Slight rant-warning
Due the events I experienced at college recently (you could also say "relived"), I inadvertently got reminded of some of my most hated childhood memories: bullies.
Bullies, the opposing force of a harmonical society, the moulds that spoil our food, the mosquitos that roam in your bedroom at night, the devil's little helpers.
Apologies for my somewhat derogatory comparisons, but unless you have been bullied before, especially repeatedly, you have no idea what it is like at all.
Anyway, bullies are the kind of people that form some of the biggest disruptions in our society as a whole. They are the ones that search for individuals just to harass them, cause them to feel uncertain about themselves or pester them just for fun. Bullying is especially a plague in the form of groups: multiple people with the same malicious intentions that do their best to be as obnoxious to you as possible. Because picking on someone less popular than them to impress their friends who are equally as wicked as the main bully that orders them around is really "cool."
They aren't people that are put in special schools or excluded from our peaceful society, no. They have been among us for eternities and it doesn't look like that will change anytime soon.
Bullying, both in-person and online, is responsible for an enormous amount of people with depression, self-insecurity, traumas and even suicides. That's probably why a survey in the newspaper resulted in a 88% "yes" vote on the statement: "Bullying is a large social problem that needs to be fought." Even today, thousands of people fall victim to bullies. It's a real sad thing in this world that should know better seen the history of this grand-scale problem.
Now as the essence of this thread, I would like to ask you one question: have you ever been the victim of bullying, saw someone else get bullied or even know stories about people in your close vicinity getting bullied?
If so, please share them in this thread. Let's also respect each other's experiences, for this is a sensitive subject to some people.
If you have a rather long story to share, consider putting it in a section to avoid clotting up the thread: \[section]Your story here[\/section]
Note: when you want to refer to names, it's best to use a fake name for them to protect their privacy, even when it's only a given name instead of a surname. e621 has a rule against disclosing real names on the site so beware!
My story about being bullied during my childhood
Primary
While I can't really remember much from primary, I do know that it wasn't a nice period. I got bullied a lot for being quite withdrawn and because my way of thinking and handling situations deviated from the rest.
I'm really glad my memory fails to recall the vast majority of the events during that period.
There was one guy, probably a few years older than me, that always took the time and effort to search me up and fling some detrimental words to my head. He especially liked it to make puns out of my (highly pun-able) last name. About that, I've been made fun of solely for my last name for about 10 entire years by a dozen amount of kids.
The last grade was split up in two classes. The other class contained most of the bullies and people I'd rather not be around. That didn't stop them from getting onto me though.
Over the years at primary, I mostly got name-called, insulted and yelled at, but was also the victim of (light) violence sometimes.
And the teachers? The teachers did't care at all, while it was happening right in front of them. They never took it serious. Leaving primary was a big relief for that reason.
Secondary
Year 1
It did begin good. A fresh start, all past rumours and reputation erased and the majority of my old class went elsewhere, especially the people I used to despise for what they were. The class in which I was put was alright.
Near the end of year 1, someone joined our class. I almost immediately friended this person because he was friendly and had the same kind of humor as me, albeit he was a bit of a weird one. I tell this because this had influence on the remaining 3 years. The year itself went past with little fuss.
Year 2 & 3
Since these two years were mostly the same, I just merged them together. They were important years, though, because I met the most friends in it.
However, the friend I had in year one became a friend of someone who joined our class in year two, while I also friended him. I wanted to just share the amount of time sitting next to each, but this almost always resulted in a competition. This ultimately caused the friend status between me and my friend from year one to become unstable and he often lashed out to me.
The people I friended weren't very nice at all times. I noticed by now, that they always plotted against me behind their back, but in a way that made it seem like they were innocent to save their reputation in front of the girls. It feels miserable to feel betrated like that.
I kept hanging out with them though, for I knew no better ones anyway.
That did change at the end of year 3 though. I friended a guy I used to dislike (he even had the same name as me). He was one of the only people who I truly consider as friend when I look back at it.
Year 4
Year 4 was the worst of them all. I got separated from my friends (I still called them that while I should have known better). and was put in the "residue" of what was left: the class with all the bullies and people I've never even seen before. I don't think a single day dawned in which I didn't get called out on or was made fun of behind my back (while I could very clearly hear them). This was the first time in my life I truly hated some people on my school.
There was also a girl who I still consider as one of the most awful persons I've ever met in my entire life. She was unreal. Her attitude was atrocious, and she seemed to have a particular hatred against me for apparently no reason other than my assumption of rumours from fellow bullies. She was a thorn in my eye and mind.
Again, the teachers did not care, because why should they? The headmaster did take me and a few bullies involved in a dispute apart to talk about what happened one time. It was a nice attempt, but it didn't really work as that same day they just resumed their vile ways of trying to destroy me from the inside.
I also told him about that girl I mentioned in the paragraph above who once hit me and called me "cancer child." He knew it, but didn't do anything about it. Not a single thing. He only came to me a few months later to ask how I was doing and if I still want to talk about it.
From that day on, I just gave up on counting on help from teachers, as my mental health is obviously not their problem. Besides, if bullies are involved in a talk you request a teacher to hold with them, all that will happen is that they will target you even more.
College
Year 1
The step from secondary to college was an extraordinarily pleasant one. This was mainly because of the age of the people I met in college. A lot of them were mature (as in age, but also in attitude), even when I entered the first class. Some lived on their own already and there was one guy that flew over to the Netherlands on his own while he originated from Aruba. The youngest person back then was 16 years old (with me being the second youngest).
There were 5 directions for the study to choose from: chemistry, microbiology, medical, food and water. Water was the only direction that split up from the remaining 4 directions in the midst of the year. Thank heavens for that, because water contained exactly the most moronic people I've met on college even to this day.
Year 2
This was one of the most pleasant years of education I've ever had. The class that was formed was awesome without a doubt. Literally nobody in my class had any contempt towards anyone: everyone was treated with respect and with an attitude of "join in!" when it came to social events. Nobody was put down or excluded.
Year 3
I had kind of hoped to never again meet bullies in real life, but I have had hopes that were too high apparently. Luckily I am still in the class that I consider as the best one far.
What I said about those stupid people that went the water direction in year 1 applies here: exactly those people are roaming the halls in college again, shouting out my name several times in "funny" accents or various different tone heights. They only ever do so when in a group, never on their own. Childish cowards.
It might not really seem worth it getting pent up over, especially not seen the fact that they don't actively look for me, but understand that they only target me out of all people, and they never allow any occasion to harass me to slip. It's getting to the point that I actively try to avoid them and slightly panic from the inside whenever I see them approaching.
I just cannot understand. When you are at an age of say 20, how is it possible that some people still choose the depraved and destructive way of crippling other people their self-esteem and making them believe they are worthless and unwelcome? How is that possible while you are supposed to be developing the mindset and attitude of a grown adult? Why don't they see that it is completely unacceptable to put anyone down because you enjoy from committing such sadistic actions for you and your friends cruel satisfaction?
I cut an article from the paper during my internship at the end of last year and pinned it to the wall of my room. It's an amazing column by Dutch columnist Hadjar Benmiloud, re-iterating some very true facts about bullies and their dedeplorable mindset: Dear bullies.
If anyone wants me to translate it to English, just say so and I'll get it done.
Updated by treos