Here’s a bullying story. It’s a story of not only the will to survive but the will to overcome and begin thriving. Also, it’s a story of healing and re-empowerment.
In this post, you will learn what it means to endure bullying, survive it and overcome it through a true bullying story. Also, you will see what life is like through the eyes of a bullying victim and later, a survivor and overcomer.
Once you learn all about these real-life experiences, you will know that you are not alone if you endure the same thing now. Moreover, you will understand that you, too, can overcome and look forward to a rewarding life with friends who truly care for you.
This post shares a bullying story filled with true-life experiences to offer you hope and encouragement.
Bullying Story
I didn’t experience bullying, nothing beyond usual teasing, until I moved to a small Tennessee town after having been an Army Brat and lived in several different areas. Until then, bullying had always been something that happened to kids in the movies.
When I became a target of severe and chronic bullying as a sixth-grader at the age of twelve, I began a long lesson in the human predator/prey dynamic and a battle for my dignity, safety, and my very soul.
During the sixth grade, I never fought back. My family had taught me that decent young ladies didn’t fight. So, I took the physical beatings, name-calling, and abuse. However, what I didn’t realize was that my classmates were growing accustomed to bullying me.
When the Bullying Escalates
When I entered seventh grade at the age of thirteen, the harassment by my classmates reached a fever pitch. The abuse my classmates subjected me to is called “poly-victimization.” They called me names and slandered me. Moreover, they would humiliate me with pranks. When the bullying grew out of control, they began threatening me and physically attacking me.
And after enough of it, I learned the hard way that I had two choices: either take a stand and fight back or get eaten alive. However, it seemed that the more I tried to set boundaries, the worse the bullying became.
The physical bullying was brutal. I suffered horrible beatings, and it escalated to the point of having a box cutter pulled on me and my life threatened.
Every morning before going to school, I would feel a huge lump in my throat and swallow hard. It took everything I had in me to step onto that school bus. Why? Because I knew what would be waiting for me as soon as I walked through the school entrance.
Bullying Story:
Enduring Daily Abuse
During P.E., I excelled at some sports but struggled with others. I loved volleyball and kickball, but basketball and baseball weren’t my strong suits. Music and writing stories were my gifts, not sports.
However, students and a few teachers judged me because I wasn’t an athlete or a member of a sorority. I was musically talented and creative. So, what they were doing was akin to judging a fish on its ability to fly.
In just two short years, I went from being a confident and outgoing kid to one who was sad and withdrawn. Additionally, I transitioned from a student who consistently made the honor roll to one who earned C’s and D’s.
Schoolwork had always been so easy for me. I had been one of those lucky kids who didn’t have to pick up a book.
All I had to do was listen in class and complete my homework (which I could do in minutes). And I would ace every test. But in a matter of two years, the schoolwork went from being a piece of cake to being complicated and overwhelming.
Who can concentrate on schoolwork when they’re busy looking over their shoulder and dodging bullies? Who can learn effectively when they’re constantly in survival mode?
The Bullying Becomes Unbearable
The torment became next to unbearable. So much so that I attempted suicide at the age of fourteen. As a result, I spent a week in the ICU and almost didn’t make it.
It was a hell I would never wish on anyone, not even my worst enemy. My classmates had stripped me of every ounce of power I had.
Trying to keep a calm demeanor amid so much toxicity and desperately hanging onto my dignity with everything I had was exhausting! It felt as if they were holding me hostage. At times, teachers and a few school staff members would also join in the bullying.
Bullying Story:
When the victim Becomes a Bully
Because I felt powerless, I began to bully those who were even weaker than I was. The reason I did this was to reclaim some of the power bullies had taken from me. This is not something I’m proud of.
There was no one I could turn to. Back then, people considered bullying to be a normal rite of passage. Therefore, I had to deal with it on my own.
Anytime I spoke out about or reported the mistreatment, they shouted me down. The other classmates would tell me to “keep my mouth shut.”
Teachers and school staff blamed me for my own suffering. Other adults labelled me a whiner and ridiculed me because they saw speaking out as a sign of weakness. I received no help or relief.
The Stripping Away of Personhood
They never allowed me to be a human being. Moreover, they gave no margin for error. Instead, they would minimize or ignore any good deeds, accomplishments, and successes. And they would maximize any mistakes.
If I wore a dress and went to class all dolled up, I was trying to either impress people, get a date, or get laid. And if I wore my jeans the slightest bit tight, I looked like a whore.
If I cried, they would accuse me of being too sensitive. But if I laughed, they accused me of trying to get attention. If I became angry, they labelled me mentally unstable. But if I was friendly, I was either flirting or trying to kiss up. If I smiled, I was secretly plotting something devious.
They never allowed me to be myself, and it was exhausting. It felt as if I were suffering a slow and agonizing social murder.
Bullying Story:
The Transfer
The day came when two classmates attacked me from behind when I was four months pregnant with my first child. They threw me over a teacher’s desk, then kicked me as I lay curled in a fetal position on the floor.
All I could do was try to protect my unborn baby by shielding my growing belly with both arms. Luckily, my unborn child survived and came into the world healthy later that year.
After the last attack, I was done with Oakley High. I changed schools, and the bullying stopped. Words cannot tell you the relief I felt when I transferred to a new school! I could finally learn in a safer and less stressful environment!
A Safer Learning Environment.
I loved my new school. And I felt like a bird out of a cage! The feeling was of being released from a nearly six-year-long prison sentence. I had done my time in hell, and now I could put it all behind me. It was then that I began the process of rebuilding my life.
While riding in the car, on the way to my new school, I sat in the passenger seat, next to my then-husband. As he drove, I cried tears of joy.
It was hard to believe that I had finally escaped the persecution! The pain had grown so great I couldn’t even cry! It was all finally over, and I could start a new and better chapter in my life.
Sure enough, I went on to make friends with my new classmates, but more importantly, my grades skyrocketed! The transformation of my grades seemed to happen suddenly and like magic!
After five years, I made the honor roll again and then finally graduated.
I now lead a successful life and use what I went through to help bullied kids today. Anytime I hear of an innocent child bullied into suicide, it truly breaks my heart.
When People Judge Bullying victims who have given up, it makes me cringe.
What’s even more heartbreaking is the attitudes and remarks I hear from others around me when a tragedy like this happens! I often hear statements such as:
- “But that boy was so quiet!”
- “Really??? Still waters run deep!”
- “But that girl always kept to herself!”
- “No joke! Just as an AIDS patient keeps his diagnosis to himself!”
- “Shame on him! He was such a coward!”
- “Right! Anyone running through the woods from a wild boar would look like a coward to someone sitting safely in a tree! You spend a few years being bullied by everyone you know and see how mighty and brave you are! You’ll find out how quickly your life can go to crap!”
If you haven’t experienced it, you’ll never know what it is to be a target of bullying. I was fortunate enough to survive and move on to happiness and success. But many victims don’t, which is why writing about bullying and advocating for victims is my passion.
Bullying Story:
Although being bullied is never a good thing, I did get a few positive takeaways:
- Having been bullied has made me appreciate the great friends I have today. It also gave me empathy and compassion for others and a desire to help those who endure the same!
- Having been bullied made a strong woman out of me. It made me more determined never to quit until I reach a goal! Knowing that bullies often bully out of jealousy and fear is the motivation for me.’
- Being bullied gave me the determination to love myself, put myself first, and the willingness to say “no” anytime I am asked or told to do something that does not feel right!
- Having been bullied gave me the determination to follow my dreams, to do things I enjoy most, and to achieve success.
- Having been bullied has given me hope. Because I know that if I can go through bullying and survive, then I can rise above anything!
- It gave me a soft spot and a great willingness to fight for the underdog.
- And lastly, it sharpened my BS detector, giving me the ability to read people, spot a bully instantly, and avoid being targeted!
Being a target of bullying almost broke me, yes! But in the end, it made me! Keeping a bullying journal is what saved me. So, I advise you to keep one. Bullying won’t last forever. If you’re a target of bullying and you don’t give up, you too can survive and emerge a winner!
This post was a bullying story to encourage you to keep going when things seem hopeless.
Related posts you’ll enjoy:
1. Encouraging Words for Bullying: You Can Overcome!
I went through a lot of what Cherie went through, although my ordeal only lasted three years. Therefore, I can fully back up everything she has written here and can tell you that you can overcome the bullying and lead a fulfilling life.
Thank you so much, Michael! This means a lot! We are both overcomers.
Thank you for sharing that story and I know you go into way more detail in your Biography about all that. I think you hit on a few key things here. One, changing schools almost always changes the dynamic and I think as parents we sometimes overlook how hard it is on a kid. In your case, you were doing great until you changed schools and that particular school decided to target you which speaks volumes about the culture there and the fact apparently no one did anything about it and few stood up for you. Second, then you finally switch to another school and all of a sudden you find decent treatment. Amazing isn’t it, how culture so often comes down to a school system or a particular school which shows the importance of a good school board, good teachers, and a good administration.
Second, you mentioned around middle school being afraid and literally making yourself sick (well actually others caused it) having to go to school because of the treatment you received. So many kids go through that. And middle school is such a hard age anyway. People are going through puberty, some people develop early, some are late bloomers. That seems to be the age where you start seeing cliques getting formed more and some kids sometimes get more cruel toward some. Plus you were more of an artsy person which usually ends up very cool but in middle school and sometimes high school, those kids get called outcasts. People talk about individuality but in middle and high school, it can be rough.
What you did was important telling your story and though I know it was very hard. It turned you into someone who can not only mentally but physically handle yourself and stand up for the downtrodden while calling out the blatant bully. I have a story to which I will share in a different comment because I have gone way too long here.
Thank you, Jill. And you’re so right. Moreover, I actually discuss the school culture in my book. That school had a culture of bullying, and it was a very toxic learning environment. The classmates and most of the staff were poisonous people, and most of them still are. Sometimes, people ask me if I’m going to a reunion that is coming up, and my answer is a resounding ‘no.’ I forgive them, but I do not wish to see them ever again. Past behavior always predicts future behavior, and I’ll let no one disrupt my peace ever again. I can’t control their behavior, but I can damn well control whether or not to have them in my life. And the way I see it, they are out of my life now, and that’s where I damn well intend for them to stay.
Okay here is my story. I have always suffered from lack of self-esteem. I was tall and gawky. I could trip over my own two feet and was a late bloomer. I had really bad skin for a while plus my parents were split up. I know that is common these days but at a small school for some reason that was a big deal because most other kids still had both parents in their life. Like you, I never really went though much bullying in elementary school or in my case even middle school, but high school it seemed like I had a target on my back. I dreaded going and my grades dropped. When you are so stressed out even having to go to class and being tortured your grades do suffer because it causes you to shut down. The sad thing was I actually liked to learn.
On the plus side, college was an amazing experience for me. I had bloomed and even some former bullies started to become interested but here is the thing. My outside may have gotten better as is often the case with many but I never forgot the cruelty those same people gave me just a few years before. I was the same, hopefully kind, decent person on the inside. And I will say one or two of the people who were mean to me admitted they were trying to fit in too so they were cruel to some people who they thought they could get away with it, but over time they proved they were sorry and some of it even was jealousy. They not only apologized but showed it and over time built my trust. However, trust takes a long time and everyone reading this before aware. If someone of the opposite sex bullies you repeatedly and then a few years later when you have filled out or grown into your looks, are they sincerely sorry or just looking to get into your pants? Use a lot of discernment. If they truly have changed their ways, they will be patient and work to earn your trust. Look we all have our moments and say or do things we probably shouldn’t BUT when someone basically meets you off the school bus to torture you and it is an almost daily thing then forgiveness is one thing but forgetting is something else.
Those things happen a lot, Jill. You feel awkward in middle and high school but during the college years, things get so much better. Also, I had former bullies ask me out years later. However, I turned them down quickly because, like you said, I figured they were looking to get in my pants. But more so, I just wasn’t interested. I would never even consider dating someone who bullied me at school. They may or may not have changed; however, that ship sailed years ago.
🙏👍🌹
Aum Shanti
Thank you so much, Shanti!