I just heard on the news that an 11 year-old boy took his life by overdosing on painkillers because people bullied him at school for being clever! Can you believe that? The poor guy had his entire life ruined by bullying, and thought it was best to take it. Man, stuff like this really agravates me. I hope the people responsible actually feel responsible. His poor parents...

I apologize for not providing an article, I only heard it on the radio this morning, and it isn't big enough for an online article I don't think. Trust me, it happened...

His parents must be distraught. Hurts to be them...
He must have had incredible resolve though, for an 11 year old to go through with a suicide, remarkable.

It also shows that the bullying must have been bad. I mean, I probably didn't know what suicide meant when I was 11. And I hope the bullies realize what they've done and how much pain they've caused. But it also makes you think, why wasn't anything done? I think they said he did complain a little...

Yeah, kids do complain some. But it can be hard to distinguish between genuine bullying and some little tyke merely 'telling tales' so to speak. We'd really need to hear the official lowdown on this story before we can cast any real judgement as to what 'should have been done'. Either way, this little guy is never going to find out for himself that things are never as bad as they seem. Ah well, more likely than not he's in a better place, getting some long-overdue peace it would seem.

i cannot belive the bullying could be as bad as to drive someone to suicide, and nobody notice. surely if he took his own life thats proves he was bullied, but someone should have noticed before hand [img]graemlins/saywhat.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/madhell.gif[/img] i find it hard to accept anyone is that hartless as to bully somone that much. it really sickends me to see that side of humanity [img]graemlins/saywhat.gif[/img]

sad that one life has lost because of bullying, well the kid could have told someone about it and this matter could have been properly resolved. gee..

originaly by : slicer15
You hit the nail on the head,IMHO his parents ARE partly responsible for this. How did they not notice that their child was depressed all the time. Why did they leave pain killers within easy reach of a child. Also why didnt they teach their child to stand up for himself?? The poor kid who killed himself was probably never given the tools or skills to stick up for himself and make the bullying stop. When I was a wee tyke , if someone realy bullyed you busted his lip open. After that the bullying stopped and half the time you became friends with your former bully. Nowadays kids are bombarded from preschool with messages that hitting is wrong, so instead of getting into a fight they come to school with a shotgun or get all kinds of psychological problems. If you have ever read "Lord of the Flies" , we are raising a nation of kids who act like "Piggy". Unfortunately, they are easy prey for the "Jacks" of the world who want to drop stones on their heads.

It was in my paper today, Slicer.
What a sad story - poor kid. Of course we don't know the whole situation - how bad the bullying was, how his home situation was, if the child was prone to feeling low anyway. Whatever lead him to suicide, I'm sure he could have been helped. Poor little guy, feeling desperate enough to think he couldn't be helped.
Hunter - bullying is also very common in certain jobs. A lot of adults get bullied at work and while I do believe it might be a specific type of person that gets picked on, I truly doubt it's as easy as "sticking up for yourself" to make it stop. I don't suppose you think adults should start busting eachother's lips open at work too, or do you?
I think it's pretty sad that even adults can be bullies...

unfortunately , I do think that past a certain point adults should bust each other up as well. It is one thing if you work a job where everyone teases and picks on everyone else. That can be just a harmless way of blowing off a little steam with your co-workers. If it gets out of hand ,just saying something will usualy fix it. It is another thing entirely if you are singled out and tormented day after day. Most of the time, with people like that, a civilized "Hey thats not acceptable/funny" doesnt work. In a situation like that you can either try to get your tormentor fired, quit yourself, or bust his lip.
Talking is a great way to solve problems, but not all problems can be solved by talking. When you try to talk to someone you must assume that they are resonable and smart enough to take it to heart. Past a certain point talking is useless and a diffrent tactic has to be applied.

[ 07-04-2003, 11:56 AM: Message edited by: The Hunter of Jahanna ]

<font color=deepskyblue><font color=yellow>Melusine</font> - I'll have to agree with <font color=red>Hunter</font> on this issue. Bullies generally fall into two categories: 1) they have an inferiority complex themselves, so they pick on kids smaller and weaker to make themselves feel "big", or 2) they are just a$$holes - plain and simple - who like to shove other people around.

In either case, the LAST thing they expect (or want) is for their victim to turn around and bust them in the mouth. Once you stand up to a bully, he/she knows that you are no longer an "easy target". As <font color=red>Hunter</font> said, you often end up becoming friends with them, because the bully now has a new-found respect for you. Of course, this doesn't work every time and you certainly have to choose your battles carefully.

I was very small all through school and I was "picked on" by bullies many times. I didn't have the size or strength to stand up to them, so I had to endure a lot. I learned other ways to deal with them. One method that worked for me was to tell a mutual friend that I wasn't go to fight the person because I knew he could kick my a$$ and I didn't need to actually get the bruises to prove it. That worked in a couple of cases....but looking back now, I can see there were a couple of times I should have just knocked the ever-lovin' daylights out of bully.

Because I never stood my ground in high school, it has made it hard for me to do it as an adult too. I still struggle with standing up for myself (ain't that a shock [img]graemlins/wow.gif[/img] ) and I really don't like to have confrontations. Now I realize there were a couple of times when I should have thrown the first punch and then just took my lumps - or hopefully give them out. Even if I had lost, I would have had more respect for myself afterwards.

As for adult bullies on the job...absolutely, you should bust their lip... IF it can be done without jeapordizing your job (maybe catch them way from work ;) ). I had a coworker at my former job that decided he didn't like me for whatever reason, and he went out of his way to be a total jerk everyday. I put up with it as long as I could, then I finally went to the boss about it. That eased the problem temporarily, but it didn't last. So I would go to the boss to report each new incident as it occurred. I was afraid of a physical confrontation because I didn't want to lose my job {and the boss had said before that if there was ever a fight in his department, BOTH people would be fired with no questions asked}. But it eventually got to the point that going to the boss wasn't doing any good any more. So I went into his office one last time and told him <font color=white>"This is the last time I'm bringing this problem to you. The next time he does something, I'm gonna take care of it myself."</font> That was the last time I had a problem with him. Fortunately, it didn't have to come to blows, but it did come very close..and I was serious about taking care of business myself. This guy and I got in a heated argument one day and almost came to blows that time. He was bigger and stronger than me (aren't they always [img]graemlins/dontknowaboutyou.gif[/img] ) and I didn't know if I would come out on top or not...but I was gonna make sure he knew he had been in a fight before it was over with.

It's like Olivian Newton John once sang....sometimes, you just have to Get Physical!</font>

Terrible, terrible. We had a suicide like this in Calgary when I was in grade 6. If I remember correctly, the kid was in grade 5 and he had a least 3 hospital visits due to the bullies. He'd transfered schools, but the damage had been done: he ate his dad's gun.

I have to agree with Hunter and Cerek, though. Busting a lip might not be the nicest thing to do, but it's what you have to. Submission is the worst, and ratting them to teachers, while the encouraged "solution" isn't far behind, there is still a playground sense of honor.

Overall, just sad. :(

To me the playground sense of honour helps the bullies and makes it worse. Now you have a situation where the bully can do whatever they like and make some kid's life a living hell, and they can say 'you tell anyone and you'll be breaking the code of honour', basically giving them a 'legitimate' reason to bully them more if they do tell. So the kid not only has to endure torment from the bully, but if they tell, also the ostracising of most of their classmates. The whole concept of protecting people like bullies because of some idea of 'honour' is ludicrous! If people are beaten or raped or mugged out in the real world and they know their attacker are they encouraged to keep silent so the perpetrator won't get into trouble? And yet if a bully beats up one of their classmates or engages in insidious mental and emotional abuse leading them to fake illnesses to miss school and totally withdraw into themselves and someone asks them who's responsible the honourable thing is to say 'no one'? What rubbish [img]graemlins/idontagreeatall.gif[/img] .

This poor chap was a friend of a friend - although I didn't know him personally, I know several people who did know him well. Although young, he had spent much of his time campaigning against racism, and campaigning against fascist candidates in his home town. He was a thoughtful young man who wanted to make the world he lived in a better place. My condolences are with his family and friends. He will be sorely missed by many. Utter tragedy.

<font color="cyan">This story is nothing new, its just another statistic. This happens far too much, and is in the papers in England, far, far too much.

It is a crying shame.

A girl three weeks ago in England, I think she was 13, tied metal wire around her braces, then threw it onto mainline train wires.

She died after 100percent burns, and 6 days in a coma.</font>

Lavindather is right. It does happen alot, and it really is terrible. Many of these young people keep diaries of the bullying they suffer, and it makes for traumatic reading.

The reason they don't tell people? Because nothing gets done about it. Teachers are told, and nothing happens. The bully is given some kind of warning, thereby alerting him that a teacher has been told. his response? Bully some more, for revenge. It doesn't change when parents contact teachers either. They just don't seem willing to take action.

I remember when I was young and in elementary school. Whenever one of the kids ever reported an incident of bullying, the first words out of a teacher's mouth were "Don't tell tales." After hearing this a few times, kids stop confiding in teachers.

Either because of this, or because of the idiotic "playground honour" system alluded to earlier, the kids simply retreat into their own private hell. For many of them, a suicide attempt it a cry for attention (and I don't mean that in a belittling way). Sadly, for others, it is a final solution.

It is virtually certain that standing up to a bully and ramming his nose through his head would stop the bullying, but again - this country seems to have it all ass-backwards. If you confront a bully in a physical manner, often it is you that gets the punishment. When you are told fighting isn't the way to solve problems, if you reply "But I told you, and you did nothing" only gets you a weeks detention for insolence.

Sadly, bullying at work also seems to be a big issue. Many of the people who perpetrate the workplace abuse are probably the school bullies who never mistakenly picked on a kid who fought back.

One thing I learned at school was that for a bully, it's all about status. It's a way of them being able to demonstrate power. As soon as you show that they have no power over yu, it tends to stop.

It also may be of interest to note that it seems to be the girls who indulge in some of the nastiest group-bullying, where the *in* crowd have been known to gang up 15 - 1 against another girl, and pummeled her senseless.

All in all, it's a really sad situation, and I don't really see any solution that will suit everyone.

Barden that was one hell of a great post.

I still bear the mental and physical scars of bullying. I could not even look at this post for a day or so because the thread title gets me upset, and reading the posts makes me choke. My 2 thoughts on the subject for your feedback are.

1* Bullying is to soft a term, when it is prolonged over a month it should be called what it is TORTURE

2* As a society we have to get serious about this. In the same way we have about sexual assault. 20 years ago if a lady complained about sexual assault there was disbelief "she brought it on" attitude and basically just not taken seriously by the authorities. Now thankfully attitudes have changed and getting better *still a way to go* The same MUST be done with school torture victims.


Sorry if this post is angry, but it is the way I feel. :mad:

When I was in 7th grade (back in ancient times) an 8th grader decided to pick on me. After a couple weeks I popped him about 5-10 times in the head (and yes indeed I "busted his lip") and that put a stop to that. He actually said sorry a few days later. Of course his 8th grade buddy did beat the crap out me [img]tongue.gif[/img] But I fought back then too, so never really had a problem after that.

And rightly so, Wellard.
I totally agree on how severe a problem this is.

Cerek, I don't think respect is earned by hitting someone. Any dumb moron can hit a person, does that make YOU respect them?
I agree that sometimes, it is a good thing for a bully to get a taste of his/her own medicine, and that may include getting a good whupping. But I completely disagree that this is the only way to do it, or that it's always a good way. As Bardan says, a lot of the time it's the bullied kid that gets the busted lip when it comes to fighting.
Standing up to a bully is the way to stop the bullying, I agree, but it can be physical and verbal. What's more important however is that the outsiders DON'T ALLOW the bullying. In most classes, there's one kid that gets bullied, a small group headed by a leader that does the bullying, and the rest sits and watches and does nothing. THAT sort of cowardice is what needs to be broken. I know what I'm talking about - I was in a class where people got bullied. Not severely, but they might have been if the rest of the class hadn't made it clear that they wouldn't stand for the bullying. If you make clear in a relaxed, mature way that you look down on the bully, are not impressed by his or her antics, it does help. The bullied kid is often not in the position to do so, but the rest of the class is.
Bullying is a social problem; if you feel bad for those who are bullied, you can at least do something about it yourself. What allows this to happen is the fact that the majority of people hides in the crowd and doesn't speak out.

I agree. But a lot of kids don't see it that way. Not so much for girls, but for boys the stereotype is to simply suck it up and deal with it, or to fight back and stand up for yourself. I'm not saying they shouldn't say it, simply that that's what they think. I work at a summer camp, and oftentimes, the best way to deal with a bully is to talk to them, and get them to express themselves. Usually their pretty good kids, but they are angry and confused.

I also agree with Bardan. IMO, bullying is treated as a nuisance, a problem for kids to deal with in order to mature. However, it's so much worse than that. I remember watching a TV special on bullying a few years back. The parents and kids reported it to the administrator who said, "You've got to learn to deal with people. It's a fact in the adult world." And I think my feelings were best summed up with the comment of one of the parents, "When was the last time I got body slammed standing in line at a grocery store?"

It's adults not being able to understand kids, quite honestly. And if they can't, what the hell are they doing in education? :mad:

One problem that I have with bullying is the groups. Its impossible to stand up to a bully if all his "friends" are surrounding him. That makes it worse, really, as they just laugh at you for trying. But bullying isn't that bad in my school, at least, not in a physical way. They will never actually hit you, and that could be a way to surorise them, as they never dare doing it themselves. They're mostly just talk. But I'm not a physical person. It would take a lot to get me worked up enough to actually hit someone. I can't stand violence, though granted I have occasions where I want to hit someone... [img]tongue.gif[/img]

Joking aside, I would still never hit someone. It would have to take a lot, and I mean a lot. Maybe a life-death situation. I'm not sure. But I've never ever given anyone a good punch. Ever.

exactly. the groups are the worst. if you stand up to the bully and "bust his lip", the group often then starts shoving you around, heck, ive even witnessed a scene when the victim snaped knocked the bully down, only to have the bullys friends hold him while the bully threw a few punches! luckily the teachers stopped the fight before anything seriously damaging happened. i myself have had a few situations where i get bullied by a group of 4-5 seventeen year olds(just for the record, im 15). now the bully himself is about my size/strenght, so if he came alone i might [img]graemlins/fighting.gif[/img] back, but since his friends are all bigger and probably alot stronger than me, i dont really bother picking a fight. luckily its mostly verbal instead of physical. i can deal with that...

Yes, great post [img]smile.gif[/img] . The sad thing is, often in a situation where a few kids are bullied by a group, the rest of the class does nothing because they are afraid they will be targetted if they speak out, even if they know they should. There's so much emphasis on fitting in and being accepted that only really self-confident teens will make a stand like that and risk being the next victim - and there are few who are. A 'thank god it's not me' kind of attitude.

I also don't think I agree with Bardan saying it is almost certain fighting back will stop the bullying - a lot of bullying is done in groups and so while Cerek's kid with the inferiority complex is one type of bully, when you get a whole pack of them their inferiority complexes give way to strength in numbers, and getting physical with them would likely just get the victim beaten worse, if not when they first stand up to them, but retaliation later. There's a whole mob mentality aspect to much bullying - probably a few of the bullying group would never be bullies if they were alone or had a different group of friends, but again, the desire to be accepted when they can see what happens when they're not makes them do things they know are wrong.

I do agree with Bardan though that there is probably equal bullying from girls. However it's sometimes said that girls' bullying is 'worse' because it is mental and boys' bullying is physical, so can be much more devastating to the victim, but boys are equally capable of mental torture and being 'bitches' towards other boys - I've seen them do it.

I think the teachers say this to save themselves. I mean what exactly can they do? Give out detention? Suspension? Expulsion? They need to have some proof of this in ordor to do this. If they have the proof they pretty much will do this with out the parents calling in.

I've know of two teachers who have tried to do something about a "bully" with out cacthing him in the act. One had his car trashed and had death threats sent to him until he finaly swichted schools. The other was sued and lost her job.

What I'm trying to say is maybe the administrator aren't making light of this but are just powerless to do anything about it. So they just try and make the problem not theirs.

In every reply here I keep hearing "bullying", a lot of these kids are getting "teased" either because they arn't "cool" or maybe they can't afford the right clothes or shoes.Teasing can be just as bad or even worse to younger kids,even adults.As a kid in school I was always teased cause I had large feet! Size 12 an I'm only 5'10",now I just tell them "you know what large feet mean" weather they do or not it always shuts them up .Plus at 56 I just don't give a shit who says what anymore..We just need to care more about each others feeling a little more,don't preach christianity,live it!!

Slicer, it's always sad when a kid thinks there is no hope and nobody to help them. Ending one's life is the saddest thing, because there's almost always hope and someone who could help. :(


It sounds like you run into some bullying even if it's 'mild' compared to others. Sometimes it's a matter of how you perceive things. If you are being physically bullied, it's time to either fight back or get outside help. If it's verbal then perhaps you can outwit them or simply not play their game. Most bullies are cowards and NEED that group around them to make them feel big enough to pick on others. My guess is, if you don't respond, they don't get much fun out of it and go elsewhere. But every situation is different. Just don't let it get to you and be sure to talk to others about it if you need help.

I think this might seem to be a little off-topic BUT

It seems to me that a lot of people, in fact EVERYONE in the bullying cycle seems to take it with the wrong attitude. Often, the bully considers it necessary, normal or any of a number of attitudes. The victim takes it too personally (usually fairly wrongly) or as an indication of themselves. Oftentimes, the parents and the administrators read too much or too little into it. It's a fine line. There is always going to be teasing at schools, no doubt about it. That's fine. There is however, a line that CANNOT be crossed. It seems to me like there are some adults who are too eager to cross it (Johnny made a little joke at your expense? Oh, straight to the assistant principal!) and some who simply won't (these are those that ignore violent warning signs.)

Now, I'm not justifying anything in this post, I simply noticed this. There is some teasing to everyone. It's necessary, or else everyone is way too uptight around everyone else, for fear of setting them off, and is alone (another problem.) It's just that, we as a society have to better recognize when it goes too far, educate our kids better about it (One of my brother's health teachers told them to "Tell the bully that you don't appreciate it, and it makes you feel small". Great, how many bullies is that gonna stop?) and to figure out better ways to address the societal problems around this subject.

Another thing is the cross-gender bullying. Now, this is a rarer type, but it still exists, and is as bad as any other one. My brother, who is now 13, had severe problem with a group of girls in grade 6. They would call him at all times, sometimes 11 pm on a schoolnight (<u>I'm</u> not even up that late), put him down and just generally harassing him. It's a weird phenomenon, but I think that it's just as easy (and this kind DOESN'T get reported, for the fairly obvious reason that guys shouldn't get pushed around by girls.)

Sorry if this post seems rambly, but I have a whole bunch of different, intersecting thoughts on the issue.

I was shocked when I first heard the news too, Cloudy. I really felt sorry for the kid and his family. I think I said before, I hope the bullies actually feel responsible for the amount of pain they've caused.

And the bullying I referred to is no problem. It was a larger problem when I was younger, in Primary School, and even then it was never physical. I consider myself lucky, and I'm not worried about bullies now, I just ignore 'em, stand up to them, etc...most of the time its only for a short amount of time. For example, I cycled to a newsagent to get a photo done, and there was a "hard" kid standing outside. As soon as I left the bike with my friend he started picking on him, and saying stuff like, "CAn I have a ride?" in that strange sarcastic manner these kids do. He was my age etc...I saw this from the inside of the shop and when the bully grabbed the handlebars I went outside. I told him to leave it alone, he asked once again, I said no, and then he sort of did that thing where they glare at you from 5 cm away. I simply stood there and glared back, and he walked away. In that case, the confrontation was the best way to go about it. But in other cases other methods will work better. I just consider it lucky I haven't suffered the level of torment other kids have.

http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/stor...ws/news2.shtml


************************************************

Tom learned boxing to beat the bullies..but he wasn't a fighter

By Paul Lewis


ON the right of this page is a picture of a gentle-looking little boy looking awkward in a pair of boxing gloves. Below that, touching lines from his glowing school report.

Look at them both closely. Because his grieving mum wants you to.

For together they destroy the ancient myth that the way to beat brutal bullies is for well-behaved, sensitive children like Thomas Thompson to try to stand up to them.

Eleven-year-old Thomas took his own life last week after a terrifying final school morning which his mother Sandra timetables in harrowing detail today.

He never lived to learn that the News of the World had won an important victory in our campaign to stamp out the evil of bullying—the announcement of a special government Commissioner for Children.

But today the mum he loved so much backs our demands to the hilt.

And she reveals how in despair she and her partner Geoff did what so many worried parents of bullied children do—and encouraged Thomas to defend himself.

"My beautiful son is gone now, and all of his dreams and hopes—even though I tried absolutely everything to help him," sobs 32-year-old Sandra. "At one point we even took him to have boxing lessons.

"I suppose in a way it was to try to toughen him up but he was such a caring, loving boy and he didn't like violence. He enjoyed the exercise—but he simply wasn't a fighter."

Sensitive

Thomas's final report from his primary school last summer is evidence of that. A report to mist the eyes of any proud parent. Peppered with heart-warming adjectives.

"Thomas is a pleasant, sensitive and intelligent boy who is always eager to help his teachers," it reads.

"His gentle and mature attitude made him an ideal candidate for a Reception-Year 6 link-up programme—a responsibility that Thomas accepted with great conscientiousness.

"He has worked extremely hard all year and thoroughly deserves his very good SATS scores. I have really enjoyed teaching Thomas this year."

But tragically, such gifts can also make children like Thomas sitting targets for vile bullying—especially at senior school.

In Thomas's case his tormentors turned the first-year pupil's bus rides to Wallasey School, Merseyside, into a nightmare—hitting him, spitting on him, choking him with his tie.

What he suffered was so traumatic it gave the lad—who had an eight-year-old sister Alex—a phobia about getting on any bus, not just the school's.

"Only last month he came home and they had taken a pen and scribbled all over his shirt while he was waiting for the bus," says Sandra.

"He told me what the bullies did to him. The problem was that most of it happened outside the class away from the teachers.

"I offered to take him to school but he said the kids would think he was a mummy's boy. The school knew he was frightened to get on the bus, but because he was too scared to name names they did nothing."

Ironically, the day before Sandra was to have a showdown with teachers about the bullying was to be the last of Thomas's brief life. This is what happened:

9am: Thomas, too frightened to get the bus to school, wanders the streets of New Brighton, four miles from his home.

11.15am: He is spotted by his head of year who is driving to an appointment. He orders Thomas to school.

Thomas pleads with him to take him in his car, but the teacher tells him to get the bus—"the one thing he absolutely dreaded," says Sandra.

Thomas catches an ordinary bus—only to find some of his bullies sitting there. He is driven off it.

1.30pm: The school phones shop assistant Sandra at work to tell her Thomas is missing. She is asked to come in for a meeting about his truancy the next day.

4.10pm: Worried Sandra has kept ringing home and finally Thomas answers after making his way home.

Overdose

She tells him she's going to see the teachers. He cries. "I will never forget the pain in his voice. I told him that when I got home we could sit down and talk it all through," says Sandra. The phone call lasts an hour.

6.30pm: Sandra gets home from work and finds her son dead on his bed from an overdose of painkillers.

"I just walked into his bedroom and saw him lying there and his lips were blue," says Sandra. "All I can say is that I hope no parent ever has to go through what I did that night."

Now she is calling for dedicated anti-bullying officials to be placed in every school in Britain so that children will have someone, apart from teachers, to turn to.

"All I can hope for is that something good can come from Thomas's death," says Sandra, clutching one of the teddies he used to buy her as presents from his pocket money.

"If there had been somebody official he could turn to in the school then maybe he would be here today.

"I will miss Thomas so much. He was a loving, bright, intelligent boy with so much potential.

"But I want other parents to realise that it doesn't only matter how well your child is doing inside the classroom, it also matters what happens to them before and after the school bell rings."


************************************************

I wonder what the parents of the little bastards that bullied him have to say about all this.

Thats a pretty sad story, Bardan. I find it hard to believe that the other kids on that bus did nothing while he was tormented by those little creeps.

Bullying.... It makes me sick, very sick. I hate seeing it in the world, just because someone isn't cool, someone isn't smart, someone doesn't have good clothes, what they like, their lifestyle. It's all wrong, but what makes me just as sick is that no one does anything about it. The normal advice "Just ignore them and when they see it doesn't bother you." doesn't cut it for some bullies. It's not as easy to ignore bullies as some people think. If what the bullies say about you doesn't do anything, they start saying stuff about family, which isn't easy to ignore. A bully was on my bus one time and right when I was stepping off the bus he yells "I hope your mom dies Andrew!". I was ticked. I wanted to jump right back on the bus and slam my fist into his chubby face, but I didn't have time to. Later that night I get on AIM and he starts talking to me. He starts cussing me out and calling me gay and stuff like that. I was invited into a chat room alot of my friends were in and we started talking, then this bully is invited and starts making fun of me again. That's when I try to beat him at his own game. I threw out every cruel insult I had. He didn't bother me for about a week. School really should be doing more about bullies. My school had some rules on it saying that bullying will not be tolerated and will be taken care of immediatly. I never saw any teacher do anything about it. One teacher actually enforced this rule though. Whenever someone in her class got made fun of, she took action and sent the bully to the office with out the victim even having to do anything. She was probably one of my favorite teachers. [img]tongue.gif[/img] Bullying doesn't just take place in schools though. Out of school bullying is just as bad and sometimes worse. What also sickens me is that some kids just sit back and WATCH. They don't help the victim or anything. If others would just help then maybe some people could be helped.

Well...there's the article...and what's worse, he was made fun of for actually being clever. He was perfectly normal, was offered help, but to no avail. Man, that could have been my sister two years ago. Grr...it really works me up. I really, really hope the bullies themselves realise what they've done. If not, someone should tell them. In the bluntest way possible.