Bullying

Overheal

I read this post on another website and thought it warranted being placed here:

I am not sure that this post truly fits into this topic but I have a story to tell...

When I was in high school, I was often the target of bullies. In my juvenile frustration, I took it out on someone I felt inferior to myself. I constantly taunted this person unaware of why I was doing it. That is often the nature of a teenager. Somewhere inside of me, I knew it wasn't right. That was 28 years ago.

I think I have grow since that time because as I often do, I reflect because I want to be a better person. For the past few weeks, I have seen the person whom I used to taunt walking the street in front of my office. He is dressed in shabby clothes, with rotting teeth and the weight of the world his eyes. I have been feeling this overwhelming sense of guilt for my behaviour so long ago. I can't help but feel that in some way, I've contributed to his current state.

This morning, I saw him walking by my office again and I felt that I needed to set things straight. I called out his name and told him that I wanted say something to him. When he came over, I asked if he remembered me. He couldn't put my name to my face. When I told him my name, he remembered me. I said, "I wasn't very nice to you in high school and wanted to let you know that what I did was wrong and want to apologize to you for the way I treated you. " He was taken back and responded, "Not many people were nice to me in high school." I learned that he is unemployed without a skill and divorced.

My desire to apologize to him was not to rid myself of the guilt but in some way show him that people can grow and perhaps offer some hope. The only advice that I could offer was, "If someone asks how you are doing say only this, 'I am doing great', eventually you will believe it."

Bullying will seriously affect someone's interest in school. I'm just saying the next time you bully someone think about the long-term damage. Obviously this is an extreme case but it can still happen to anyone.

Dog Fan

Interesting quote, overheal.

I work in a secondary school, and see bullying and the effects of it on a regular basis. I once worked in a company where bullying was rife, and it was a miserable two years.

your quote is dead on the mark. some people bully to cover up personal feelings of inadequacy. For the victim, this doesn't really matter, as they suffer in many ways (physically, loss of self esteem, etc)

The only thing I can hope for is that the victims of bullying can get help before the effects are too serious on them.
Tragically, the last two years in Ireland have seen a number of suicides where bullying is reckoned to be a factor - even if an inquest cannot acknowledge this.

Bullying is something too serious to ignore.

Bob the Builder

I have to agree with that. Bullying is a serious problem and it is time that we stepped up and faced it. It's alright now, we're going to finish the LC and everyone will go their seperate ways, but the truth is that for the victims of bullying, their past, their history of emotions from when they were a young teenager will live with them until they die or else lose all their memory.

Until this issue is addressed, and faced, and accepted by the students of ireland, things will only keep getting worse.

Not all suicides are a mark on the slate due to bullying. Every suicidal teenager has their reasons, but it is obvious that bullying is a step in the direction of suicide, and self harm. Everyone can tolerate bullying for a week, but when they are being forced to go to school every morning with the prospect of bullying hanging over them, it makes life hell.

What I will ask is that, if you see someone being bullied, at least try and stand up for them. Or do something. IMO, it would be better to have the shít kicked out of you once in secondary school on one day of the year, than to have to go to school for 5 or 6 years and watch someone having all his self confidence knocked to the floor every day.