than race? I suppose that's why they laughed and called me a white boy instead of laughing and calling me a squeaky dork with glasses?

And it was east cary middle. They just started bussing kids into the local schools when I was in the 5th grade, and those were the kids that started most of the shit in the first place. I'm talking one kid throwing another kid through a plate glass window in the cafeteria, then that kid getting up, walking out, and beating the shit out of the other kid (that being the worst incident the whole time I was at that middle school I think).

Those kids all came from rougher backgrounds than anyone from Cary did (durr), and most of the physical shit started with them.

7/31/2006 12:22:21 PM

being a kid was a great time

i miss it

7/31/2006 12:24:50 PM

^^^ oh there is no way I would trade being a teenager for being older like I am now or even later in my life. When I turned 20 I swear I spent the entire day thinking to myself how glad I am that I survived being a teenager- I swear some girls bullied me so much in highschool that I'm still rehashing it out at therapy.

[Edited on July 31, 2006 at 12:28 PM. Reason : ]

7/31/2006 12:27:35 PM

one time in elementary school i hit a kid in the head with a brick

but usually i'd just try to solve the shit with words

7/31/2006 12:28:58 PM

Quote :

"More puberty than race? I suppose that's why they laughed and called me a white boy instead of laughing and calling me a squeaky dork with glasses?"

Were you a squeaky dork with glasses?

I guess my point is that you should keep in mind that you were bullied because you were a nerd, not because you were white. Calling you "white boy" was just a plus.

7/31/2006 3:24:27 PM

Haha, you're just making it worse bridget.

[Edited on July 31, 2006 at 4:28 PM. Reason : Racism. Wonderful.]

7/31/2006 3:59:39 PM

This thread was an excellent read!

7/31/2006 4:12:58 PM

I got picked on for a while in middle school, until I beat the shit out of some kid and got suspended. then everybody pretty much just left me alone.

7/31/2006 4:47:00 PM

Most of the bullying at my elementary school was isolated to kids picking on other kids about who had the better deli meat combination on their sandwiches...


it was usually settled in a dance-off.

7/31/2006 4:51:33 PM

i wonder when parents of bullies will start suing the kids who fight back for assult or some shit

i had a bully in middle school on the bus-- she was older (failed a few grades). one day she got off at my stop and was trying to start shit with me and all the kids were rallying around to see the show

i bascially talked my way out of it and told her to stop fucking with me, that she had no reason to fuck with me and by doing so it would just cause her more trouble

i dont remember all the details but we didn't get into a fight and we were actually kind of friendly after that because i stood my ground and earned her 'respect' i guess

7/31/2006 7:57:39 PM

Quote :

"I am an Eagle Scout and an assitant scoutmaster now and I know that there is a certain amount of hazing that goes on with the younger scouts"

We had some bad hazing in my scout troop in charlotte against the new scouts.

- New Scouts were always in charge of cleaning, fetching water when its 10 degrees, fueling the fire.

-Pile On's where a bunch of older scouts would tackle and all pile on a new scout that was at the bottom.

- I remember kids getting hung in trees by their belt buckles.

- If their was a lake near the camp site, kids would be dragged out of their tent and throw in the lake; it was even funnier when it was winter.

- If we were playing something like dodgeball; older guys who were often 16-17 would go all out and peg the little 11 year old tenderfoots in the face w/ a ball.

and a bunch of other shit..

i switched troops my junior year and it was amazing that a lot of the stuff didn't happen and how much troops were different. granted i like the guys better in my old troop and i had more friends there; i did enjoy the trips better and it their was a more positive atmosphere.

[Edited on July 31, 2006 at 9:36 PM. Reason : l]

7/31/2006 9:34:49 PM

Frats are full of bullies

7/31/2006 9:49:41 PM

There were a few that liked to give me shit in middle school, but they stopped real quick after Columbine.

7/31/2006 10:09:55 PM

ummm... i prolly wouldn't be proud of that

7/31/2006 10:14:30 PM

Quote :

"There were a few that liked to give me shit in middle school, but they stopped real quick after Columbine."

Trenchcoat mafia?

I noticed a lot more trenchcoats after Columbine. Those kids were always suspected as being the most likely to start an incident like that.

7/31/2006 10:38:35 PM

back in 5th or 6th grade i was walking home from school with a friend and some older kids were throwing rocks at us. i just kept walking away until one of them hit me in the head and i bleeding. i think i was more pissed/scared than hurt, but i turned around sprinting at this kid, tackled him and punched the hell out of him.

then after about 30-40 seconds my friends ran up and informed me, in fact, the other kid had actually thrown the rock, and i had just beat up his friend. so i guess i learned a lesson, but either way i never got anymore rocks thrown at me.

7/31/2006 10:56:26 PM

you guys getting picked on in class should have taken honors classes

and it's just silly to think that bullying incidents aren't racially motivated. I'd say most of them are

8/1/2006 12:06:17 AM

Maybe racial is an excuse to the greater reason - someone is acting or looks different.

[Edited on August 1, 2006 at 2:15 AM. Reason : sound the gong oooh very wise]

8/1/2006 2:14:47 AM

I've somewhat been on both sides. When I was in elementary school in Connetticut (K through 3rd grade) I was considered a bully and a bad kid. It was mainly due to the fact that I had a severe case of ADHD and way too much energy. I got in trouble all the time at school and even got expelled for a week. This one kid got me out in dodgeball so I punched him in the mouth and his teeth got all black. The principle was an authoratarian and I got in trouble for making a snowball. I could reason with him too and he commented to my parents that it was like talking to a 30 year old.

The worst thing I ever did, by far, was kick a mentally handicapped kid in the nuts. I don't remember his name and I never really did anything bad to him before. I don't really remember how it happened other than I just kicked and I don't remember if I was being serious. I do remember that he said "Oww" and walked away. Next thing I know I'm in the principles office and the nurse has on rubber gloves and is going in this kids pants with vasoline or something.

After third grade I moved down here and got on ritalin and started wearing glasses. The tables were completly turned. As a result of my past I got stuck in a 4th/5th grade combination class for bad kids or whatever. Needless to say it really wasn't an exact fit. I mostly dealt with the occasional bullying by outsmarting people and making them look stupid. I fought with words. The worst was 6th grade. The onset of puberty fucking sucked and made people go crazy. I got into a fist fight with some kid because he thought I was annoying and all I did was laugh the entire time. I thought it was hysterical. After that people left me alone and I went to a year round middle school and everything was cool.

Karma is a bitch.

8/1/2006 3:51:06 AM

Quote :

"The worst thing I ever did, by far, was kick a mentally handicapped kid in the nuts. "

Quote :

" I got stuck in a 4th/5th grade combination class for bad kids or whatever"

But I have to admit what you posted regarding the instance with the kid and nurse and the rubber gloves...karma is going to punish me just for trying so hard not to laugh.

8/1/2006 3:59:40 AM

Quote :

"I got in trouble all the time at school and even got expelled for a week"

You got suspended for a week.

I was suspended for a couple weeks a few times and then asked not to return. Then I went to public school.

8/1/2006 4:01:05 AM

^^ and who knows, maybe that could have been the thrill of his life with the groping, you could have made his day, with the nurse and the vaseline. What kind of school nurse was this?

[Edited on August 1, 2006 at 4:07 AM. Reason : ]

8/1/2006 4:05:28 AM

Quote :

"Were you a squeaky dork with glasses? I guess my point is that you should keep in mind that you were bullied because you were a nerd, not because you were white. Calling you "white boy" was just a plus."

It's impossible for those black kids to be racist, completely impossible. Oh, but harrassing this kid because he was a nerd is okay.

Way to go you stupid skank.




[Edited on August 1, 2006 at 8:48 AM. Reason : kids, great movie]

8/1/2006 8:48:05 AM

i was sat down by my uncle one day and told that if a bully ever wants to fight or tries to hurt me to really hurt him, bite his ear off, rip one of his nuts off, break his arm. make him know not to fuck with me again

my father reinforced this but not to the extent of irreparable damage

8/9/2006 8:02:10 AM

here's a good article that I think kinda relates
http://www.cnn.com/2006/HEALTH/08/08/parenting.protecting.ap/index.html

Quote :

"P) -- Penny Grossman cringes each time a student mentions a birthday party during class at her Boston, Massachusetts-area preschool. The rule there, and at a growing number of America's schools, is that parties and play-dates shouldn't be discussed unless every child in the room is invited. Gone are the days when a kindergartner dropped a handful of party invites in the classroom cubbyholes of their closest buddies. Today, if anyone is excluded the invitations can't be handed out at school. The idea that protecting kids from rejection is crucial to safeguarding their self-esteem has gained momentum in recent years. Take Valentine's Day: At some schools, a second-grader can't offer paper valentines or heart-shaped candies to a short list of pals and secret crushes anymore. They give cards to everyone or no one at all. Or sports: In many towns, scorekeeping no longer happens at soccer or softball games played by kids under 8 or 9. Win or lose, every player in the league gets a trophy at the season's end. As with many child-rearing trends, some parents and educators see wisdom where others spot foolishness. Many see a mixture of both. "You try and do things gently when they're little because it is still hard," says Grossman, who is raising two teenagers while teaching preschool. "But I think this is a problem, and it's a growing one, because kids grow up and have this inflated sense of self-worth. Whether they earn anything, it's always a trophy. They have no sense that you have to work hard for some things." Susan Reel, a mother of two living in Madison, Connecticut, doesn't see a downside to inviting the whole class to a birthday party. "When they're in first and second grade, their friends are so day-to-day. It's who they played with yesterday," she says. "So to pick one or the other is shortsighted on the parents' part." She believes that schools are paying more attention to children's feelings because they understand better today the damage done when a small group of kids is consistently excluded. "When we went to school, people were bullied. Now we know kids have a much greater instance of suicide and depression when they've been bullied," she says. Jolie Nichols, also a mother of two, disagrees. She believes kids in her Minneapolis neighborhood would benefit from competing for a trophy or handling a mild bit of rejection. "It's just natural and it's realistic to have to deal with these things," she says. At her 7-year-old daughter's gymnastics class, everyone receives the same ribbon or medal for their performance, regardless of how well they've done. Rather than imparting self-esteem, some experts believe this gives kids an unhealthy sense of entitlement. "Self-esteem comes from those feelings you have about yourself for a job well done, for when you have achieved something," says Dr. Georgette Constantinou, administrative director of pediatric psychiatry at Akron Children's Hospital in Ohio. "It's not something you pour into your children." She feels that many parents aren't equipping their kids to manage basic challenges. "How do you expect them to handle life's big bumps if they haven't experienced the little ones?" she asks. No one disagrees that disappointment is real: There are contests we all lose, parties we're excluded from. But what motivates so many parents to postpone that reality until their children reach the age of 10 or beyond? For one thing, kids' lives are so tightly scheduled today that we're enrolling smaller and smaller children in organized activities. It may be true that 6-year-olds aren't ready to handle losing a T-Ball championship; a generation ago, 6-year-olds wouldn't have even been playing team sports. Parents may also be reacting to their own economic and career stress by trying to protect their kids from it. "This group is balancing things that previous generations haven't had to balance," says Constantinou. "The number of women in the work force is phenomenal, probably the largest since the war years, so you have a lot more stressed parents." Busy parents turn to schools and other care-givers for help, says Mike Sanchez, co-owner of Camp Innovation, a Houston, Texas-area day camp. It does offer competitive games, but also gives each camper an award each week. "I tell counselors, always find something specific about the kids," Sanchez says. "It helps with parents who say they may not be cleaning at home or working well with a brother or sister. We work on it, and then give them an award for best spirit of the week, best cleaner of the week." Critics of the trend worry about a generation of kids who haven't experienced rejection or failure -- especially compared with countries such as China and Japan, where a focus on competition defines the lives of many children. Learning to compete, says Nichols, is vital. "It sets them up for real life things like a job," she says. "It helps people develop their skills." Copyright 2006 The Associated Press"

8/9/2006 2:54:42 PM

Quote :

""It's just natural and it's realistic to have to deal with these things," she says. At her 7-year-old daughter's gymnastics class, everyone receives the same ribbon or medal for their performance, regardless of how well they've done. Rather than imparting self-esteem, some experts believe this gives kids an unhealthy sense of entitlement."

It teaches them early about union and government jobs. You get paid the same if you work hard or slack.

8/9/2006 4:30:30 PM

^^lol great, so when some guy's girlfriend dumps him several years later he will kill himself because he's never dealt with rejection.

8/9/2006 4:41:30 PM

That story reminds me of "Harrison Bergeron" by Vonnegut where everyone is held down to a low level of stupidity so that no one is better than anyone else. If you display higher skills, you're handicapped with weights on your body, or a device that makes noise in your ears randomly so you can't think.

[Edited on August 9, 2006 at 4:59 PM. Reason : ]

8/9/2006 4:57:04 PM

American History Xvang
[i]The very long story about my youth and growing up[/b]

Growing up, I was the smallest kid in my class/grade. Seriously. In the 5th grade I was under 4 feet tall. That's really short. I was also the scrawniest/skinniest kid around too. I remember there was only one other person smaller than me, and it was this one malnourished girl.

The Bullying

I remember getting bullied a lot growing up in school. Everything was fine for me up until the 5th grade. I think 5th grade is when bullies emerge because they think they are the "coolest" kids in elementary school and they can bully all the other kids.

5th Grade
Growing up in California, in 5th grade, there was this bigger white kid who used to always kick me as he walked by. I brushed it off and didn't do anything about it for a while. Then I befriended a taller black kid. He always stood up for me. Everytime the white kid would want to pick on me, my black friend would step in and they'd get in some "push" fights. One day the white kid got caught by my teacher picking on me. He got after school detention.

6th Grade
Well, in 6th grade my black friend moved away. And I didn't have anymore protection. The white kid was still around, but he didn't bully me anymore because of the things that happened between us in the 5th grade. But, there was a new bully in town. He was also a bigger fellow. Went by the name of Mengus. I remember that name fondly because everytime he grabbed me by the shirt of jerked me by the arm he'd make the comment, "Hey chinese kid". That was probably the part that hurt me the most aside from the physical aspects. He never really did anything else but pick on me and make remarks.

In the 7th grade, my family moved to redneck country North Carolina. When I first got here there were a lot of friendly kids that helped me out. But, there was this group of kids that always had it out for me. They either wore camouflage or flannel or something with a big flag that looked like it had an X through it. I didn't understand back then, but after a while I found out what these people were called... Rednecks. Well, 7th grade was probably the worst grade in my life being bullied by racist white kids.

Occurance #1, was on my first week at school. [sarcasm] Luckily for me, I was the only asian kid in the school [/sarcasm]. So, they had a ball picking on me. Especially during lunch period. I got some nasty looks from them. And when I sat down at lunch a few french fries were hurled my way. This occurred on and off through the year.

Occurance #2, was later in the year in one of my classes. The teacher had stepped out of the classroom for a minute. Next thing I know, they had reached into my bookbag and took some of my pencils. One of them was my favorite on clicker pencil. I was pretty upset. So I went and told the teacher. She accussed me of being too much of a baby over a pencil. Well, a few more pencils were stolen that year.

8th Grade
This went on all the way up until the 8th grade. In the 8th grade, I decided I wanted to take a shop class with one of my friends. Well, that was a bad idea. As I soon found out, Rednecks love taking shop classes. There was one incident where one of the guys dragged me to back of the shop and gave me a head lock. I passed out for a bit. I got back up and started to cry.

But, take me seriously, remember that I was about 4'2" (not much taller than when I was in 5th grade), I'm this scrawny 80lb kid who has absolutely no power or ability to do anything about anything. And the more I struggled and the more I complained, the more my teachers would ignore me and the more the bullies would pick on me.

Highschool - 9th Grade -> 12th Grade
In 9th grade, I started a growth spurt. I was now about 4"5' and 95lbs. I became a loner. I would eat with 2 or 3 other people that I knew would be nice to me (all asians). And I would retreat to the library really quickly after lunch. The library was my refuge through all of highschool. Because I knew that the bullies never went there, and I could do my homework or study all by myself and not have to worry about anything.

By the 11th grade I was about 5'1", but still as scrawny as can be and still picked on by that particular group of people.

By the 12th grade I was bout 5'5" and 120lbs and ready to get out of highschool. I recieved less physical attacks, but still recieved a lot of discriminatory/racial remarks.

College
I came to college. Met some really cool people. Started working out with a new friend. Beefed up from 125lbs to 150lbs (all muscle weight gain). No more bullying.

I think most bullies rely on their physical demeanor as a powerful tool against the weak. I was definately scarred by my youth. To this day, I cannnot look at flannel shirts and have a clean attitude. I've learned to forgive, but it's hard to forget.

Don't for one second think that I never told my parents or the authorities. I've told my parents, but coming from the background that I do, all they would tell me was to walk away and avoid confrontations. And most (not all) of my teachers never really backed me up. They never saw hard evidence of what was happening to me.

I honestly think that if my mom was not around, my highschool would have ended up like the one in Columbine. My mom was the thing that kept me intact. She taught me about forgiveness and God and the Hope of something better in the future. Some of you may think badly about religion, but I think religion saved a lot of people in my Highschool. Of course, the religion that is taught in the correct moral manner (or however you want to put it).

Long story made short: The strong prey on the weak, but the weak have to pray and stay strong.

8/9/2006 5:24:29 PM

I was harrased terribly when I was younger. I was short, chubby, had glasses, braces, and was in band. Yeah, you would pick on me too. I was harrassed all the time, by everybody. I was the bottom of the totem pole. I was almost always verbal.
In 5th grade I had crap thrown at me all the time.
In 6th grade I was choked till I nearly passed out by a kid. I also go in my first fight that year after a kid started shoving me. He got in trouble, I didn't. I was randomly charged and jumped many times, but only knocked over. At this point, I was still just under 5 feet tall.
7th and 8th grade were at a different school. It was still a lot of verbal abuse by a select few. Being short, overweight and in band still didn't help.
9th grade was high school, and all new hell. I new the marching band people, and some friends from previous years. During lunch I would have food thrown at me, drinks poured on me, and cans thrown at me. I usually just ignored it all, which never helped. I would occasioanlly tell teachers, but it didn't do much.
10th grade iw where it started to change. I grew 11 inches over 7 months. This made me taller and leaner, and gave me a much more manly look. I was still harrased, but only by the kids my size and bigger.
11th grade: I grew to nearly 6 feet tall. That was 13 inches in one calender year. I was not picked on much more. I was an upperclassmen, so half the school wouldn't mess with me.
story: I took a swimming class in where there was an even mix of races and skill levels, as well as one mentally challenged kid. Usually the class got along fine. One day the black kids started to gang up on the retarded kid. I say that just as fact, not a race card. I started to help the retarded kid, as is my nature, and their attention turned to me. Found out that a lot of kids had my back. Turns out even if people ignore you, they still know you are there. It helped that though I wasn't the strongest or biggest there, I was the fastest swimmer by far.
A separate time the ROTC decided to join the class for water training. They were known for, and were, a bunch of assholes. Well, one of them decided to target me. He was about 6' 3'' and 240 lbs. I was 5' 11'' and 160 lbs. Well he started in on me, so I picked him up from the water and commenced dunking him, while he just flailed helplessly. That is when everything changed for me. Everyone realized I could defend myself if need be.
Senior year was fine, I learned how to carry myself, and how to defend myself if need be. This turned out to actually make me known, and not unpopular.

Moral of the story, If you carry yourself with confidence, and occasionally show that you can take care of yourself you will be set.
If/ when I have a kid I will teach them self defense, and when it is appropriate. I believe that a teacher needs to be notified if you are being picked on. If you are hit or attacked, take care of yourself. You can only be defensive, but as everyone knows the best defense is a good offense.

8/9/2006 6:14:24 PM

^i agree that it's all about confidence

another thing to take from this thread is to try and teach your kids that it's not cool to pick on people, eventhough that may be kind of tough

8/9/2006 6:29:42 PM

i was always tiny for my age, both height and weight and i never seriously got picked on. i wasnt some uberconfident kid either. i think its just a mixture of avoiding the wrong situations and not being super shy. i spoke my mind and was smart about it. ive had quite a few ppl tell me i should watch my mouth, but never actually been in a "real" fight.

being too avoidant or getting too worked up about things are both good ways to fuel the fire.



that said, this whole "kick their ass" theory many of you have DOESNT WORK when you are insanely smaller than them or they come in groups. that just ends in you getting your ass worked over even more. they may or may not be less likely to taunt you after that.

[Edited on August 9, 2006 at 6:39 PM. Reason : .]

8/9/2006 6:37:35 PM