Bullying Story: Endurance, Survival, and the Will to Overcome

October 9, 2025October 18, 202512 Comments

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!

2. Bullying Journal: 8 Reasons You Should Keep One

3. It Only Gets Better: There is Life After Bullying

Social Bullying Examples: 7 Reasons Bullies Destroy Relationships

November 19, 2024May 26, 20253 Comments

Would you like to know several social bullying examples and the reasons bullies try to turn everyone against you? As someone who’s been affected in the past, I’m giving you all the details about social bullying.

Social bullying, also called relational aggression, leaves it’s victims stripped of not only friends and supporters, but sometimes family members as well. If this is happening to you, then you’re doing all you can to research this type of bullying. Therefore, I’m giving you all the details and social bullying examples so that you’ll be able to name what is happening to you and protect yourself.

You will learn all the ins and outs of social bullying and what you can do to lessen it’s effects.

Once you learn all the aspects of social bullying, you will be able to call it out by name and defend yourself properly against it from now on.

This post is all about social bullying examples and will give you the tiny details about this insidious type of bullying.

social bullying examples

“Reputation is the cornerstone of power.” – Robert Greene

Social bullies wreck your good standing in a school, workplace, or community by way smear campaigns of lies, rumors, and gossip.

Before we get into the details and examples, let’s first discuss why bullies attack your reputation and relationships. In other words, what do these bullies have to gain from sabotaging your social connections?

What are the psychological payoffs they get from doing this? Here’s are your answers.

Simply put, bullies attack your relationships and reputation to strip you of power. Once they kill your reputation and break apart your relationships, you’re defenseless and extremely vulnerable to attack.

In other words, social bullies turn people against you to isolate you. Understand that isolation weakens your position in the social world and leaves you wide open for attack.

Therefore, bullies can freely attack you from all directions. And they can do it without risk of others coming to your defense and holding the bullies accountable.

When everyone turns against you, they’ll no longer support and protect you. Therefore, you’re at the mercy of virtually anyone who decides to bully you.

Bullies know that if they can poke holes in your reputation, they won’t have to work so hard to bring you down because now, they have public opinion on their side. They can then stand back and watch with glee as widely held perceptions of you finish you off.

First, Bullies Destroy your reputation.

How? By rumors, lies, and defamation.

In the beginning, bullies will plant seeds of doubt about your character in the minds of others. Doubt is a powerful tool.

Next, they spread rumors and lies.

Additionally, bullies are proof that offense is the best defense. Drawing first blood is always best because you can only respond in either one of two ways.

1. You could deny the rumors. Moreover, you could even produce evidence that proves your innocence of the accusations.

2. You could ignore the lies and blow your accusers off with a “whatever” and walk away laughing.

But!

Either way, people will still look at you with suspicion.

Social bullying examples: The mechanics of social bullying

1. If you defend yourself and produce evidence to the contrary, the prevailing thought will be,

“There must be some truth to the rumors, otherwise he wouldn’t be defending himself so vehemently.”

2. If you ignore the lies and wave your accusers away with a laugh, others will be even more suspicious of you. Why? Because they’ll think that you have something to hide and are only playing it cool.

Moreover, social bullies know that if they instigate rumors the right way, there’s a possibility that they can get you enraged and rattled. So much so that while defending yourself, you end up making a truckload of mistakes out of nervousness.

This works even better if you haven’t yet established a reputation. Because the smear campaign will only work all the more in the bullies’ favor. However, even if you do have a good reputation initially, the bullies will most likely destroy it because people tend to think the worst of others.

What happens once bullies have destroyed your good name?

Your damaged reputation meets people before you do.

Consequently, this brings loss of opportunities to meet new people. In other words, you lose the ability to move on with new friends.

When bullies and their followers have unjustly slandered or libeled you, even total strangers will no doubt hear of you. Therefore, there’s a strong chance that, by the time you meet them, they will already have their minds made up about you.

Sadly, this is one feature of bullying that crosses very few people’s minds.

Social bullying examples: invisible enemies

What’s even scarier is that you are left completely defenseless against the attacks of strangers. In other words, when you haven’t the slightest idea who your enemies are, how do you know who to watch out for?

Moreover, how do you know who to avoid? It’s impossible to protect yourself from invisible enemies.

This is often the case once bullies have unjustly used smear campaigns against you. It is a situation which is even more dangers because you are walking blind!

You cannot see the enemy. Someone could walk right up to you on the street, in broad daylight, and you wouldn’t know. Moreover, they could have a weapon hidden on them and you would never know of their intent to hurt or kill you until it was too late.

It will feel as if you’re fighting ghosts.

For example, we lost the Vietnam War because we didn’t know who the enemy was. We didn’t know exactly who was or wasn’t on our side!

Reputation is the decider of merit.

Your reputation will always decide the credit you get even from actions that are innocent. In other words, two different people can do the exact same thing the exact same way.

And each person’s reputation will decide whether the action is brilliant or terrible.
Put simpler, It’s not what you do. It’s who others perceive you to be when you do it.

It’s not the action itself, but who the person is that does it.

Here’s the rub. A person who’s well-liked and has a stellar reputation can write an essay, and others will deem it a brilliant piece.

But let a person who’s despised by everyone and has a lousy reputation write the exact same essay, and others will only view it as a worthless piece of garbage that’s not even worth reading, which brings us to the final conclusion:

Reputation can affect all areas of your life. It can be the difference between having success or failure- in everything! A bad reputation, regardless of whether you deserve it, sets you up to fail.

However, there’s hope!

Social bullying examples

Although extremely difficult, you can still salvage your reputation and change your life for the better. Here’s how:

1. Move to a different area.

Sometimes you must go somewhere else and start over again. It may be difficult to leave your family behind. However, if you stay in the community where people judge you unfavorably, you’ll never have the chance to move forward.

You may wonder why this is.

It’s because, sadly, the social bullying has gone on for so long that your reputation in the community has become ironclad. Consequently, there isn’t much you can do to change things once something has gained that kind of strength.

In other words, you’ll always be stuck right where you are. Why not pack your things and leave for greener pastures and better opportunities?

Again, the best you can do to better your life is to move away and get a fresh start in a new town. It will be the only way you will find happiness and stability.

2. Find a good cause to fight for and one you’re passionate about.

Any time you fight for a good cause, you will meet like-minded people who are fighting for the same purpose. You and these people will already have common ground.

The cause could be “The Victim’s Rights Movement,” or even “The Anti-Bullying Movement.” Whatever the cause, you will attract those who are fighting for the same things. And you’ll easily make positive connections with them and become life-long friends.

Although many doors get slammed shut and locked, there’s always a way out if you look for it. I guarantee it!

3. when your friends turn against you because of your bullies’ Lies, have nothing more to do with them.

Anyone who claims to be your friend, then believes the lies of social bullies does not deserve your friendship. Also, they were probably never your friend to begin with.

Therefore, walk away from them and reject them if they come back around. This is how you value yourself. It’s how you protect yourself and treat yourself well.

A true friend would never believe any lies and rumors about you. Moreover, they would have enough respect for you to ask you before making such snap judgements.

This post was all about social bullying examples, the mechanics of social bullying, and what you can do to lessen or alleviate the negative affects of it on your life.

1. Know Your Enemy: 7 Reasons to Gather Intel on Your Bullies

2. Important Facts About Bullying: 3 Truths You Must Learn

3. The 4 Stages of Bullying

4. How to Spot Fake Friends: 7 Proven Tricks to Instantly Out Them

5. Choose Your Friends Wisely: 9 Criteria to Judge by