Well I was suicidal when I was a teenager, and I’m gay. I was bullied a lot too, but didn’t have the aha I gay moment until highschool.
Do we just blame childhood bullying for everything these days?
It’s a totally normal part of life that EVERYONE goes through.
I understand its worse for some than for others,
But it’s an age old tradition.
At the risk of sounding like an old lady,
Kids these days need to toughen up.
Because the “bullying” never quits.
When you get out of high school it’s called “life”.
The ignorance in that reply beggars belief.
Ha!
Bullying is never going to go away because kids are jerks.
I think it’s ridiculous to blame an entire life of suffering on ■■■■kids said to you in 4th grade.
What are we going to do?
Make bullying illegal?
Put the mean kids in kiddie prison?
No, we put up with it, like we always have.
You learn from these universal experiences.
Being gay I can say it’s something you are born with. I always remember being gay, it’s just I didn’t realize it until highschool.
My dad taught my niece Kung Fu when she was little. A bully picked a fight with her and that bully got her ass kicked. Nobody messed with my niece after that. Teach your kids to defend themselves.
There are kids that have committed suicide because of bullying.
When I was a kid bullying was not so extreme. Some girls told me I was ugly in the first grade. I was 30 before I learned otherwise. It affected my whole life until that point. It’s not going to go away though cos people are mean and always have been.
That’s what I’m saying.
My daughter was picked on in school from elementary to high school. She’s ok now though. She told me she felt different cos she was one brown kid in a sea of white. But her bf is Mexican American and she’s good with his family so she feels better now. (Technically she has a lot more Caucasian blood than Hispanic but she looks very Hispanic. She’s 33% Native American, some African and the rest Caucasian so…)
My mom works for a Native American tribe.
You can get crazy good benefits if you can prove this.
Wow ! Yeah I forgot about that! According to her 23andme profile she’s 33% Native American (south American) from Ecuador. Idk if that makes a difference. I mean she was born here. Her dad is an immigrant
Have any of your family every registered with the tribe?
If they have, combined with the blood tests, you could start getting benefits.
No. We’re not registered. It’s family folklore that we’re Native American (Cherokee) but when I took my dna test from 23andme they said I’m 100% European. I’ve heard though that those tests aren’t legit when it comes to finding NA dna. So idk.
All students should have a safe and supportive environment in school in order for them to reach their full potential. Every school should have a zero-tolerance policy in regards to bullying. The parents of the bully should be notified by mail that their child’s behavior will not be tolerated, and further infractions will result in suspension and/or expulsion.
Here’s more:
Did you grow up thinking that all of your classmates in primary were also having sex with their parents, but that nobody talked about it because you weren’t supposed to? That’s my baseline for a normal childhood.
From what you’ve shared about your childhood,
It sounds horrific.
It really shows strength of character that you survived it.
My comments were mostly directed at people that are dealing with common childhood bullies.
Eh, I strongly disagree with this opinion. My bullying didn’t just consist of kids saying mean things to me in the 4th grade. Growing up with severe gynecomastia as a kid most of my bullying consisted of being groped and nipple twisters and literally being spat on.
I will never believe the solution to that is to just “toughen up,” nor will I feel any sort of shame for recognizing the profound impact my childhood bullying has had on the rest of my life.
You may be right that bullying will never end, but putting responsibility on the victims of bullying to toughen up just reeks of victim blaming to me.
I should have gotten help from the countless numbers of teachers and professionals I told, instead I got the “boys will be boys,” speech and was pretty much told people coming up and grabbing my chest was okay and normal and I have to not let it bother me.
We’ll just have to agree to disagree because my opinion stands.
What you went through, was not everyday childhood bullying that @Charles_Foster is speaking of. You went through something different, ie. serious childhood trauma. That is different. Not every child goes through that. My heart aches for you.