were you ever bullied in school?

[Soods]

Being a foot taller than anyone else helps. I wasn't bullied, ever.

 

[TelHybrid]

Meh, I had people give me crap, although I wouldn't use the term bullying, as that sort of victimises me.

I was quite socially retarded and never picked up on social cues, so I'd have given me crap too looking back on it.

Anyway I turned out to be fairly smart and relatively successful, so I have no regrets.

 

[The Lugz]

After watching the jonah mowry video, It got me thinking about when i was in high school when i was bullied. It was this 7ft football player who could get away with anything because he was a varsity athlete.

sure all the time i was odd, still am.

but then, seeing as i was also vastly above average intellect and strength it didn't last long
in any instance

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

Surprisingly no. However, there was this strange rumor around school that i speak Latin, (i don't) and every now and then people would notice me and say "hey! that is the Latin boy!".

School i went was no doubt most bizarre place on earth. Leather jacket wearing skinheads were the nicest guys on earth, while small skinny kids were total retards.

If "skin head" has the same Neo-Nazi connotations where you live as it does where I live, well, racists tend to be nice to members of their own race -- and occasionally to members of other races that they don't actively dislike. If it's more like Goths or Punks or Metal Heads, those guys tend to be nice to everyone unless given reason to be otherwise, despite the scary appearance. There's not much difference between the people wearing leather jackets and the ones wearing pocket protectors, really; they're both "different" from the general population, which makes them targets, which in turn makes them intolerant of intolerance, which tends to make them tolerant.

Edit: this is also why I'm shocked about how many people were picked on by stoners. In my day, they were strongly allied with the nerds (as were the metalheads), and they tended to have no real enemies.

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

No, in fact my high school had a very live and let live attitude, there wasn't much bullying just fighting. The nerds here, the jocks over there, the wannabe thugs up there, the annoying metal heads in the trash.

Except for that one kid everybody hated and everybody had to hate. Poor guy.

 

[For.I.Am.Mad]

In fact the only people who got bullied were the nerds who were trying too hard to be accepted. They didn't know their place. You can't be a nerd trying to hang with the varsity crowd, it doesn't work like that.

 

[Ordinaryundone]

Honestly, either the Escapist is populated by the biggest population of misathropes I've ever seen, or bullying is a LOT more common than I had thought. I've never been bullied. Not once. At least, not to any degree that I felt insulted or, well, bullied.

Though, a lot of that was probably because I didn't go out of my way to piss people off or whatever. Guess I'm just a chill person, and people respected that.

 

[Ickorus]

I was bullied all the way through my school life for no other reason than that I was me, by themselves people generally liked me and were friendly to me but the main bullies and 'popular' kids at school didn't like me and when anyone else was near them few people peer pressure would set in.

Funny thing is that i've met plenty of these people since leaving school including some of the main bullies and they all try to ignore the fact that they made my school life a misery and act like we were always buddies.

By the way, fighting back didn't really help me much (And I went all-in when I fought back), I still got bullied, it just meant people kept their distance or caught me off guard when bullying me.

 

[floppylobster]

Sadly I bullied a guy once or twice at my school. Physically in front of others. It may have scarred him in other ways too. My only saving grace is that I felt terrible about it at the time and apologized a few days later (I'm glad I didn't apologize years later).

And yes, I was bullied too. I had my face kicked in by a kick-boxer who was a few years older than me and twice my size. I still have a deep scar on my lip from where he kneed me in the face after casually asking me the time (to lure me closer).

Me and about ten other kids were generally dicks to two other (separate) guys in our class too. I tried to be friendly to them when the others weren't around but whenever we were in a group they made it really hard to stick up for them (some people just have no social skills). But really we shouldn't have been doing it.

A lot of bullying comes through transference of pain. i.e. Something shitty happens to you so you take it out on someone else. I think it's just human nature when you're younger to draw attention to a perceived weakness in others to take the pressure off yourself.

You know if I really look at myself today I can see that I still verbally bully people sometimes and I really hate myself for it. I don't know where it comes from. (I could guess my shitty upbringing but I'm sure that's not solely responsible). I guess deep down I'm just an asshole. But I'm trying to be nice. I'm really trying.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

In fact the only people who got bullied were the nerds who were trying too hard to be accepted. They didn't know their place. You can't be a nerd trying to hang with the varsity crowd, it doesn't work like that.

Actually, it can and does when the school has the right climate. My highschool was living proof; sure, people tended to have friends who had similar interests, but nobody belonged to only one clique, and the nerds could and did hang out with varsity athletes. This whole idea of "your kind and my kind don't belong together" is at the root of the problem. Once you define it as "us" vs "them," the war can start in earnest.

 

[The Funslinger]

I was bullied in primary school after i moved to Scotland, for the simple fact that im English.
Then in high school i was bullied for being a 'Goth'.
I'd pretty much say being bullied has defined the person i am today.. almost so much so that i both resent the fact i have severe confidence issues, while being glad that its made me a more tolerant person.

Yeah, I think bullying has (in the long run, barring the fact that combined with being dumped, and losing my life long best friend, caused me to suffer chronic depression for a couple of years) made me into a much better person. That said, the day I bring a brat kicking and screaming into this world (and by me, I mean my future wife, after I do the fun part) I will go out of my way to teach him the one thing my parents never taught me. And if it's a boy, he will be bullied. Why? Because the males in my family develop the same way. For the first fifteen or so years, we're scrawny and shorter than most of our peers. Then, come 16 or 17, we gloriously erupt into rugged faced, manly Gods. True story. ANYWAY, if I have a son, I will teach him the thing my parents neglected to teach me: Fight. Back. Shrug off verbal abuse, but if you get physically attacked, fight back.

If they're attacking in a group, wait until one of them is alone and make him taste concrete. One by one, and keep going if they keep coming. Then? You see someone else being bullied, you damn well stick up for them too. Harsh, but it's the lesson I learned, and by the end of it, I'm far more tolerant than the assortment of chavs you tend to see around here. My child will be a shining light upon this world. The women in my family seem to just become very pretty, so any daughter I have won't have this problem.

 

[The Funslinger]

In fact the only people who got bullied were the nerds who were trying too hard to be accepted. They didn't know their place. You can't be a nerd trying to hang with the varsity crowd, it doesn't work like that.

Actually, it can and does when the school has the right climate. My highschool was living proof; sure, people tended to have friends who had similar interests, but nobody belonged to only one clique, and the nerds could and did hang out with varsity athletes. This whole idea of "your kind and my kind don't belong together" is at the root of the problem. Once you define it as "us" vs "them," the war can start in earnest.

I agree, I tend to have a lot of "varsity" friends, and so do my other nerdy friends. The first example of this I noticed didn't turn out too well. Ended up just being the class clown, who secretly bitched and moaned to people behind other people's backs and did it to just about everyone. He was entertaining, but nobody respected him. We go to different colleges now, and I have no idea what he's up to.

Anyway, I Am Mad guy, your post does come off with a bit of a superiority complex "oh how dare those nerds think they're good enough to talk to the jocks!" I hope that's not what you were going for.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

Wall of text in 3...2....1...

Elementary school wasn't THAT bad....Most of the bullying was just name calling and a few bozos. There were a few really bad incidents, though. Like the time one asshole twisted my arm really bad and it hurt like hell. But still, it was mostly tolerable, because I had at least one good friend with me the whole time, helping me through it.

...and then...High school happened. I went to a an all-boy-catholic-private-school (yes, it did suck, as you can guess), and all my friends went to a local high school. ...And in the first year, the nephew of the VP of discipline took a liking to harassing me. Not much was really done. And as time went on, I had EVERYONE picking on me because I was both very sensitive and kinda weak, and thus an easy as !@#$ target. And the gym locker rooms....Ugh, I have repressed all memory of the BS that went on there, it was bad. Took 4 years before a teacher FINALLY decided to check on my claims, and when he did, he was not happy to see the stuff going on in there... Fortunately, I managed to avoid being physically assaulted in my time at that hellhole, aside from the occasional incident in gym class (having basketballs HURLED at me whenever the teacher's back was turned, tackling me to the floor in basketball and claiming that it never happened, etc), and that time that the lights went out when going down a staircase next to the aforementioned nephew of the VP, who took the opportunity to tackle me into the railing, which hurt like hell.

So yeah, I didn't get the shit kicked out of me, but it was still a soul-crushing experience for someone as sensitive and empathetic as me. I EVENTUALLY made friends at that school, but both of them were outcasts too (one had actually gone from a crybaby to a budding lunatic, actually). Plus, I was working through some mental/emotional issues at the time, and the heavy religious focus of the school was only making that more difficult to deal with. Those 5 years scarred me pretty bad. It took me 5 years after leaving that place, plus meeting the most awesome girl ever in order to get myself back to a normal level of self-esteem. ...I still haven't forgiven my bullies.

I think the only reason I didn't snap on someone and try to beat them up with a baseball bat/hockey stick/etc was because I got into some violent games (well... if you count counterstrike, Halo, Soldier of fortune, etc to be violent) and my friends and I played them together at a card shop every friday. That helped me burn away some of my anger and frustration.

 

[mParadox]

I was never bullied. My height and deep voice helped. Plus, I tried being friends with everyone. The plan worked fantastically and I gained enough influence to become invisible and well-known enough for no one to mess with me. And to think, I'm considered kind. >_>

 

[walrusaurus]

I was never bullied in fact I was quite popular in school for no apparent reason. I swear at the beginning of the term no one in my class would know me but at the end I was the most popular kid in the class without doing anything, I still don't understand why it happened.

This^

Except I really was just some one you could screw around with in the class if your bored. More or less I just tried to be a friend to every one. I had jocks for friends in one period and complete nerds in another. Just really tried to be nice. I was called names every now and again but it was usually just me and a friend screwing around or arguing over something we would get over by next period.

Pretty much this, i had friends from just about every social 'clique' mostly by virtue of doing a boatload of extracurriculars. I honestly don't know that my high school had a bullying problem. If it did i certainly never saw it.
I did get teased a lot in middle school though, mostly because i was, at that point, smaller and less coordinated than most of the other boys. But i never really experienced physical bullying.

 

[The Human Torch]

Got bullied, got therapy, got better, beat up one of the bullies, got no more other bullies pestering me.

It's insanely stupid, but violence is all these bully idiots "respect". Beat one up (fiercely) and no one will ever bother you again, ever.

 

[hotacidbath]

Not really, even though I was a fat girl. I got some shit from two guys in junior high, but now one of them is in prison for 20 years and the other one has been in and out of prison since high school. I think I ended up with the better end of that deal. Even though I was really weird in high school, I still ended up having a pretty solid group of friends and I still hang out with most of them 6 years later. I learned how to be funny and outgoing and had friends in just about ever social click at our school so it was an overall good experience.

 

[IceStar100]

Everyone left me alone. 1st grade I was using a compass to try and make pac-man. this type http://www.oppictures.com/singleimages/240/LEO77360_1_1.JPG

Someone put me in a choak hold for fun and I stab him as a reflex. From that point on everone though I was crazy and I played it up so people left me alone. It was a double eged sword. I never got bullies but I had no real friends to speak of.

Are you my dad? That's what ended his bullying problem in Junior High (which is what middle school was called back then.) The only difference is it was in a lunch line, and I'm pretty sure Pacman didn't exist yet.

Yes my son it is out I am Owyn dad now bring me a beer so I can drink and tell you why everything is wrong with your generation.

Hmm. My dad does like beer, but you gave yourself away with the "tell you why everything is wrong with your generation" part.


In all seriousness, I have a bigger problem with my generation than he does; for example, both of my parents think the OWS movement is great. I think it would be... if they could come up with some idea of what they want done, instead of just milling about and vaguely complaining.

DOn't make me take my belt off boy.

I agree with the OWS I also like the tea party. I love all protester becuase it mean we are closer to head on spike time.

 

[Medimorpho]

I never got physically bullied--only verbally bullied. Which sucked for me, cause I would have LOVED to have an excuse to tear someone apart.