Bullying

[luc0s]

Bullying

I just saw this video and I wanted to share it with all of you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltun92DfnPY


It's a poem about bullying and the long-lasting effects it can have on people. I don't know how many people on this forum used to get bullied on. I was bullied a lot in middle school, but I grew over it (so honestly, don't feel sorry or pity for me, I don't want that). I just want to share this video, because it honestly touched my deep inside my heart. It's simply beautiful and I think a lot of people can relate to this poem and this video.

Please watch it and share your feelings on this. Where you bullied in school? If yes, then see this as a chance to share your story with us. But only if you want to share it of course, you don't have to.


Here is my story:

I got bullied a lot as a child because I was fat and different. I didn't like football (soccer) like most other children. I wasn't good at sports, like most other children. I also sucked at spelling, grammar and language in general, because of my dyslexia. The other children thought I was stupid because of it. I generally expressed myself in my drawings. I had a rich fantasy (still have). I created an entire imaginary world in my head, and I brought that world to life on paper with pencils and brushes. People said they admired my creativity, but at the same time everyone called me a weirdo and a nerd. I never understood how people could admire my creativity, yet at the same time think I was a stupid weird nerd.

By the time I was about 10 years old, the bullying really got out of hand. Somehow, I don't know how, they managed to turn Geoffrey, my best friend, my ONLY friend, against me. Geoffrey was the only person I had, but now he joined the others. He too started bullying me, call me names, threaten me, make fun of me. I blame it on peer pressure. He probably realized that staying friends with me would harm his status and reputation. He probably thought it would be easier for him to just give me up and join the crowd. He had the opportunity to become one of the popular kids, at the cost of giving me up. He took that chance and I lost my only friend. I was alone now.

Things changed though, when I finished middle-school and started with high-school. I forgot about Geoffrey. He moved to a different town. I didn't care. At high-school I met a person named Jori. He was awesome. He was just like me, except he had a lot more confidence than I did. He never got bullied. Never ever. He told me that a smile and a confident attitude can get you a lot in life. I was skeptical at first, but I wasn't blind to the fact that people, once again, picked in me, but left Jori alone. Maybe Jori was right?

It was hard, but I gave it a try. I tried to become more confident in myself. I tried to become stronger. I started to take better care of myself. I started to lose weight. I was no longer fat. I threw away my old clothes and got myself a new outfit. I was 16 years old now, and I actually was a good-looking young man, if I may say so myself. I looked in the mirror and I saw a person that was confident, strong and determined. The bullying stopped and I even managed to get myself a nice girlfriend for the first time in my life. Life finally started to smile at me, and I smiled back.


I'm 24 years old now and I'm still a happy, healthy and confident young man. I picked up my passion for drawing and creating stories again and I actually study Game Development at an art university now. I'm trying to become a professorial 3D graphics artist and I hope to get a job in the video-game industry in the near future.



So, what is your story? Do you want to share it with us?

 

[hamzanoor]

OK.

Well i was always a nerd and a geek. Started playing video games back in 1989 (Mario). Luckily i was into gymnastics and had a lot upper body strength so no one would actually pick on me. My real problem started later on when i got older. I was a complete cultural Alien. I couldn't relate to people when i used to tell them i love playing video games they would make fun of me and tell me to grow up.

And well things haven't changed i am 29 i still love playing video games and i don't know a single person ,in real life, who has played the witcher or MGS or any popular game.

Another problem is that i love reading books written by Adorno ,Max Horkheimer , Herbert Marcuse, errich Fromm Fredy Perlman etc and when i try talking about their ideas people treat me as if i am crazy .I can't relate to people around me . The way they reason or the way they look at things or life is so different from mine, i am one guy who is finding it really hard to fit anywhere in life. But i am ok with all this ... because i chose this path.

 

[CostinRaz]

Yes and no I suppose you could say. When I was very young I had glasses ( I wear contacts now ) and I was picked on constantly by a few kids because of them also because I was this very small timid kid. But I have never given a shit what others thought of me even then and I was never bullied to the point you were.

 

[Garrison72]

I was bullied in highschool and got into a few fights as a result. It's a real problem in some instances, especially if it persists over years. Once I left highschool though, I never got bullied because of course most people grow the fuck up and have better things to do with their time. Honestly, kids are little demons from grades 1-12.

 

[luc0s]

Yes and no I suppose you could say. When I was very young I had glasses ( I wear contacts now ) and I was picked on constantly by a few kids because of them also because I was this very small timid kid. But I have never given a shit what others thought of me even then and I was never bullied to the point you were.

It is good to hear that you never gave a damn about the kids who bullied you. Not paying attention to them and basically ignoring these bullies is the best way of dealing with them. I've learned that the hard way.

For some reason I always cared a lot about what other people thought of me. I still do, to some degree, if I have to be perfectly honest. I don't know why I care about what other people think. I just do.

 

[luc0s]

OK.

Well i was always a nerd and a geek. Started playing video games back in 1989 (Mario). Luckily i was into gymnastics and had a lot upper body strength so no one would actually pick on me. My real problem started later on when i got older. I was a complete cultural Alien. I couldn't relate to people when i used to tell them i love playing video games they would make fun of me and tell me to grow up.

And well things haven't changed i am 29 i still love playing video games and i don't know a single person ,in real life, who has played the witcher or MGS or any popular game.

Another problem is that i love reading books written by Adorno ,Max Horkheimer , Herbert Marcuse, errich Fromm Fredy Perlman etc and when i try talking about their ideas people treat me as if i am crazy .I can't relate to people around me . The way they reason or the way they look at things or life is so different from mine, i am one guy who is finding it really hard to fit anywhere in life. But i am ok with all this ... because i chose this path.

Where do you live Snake, if I may ask? Playing video-games is pretty common where I live. Even games like The Witcher are quite popular over here. It's not frowned upon whatsoever, unless you're a video-game addict, but that's a completely different story.

I live in The Netherlands by the way.

 

[luc0s]

I was bullied in highschool and got into a few fights as a result. It's a real problem in some instances, especially if it persists over years. Once I left highschool though, I never got bullied because of course most people grow the fuck up and have better things to do with their time. Honestly, kids are little demons from grades 1-12.

At least, assuming from how you wrote your comment, you fought back. For the longest period I didn't even have the guts to fight back.

 

[hamzanoor]

Where do you live Snake, if I may ask?

Pakistan

 

[Geralt_of_bsas]

I used to get bullied a lot too in middle school and in early highschool, and i also love drawing and it was always my passion together with writing and playing games.

However, it first ended when in mid school, the very first day in my new school at third grade, i gave my bully a kick to the head and fractured his jaw, he couldnt eat solids for 2 weeks, and when the director of the school called me, my bully and our dads to talk, everything was explained, and my ex-bully said to me " i am really sorry for bothering you all this time, i didnt knew it was that bad and you taught me a lesson"

Then we became close friends and he never bullied anyone else, all the other idiots that might've thought of bullying me were very scared of me kicking their asses, plus i have a japanese last name and the false rumour that i knew karate spreaded quickly so that helped.

Then in highschool, also the very first day but now the first year, i was being bullied by two very very big guys who also came from poor neighborhoods, so there was the danger that they could've brought a knife or a gun and kill me, or call one of their brothers to do it after school, this is normal in Argentinean public schools.

I was very frightened and never thought of facing them in any particular way.

But one day, we were in "workshop" class(as always with them) where the teachers are always away from the class room, i was drawing in my sketchbook some very nice predators and xenomorphs from Alien, the drawings came out great, it was a new personnal achievement for me, and of course, the bullies had the greatest idea:

Steal my sketchbook and draw all over my new achievements with a big red marker while laughing and pushing me.

That was the drop that spilled the glass, cause i instantly smashed the guy's hand with my elbow against the table and pushed him from his chair making him hit his head against the floor, the other guy got surprised and i quickly grabbed my pencil and threatened to stab him in the neck with it.

They calmed down and never bothered me again, that was the last serious bullying i ever got, after that it was all discussions and insults, wich im great at so there was never a big problem.

Today now i've learned to look more confident like you said, but also i learned that a better solution is to just be comprehensive, wise and intelligent, so when i meet some asshole i can literally degrade myself to his level (all acting of course) and make him think im actually a asshole, so we relate together and they start to like me, and i can even get favors from them that way.

 

[Mihura]

I did got bullied like most but not on physical level, I always liked sports, studying, arts and since I live in a Latino country and have blond hair and blue eyes, it stands out a lot in a suppose positive way.
Since I was more strong physically most of the bullys were girls that talk about me in my back but there was this one girl that basically proclaim herself as the Queen and turn almost everyone against me, I never fond the reason for the hate. Either way it got to a point that it start to get ridiculous, even the guys started to get stupid and it did affect me in a long run since I decide to ignore it.

When I got to high school and then Uni things got a lot better but since I did not dealt with the problem and decide to ignore, I got some issue that comes from that experience. One being more aggressive and distrustful. I always hated discussing things with other people on a more confrontational situation since I was a really calm person, now I almost welcome it and I do not even care what others think.

 

[luc0s]

It's sad to see so many of us god bullied back in the past, but it's good to see everyone being so open about it and sharing their story. I really like reading your stories and I really like to read how you folks dealt with it.


Of course, the real subject about this thread is the video. Did any of you watch it? What did you guys think of it?

 

[vivaxardas2015]

I grew up in Russia, we moved a lot. I wasn't a particularly large kid, and my parents were very educated and intelligent people, so practically everywhere we went my new class-mates saw me as a push-over. Unfortunately I had and still have a very mean streak, and I figured out very early that large physical objects, such as bricks, pipes, and wood logs, level a play-field admirably. Plus, I started to work out, though by some reason it is really hard to see on me. I look nerdish still. So I sent them straight to the hospital, and kinda felt like Jason Broody in Far Cry 3 - first time it felt wrong, then it felt like winning. Unfortunately, when I was 17, it became illegal for me, so after my last episode I was given a choice - go to jail, or join the army. Instead of going to college, something I dreamed about and prepared myself for a long time, I spent three years of my life hugging AK47 fighting in a Chechen war. After that I became a contractor, which is a nice euphemism for a mercenary. So I pretty much wasted 10 years of my life, before I immigrated to the US. Now I regret all of this, the years wasted are not going to be given back to me. Without all those bullying my life would have been different. So yeah, any way you cut it - bullying is bad.

 

[KnightofPhoenix]

To my shame, I was a bully.

There was this guy, who was short (I was very tall relative to everyone else), so I used to call him smurf. And because of his haircut, I used to call him smurf Hitler. I never got physical with him or anything, but my bullying was practically a daily affair.

The sad part though, is that I was pretty much the closest thing he had to a friend, no one liked him. So when he failed the year, I was the only one there to comfort and encourage him. That was the last year I bullied him, though something funny happened. On that last day, I finally realized that my best friend was as tall (short) as he was
Thankfully I had grown by that point that I didn't carry on with the bullying.

So yea....

 

[ReptilePZ]

smurf Hitler

O_O

 

[KnightofPhoenix]

His haircut was as stupid. Oh and I forgot, for some weird reason, his hair formed like an antenna on the top of his head. So I used to say that this antenna allowed him to communicate with other smurfs.

 

[Garrison72]

His haircut was as stupid. Oh and I forgot, for some weird reason, his hair formed like an antenna on the top of his head. So I used to say that this antenna allowed him to communicate with other smurfs.

Well hell, then he deserved it./>

 

[KnightofPhoenix]

Of course he didn't deserve any of it. No one deserves to be bullied. But yes at the time, I did think he deserved it, which is stupid.

 

[Garrison72]

Of course he didn't deserve any of it. No one deserves to be bullied. But yes at the time, I did think he deserved it, which is stupid.

I was just being a smart ass, lol. Sorry. Now we know why I got into fights..

 

[chromie92]

I used to call him smurf Hitler.

Sorry but I had to laugh.

 

[wichat]

bullied at school? I don't remember, in fact, I was delayed a course because of language (my family left France to return to Spain when I was 8 years old), but still remain more than a year older than the other my classmates. I physically looked a year younger than them . I was very little, like a fragile little thing (it was not but do not I know myself). I was not aware that my classmates ignored me for the most part, do not include me in their plans .... partly because I was not interested in the same things as them. By then I had already built a good self defense barrier making me invisible ... (Too good: it took me years tear it down)

Bullied at school? I don't remember...

At work, oh, well, this another story!