Were you bullied as a child?
By Limey73
@Limey73 (161)
Canada
March 29, 2007 12:36pm CST
I was a skinny and timid little kid, timid because I had rather overbearing parents, and also because between the ages of 6 and 8 I was fostered out, and was treated badly by my foster parents......Because of this I was an easy target for school bullies.
One boy in particular, who was nicknamed Redcap, took delight in tormenting me and roughing me up.
One particular day he got me to such a pitch that I started fighting back. My efforts were puny though, and he beat me up easily. As I saw him swagger away, I swore to myself that next time I would find a way of kicking his arrogant butt...........
I had two cousins who were identical twins, a couple of years older than me, and tough little buggers. One of them saw me being tormented, and later he and his brother offered to help to toughen me up...........
Whew! Boy, did they put me through it! Day after day for a couple of weeks they set on me, both of them - all mock fights of course, but those guys pulled no punches, and bit by bit I got stronger, and learned various tricks of how to handle myself in a fight. Gradually I grew in "skill" and self confidence.
I'd kept out of Redcap's way during the "training" time, but when I felt ready, I faced him, tackled him - and kicked his bullying backside good.
Not everyone will agree, but under those circumstances, revenge sure is sweeeeet!
I'll always be grateful to the twins for that course in self confidence.
4 people like this
5 responses
@ItTakesAllSorts (4096)
•
30 Mar 07
I was bullied in primary school by a group of girls. it first started out as the usual 'your're not our friend' thing, but the teacher I had decided to fuel the situation and looking back I believe he was the bully. Instead of nipping it in the bud he would target me which made the sitution worse.
I remember one time, I was only 10 yrs old, he got us all to write a story for a competition. He chose me as the winner and I won a keyring which he threw at me from the other side of the classroom.
I will never forget that teacher as he was sick and knew exactly what was going on and could have stopped it any time.
I work with kids myself now and one thing I always teach them is to stand up for themselves. Kids will seek out those they feel are weaker than them and try to manipulate them. I teach my kids to say in a really loud voice 'NO I don't like it' when any kid tries to be mean to them or take something from them.
I tell you it really works for kids aged 3-5 yrs. We need to respect our kids and empower them all. If this happened alot less would be subject to bullying and other form of abuse.
Although I cannot tell them to hit back as that is not our policy, for my own children I always told them if anyone hits you, hit them back and hit them harder. Luckily they were never bullied.
It has to be one of the toughest things to deal with as a kid and still it is not dealt with properly in alot of schools today.
2 people like this
@ItTakesAllSorts (4096)
•
30 Mar 07
Thanks for replying, I agree with what you say. Its so sad it goes on so much today!
Thanks for best response!!
@Limey73 (161)
• Canada
30 Mar 07
Hiya - you know, it's one thing to be bullied by your peers, and bad enough, but for a teacher to be the bully - well that really is the bloody limit! And you're right, it happens that way quite a lot; glad you mentioned it.
In fact both our daughters experienced it to some extent or another, and for someone in that position to abuse their power like that is disgusting.
Here in Canada, and North America generally, we read more and more about really severe bullying that goes on in schools - I don't know if it is more prevalent these days, or just in the news more, but either way it seems to be more violent than it was.........
I think you are wise teaching your kids to stand up for themselves - we did the same, and I think it helps to prevent them becoming victims.
'Bye for now.........
1 person likes this
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
29 Mar 07
I wasn't bullied when I was a kid, I was a tough little girl and had no problems taking care of myself. No one messed with me that way. However, I was picked on a lot as a kid. Some 'friends' of mine decided that it would be fun on several occassions to not be my 'friend' and they'd sit away from me and everything else. Just about everyone I talked to when I was younger thought those were cute ideas and fun things to do. They'd do it for about a week or so and they'd talk to me for awhile and then another group of people decided they'd not talk to me and the cycle would continue like that. My elementary years were tough. The girls did it because they wanted to be cool and popular. I never had problems with the guys though. THEY knew better than to mess with me. I had more & better friends with the guys than I did anyone else.
2 people like this
@Limey73 (161)
• Canada
30 Mar 07
Hiya... Kids can be so cruel, and not always physically; sometimes the mind games are more affecting than the outright bullying.
Don't want to sound sexist, but I have found that girls seem to specialize in that kind of thing more, whereas boys seem to favour the bull-at-a-fence, "beat crap out of him", approach....hehe.
Anyway, you seemed to handle it OK - that's what I like to see! Cheers..........Rated +
1 person likes this
@highflyingxangel (9225)
• United States
30 Mar 07
Girls are definitely worse. They are more cut throat than boys are which is kinda funny because girls aren't supposed to be mean.
@CraftyCorner (5600)
• United States
30 Mar 07
i wish i could have gotten revenge like that! i was the classic fat girl in thick glasses with autism and the behavior oddities that come with it. kids are so dang nasty sometimes!
i'm just happy now that i don't have to go to school and face the jungle. and jungle it is indeed!
@Limey73 (161)
• Canada
30 Mar 07
Sorry to hear that you had such a bad time at school - kids can be so cruel sometimes to somebody who doesn't fit in to the cookie cutter standards.... Whoever said "Schooldays are the happiest days of your life" must have either been damn lucky, or living in Cloud-Cuckoo Land!
All the best....................Rated +
@Denmarkguy (1845)
• United States
30 Mar 07
In some form or another, I was actually bullied fairly regularly from the time I entered school, till the time I left at almost 18.
I was tall, geeky and clumsy... and because my parents were on the old side when I was born, their sense of the "proper" clothes for a kid to wear made me look like a "little old man."
My tendency to fight back kinda went away in the 3rd grade when I broke a bully's nose when he attacked me, and *I* was almost expelled from school. My parents got really mad at me and taught me that when you "fight back" you are just "sinking to their level."
Needless to say, I didn't like my school years very much.
@linkintinku (559)
• India
29 Mar 07
well ... ,
Limey mayn i think u and i have same kinda story ....
but the thing with me is im BLACK in clour and the place i live r mostly White .... in skin and they used to tease me and still doo ... now ...
be4 i used to fight and still i do fight im not afraid of no one and tht alll knows now in School ::)
i think it happenes with every child this things ....
regards :)
2 people like this
