Stories

(Page 23 of 57)

Filter by story categories:

Students Taking Action

Schools Taking Action

Inspired Fundraising

Disability

Send Us Your Story

All Stories

Why?

Posted: 1/7/2014

Why don't you see the things you say effect me. Why do you think it's okay to call me all those hurtful names. And to spread lies about me. Why can't you tell that you need to stop because they really hurt me. Do you really find a satisfaction in seeing me fall apart? And in seeing me in pain and tears. Do you really find joy in telling people lies and causing me to walk alone in the halls hearing people whisper hurtful things that you said about me that aren't even true. I can't answer that for you. But you can. Why not try to stop and see how much pain you've caused me and how many nights I couldn't sleep because to much was running through my mind. Couldn't you just let me be happy? And not run your mouth about me. Please just tell me why you do this to me? What have I done wrong to deserve this. Just give me an answer.

By: Stephanie

Permalink for Why?

I’ve Got My Dignity

Posted: 1/3/2014

chorus:
I've got my dignity
I'm who I want to be
I've got the truth inside my heart
And no one can ever take that away from me
They think I'm weak because I choose to walk away
But I am stronger than they will ever be
Cause I've got my dignity
Yes I've got my dignity

verse:
They pick on me
They rough me up
They call me names
They don't know when enough is enough
They don't understand
How I carry on
And if they think I'm giving up
Well that's where they are wrong
Cause I know where I belong

bridge section:
They pick on me, they pick on me
They rough me up, they rough me up
They call me ugly they call me ugly
They don't know when enough is enough
They’re taunting me, they’re haunting me
They call me names
But they don't know that I am tough
And if they think I'm giving up
Well that's where they are wrong
Cause I know where I belong

repeat chorus:

© 2013 Norman Kerner - George Gesner
contact: Norman 301-330-3469 / [email protected]
207 Amberfield Ln., Gaithersburg, MD 20878 USA

By: Norman Kerner

Permalink for I’ve Got My Dignity

Take A Stand

Posted: 12/30/2013

How many more kids need to die? How many more kids need to try to find a way to escape the pain or a way to hide from the lies that are told? They hide behind a smile all the while inside the darkness seems to have no end. One by one they leave this world and those around are left with the question why. Principles, teachers, monitors, policemen; we hear you preach but no one seems to see how easy it could be if we unite in this fight to stop the hate. We need to stop and think about what we see. Don't turn a blind eye, it's not always easy, but if you try you will find, when they push another and call out names ,"sticks and stones may brake your bones but words will never hurt you," does not apply in reality: it causes some to die. There’s not always a reason, there's not always a cause, just some kids that are bored thinking its funny, or not thinking at all. If you fail to recognize the signs that are right before your eye's; another life lost, another family destroyed. Never let the people who bring you down make you feel as though you should not be around; we need you, we really do .They call you names and chase you down, because they're afraid that the day will come that they will be on the other side. Hurting others takes the pain away for just a moment in time. All you boys who think you need to treat a girl with disrespect, undermine her feelings, trying to hide the fear of what comes next. Spreading all the lies, telling all the boys she let you have your way. She's walking through the halls, hearing sounds of whispers and she crys yelling why, why'd he have lie? He won't even look at her, he won't even talk to her, he's feeling so much shame knowing he's the one to cause her pain. Be strong, stand your ground, life's worth living with you around. Be strong, stand your ground, never let them bring you down. You see her crying and sitting alone, you see her yelling leave me alone. You see them laughing and you shy away ,hoping they don't find a way to turn on you, because you know the pain they cause. Still you pause and think "if only I was strong enough to say leave her alone, then she will see in reality there are those who care," but you don't dare. Wake up to find she will not be coming to school today, she will not be around, she has found a way to stop her pain. Tears fall from your eyes asking, "Why didn't I try." Counselors come to talk to us, saying it will be okay, but do they know? Where were they when she needed them the most? How will they help me, who was to scared to take a stand, as I look around and see all the kids crying like me? I ask where we're they before, now it's to late, she won't be here no more. The chance to say I'm sorry, lend a helping hand. Even a simple smile could have gone a mile, but time has run out for yet another child. As we bow our heads and pray, may she rest in peace we say. I know this is long, but my feelings are strong, we need to get the word out.

TAKE A STAND IT MAY SAVE A LIFE

By: Kelly

Permalink for Take A Stand

‘I Remember’

Posted: 12/27/2013

By 13-year-old Singer-Songwriter, Valentina Kamenov

By: Valentina Kamenov

Permalink for ‘I Remember’

Somehow I Manage

Posted: 12/23/2013

My life changing experience started when I was in 6th grade. As soon as I started at my new school I was picked on. At first it was because I was shy and new. It did not bother me, due to that fact that I have been told stuff like that before. However, it did not start getting worse until around the middle of the school year. They started calling me a fag, queer, homo, spread rumors about me in school and in public websites such as myspace at the time and youtube. Most of the teachers knew and there were some that said something to the “popular” kids that were doing the bullying.

During all of the bullying in 2008, my seventeen year old cousin was killed in a dirt bike accident on a dirt road. It changed my attitude for several weeks. I had stopped eating, stayed home from school, and wouldn’t come out of my bedroom. It was the point in my life where I had become overcome with sadness and wanting the pain to disappear. Losing my cousin who was not only family, but I considered one of my best friends, it wore me out physically and emotionally. Add bullying on top of that and it’s a very difficult situation to be in. During the winter of 2008, my family decided to move out to a small town. It was only a few minutes away from my cousin’s parents and other family members. When I started school, I honestly thought that because of being related to my cousin and everyone knowing who I was, I wouldn't have had a problem. Yeah, well I was defiantly wrong. It was ten times worse than what I was dealing with previously. I was again called names such as fag and etc; they spit on me during science class one day, and even ran into me on purpose in the hallways. It got so bad that I would constantly call home during lunch, begging my parents to let me come home. The teachers, principle, and resource officer all knew what was going on. One teacher stepped up and helped me during the entire three years it was happening.

During the summer of 2009, my parents had separated and I lost two close family members. When I returned to school after missing a few days, my mother went to the school with me to inform the principle at the time what all had happened and asked to make sure nobody starts with me. That very day, I went into math class and sat down. No one said anything to me, which was a good sign for me. I stood up and went to my math teachers deck to turn in my makeup work from the days I had missed. On my way walking up to her desk, some of the kids decided to make some smart comments to me. When I got to the desk, I turned around and asked if they had an issue. None of them answered me, so I went back to my desk and was getting ready to sit down when I heard them again. I repeated and asked again if anyone had a problem. Two of them turned around and looked at me. The one was the “leader” of the bullying pack and the other was a follower. At that point, I took my glasses off and proceeded to walk up to his desk. I looked right at him and pretty much yelled in his face if he had an issue. When he looked up I remember throwing the first half of a punch, but blacked out after that. When I came back too, my teacher was yelling at me to get down to the office. I grabbed my glasses and ran down the stairs. When I went into the office I told the secretary to call the ambulance because I just got into a fight with another student. They immediately took me into the Principal’s Office and locked both doors. I was told to call my parents and have them come to the school as soon as possible. By the time my parents got to the school, I had two cops in a tiny room telling me to write down exactly what happened and told me to sign this paper that said they told me my writes than had a teacher sign it as a witness when she was no where near the room when they were doing this. I had to do probation because of the fight.

Because of being bullied for so long, I now have several mental illnesses and struggle to keep going everyday, but I somehow manage. I right now work as an STNA in a nursing home, but my dream is to race for a cause and a living.

By: Colton

Permalink for Somehow I Manage

Seek Someone Out

Posted: 12/23/2013

I am 14 years old and can’t even begin to say how much being bullied has affected my life. It all started lasts year when a girl dropped a note on my desk telling me that I was a slut and a whore and to just go kill myself. After that, no one liked me or talked to me. I fell into depression and started cutting. I told my parents what was going on at school, but they didn’t listen until I tried to take my own life. After that, I was homeschooled for the rest of the year.

But it kept on going.

This year, I’ve been called names that wouldn't be appropriate to write, let alone say. I’ve received letters in my locker and on my desk calling me things like “emo b**ch” and threats like “if you don't kill yourself, we might kill you.” After a second attempt of committing suicide and lots of crying, my parents are having me homeschooled. I can’t even begin to imagine what they say about me.

But there is hope.

I know from experience how it feels to get bullied. It would have been bearable if I had at least one friend to help me through, but I didn’t. Seek someone out. It could be an older person, a counselor, or even your siblings. You have to speak up before it’s too late.

By: Makenzie

Permalink for Seek Someone Out

Creating a better future

Posted: 12/13/2013

My name is Tracy and I am 38 years old.

Sometimes I wish I knew how to express in words what bullying has done to me, how it has shaped all aspects of my life. Adults often forget that children see and know more than we give them credit for. As a child, I was very pale, very very skinny and had big thick glasses. The other kids would make fun of me so badly that I started hiding in the coat closet so I didn't have to go out on the playground during recess. I had no friends in school and by the time I was in sixth grade every single one of my teachers in grade school had commented to my parents that I was lonely and had no friends. There were many incidents where the teachers or the principal not only knew what was going on, but witnessed it. Nothing was ever done and by the time I was in first grade I had stopped telling anyone what was going on including my parents.

In middle school things got worse. There were 3 times more people to deal with, there were beatings in the girls locker room, with the onset of puberty it meant that both boys and girls alike were telling me how ugly I was and how I was a loser. By the end of junior high I was suicidal and only the love of my father and the lady across the street would keep me going.

In high school I got contact lenses and people began to stop calling me names to my face. I became invisible, I wasn't good enough to be invited to anyone's house or birthday parties and I was never asked out on a date by a boy, but I wasn't beat up or called names.

Through my entire 13 years of public school I was never picked for a team. Never asked to join a group for a group project. Never given the student of the month award. Never asked to participate in school activities such as home coming. No teacher, No Assistant's, No principal's ever stepped in and stood up for me or did anything to stop what was going on.

I graduated in 1993 and by 2000 I began to experience severe depression and anger. I began taking medication and going to therapy. But there is no happy ending for me. 20 years later I can tell you in vivid detail about a lot of the events that happened to me from first grade through my senior year. I can tell you that even today my class mates do not consider me someone that is worth knowing, even on social media web pages.

There are scars inside of me that will never fade, There is anger and depression that I don't know how to get past, that will never go away. There are mornings when I wake up and I still think all of those horrible things they said about me are true. But the worst cross to bear is to look into the eyes of my five year old daughter every day and pray and hope with every fiber of my soul that she doesn't suffer the same way that I did.

I want people to stop and think about what they do, and what they say because you can never go back, take back or give back what's lost once the moment is gone. If I can raise the awareness, give any child hope or happiness, if I can make a difference in the life of our children then I have taken one more small step towards creating a better future as well as my own future and taking back what I lost.

By: Tracy

Permalink for Creating a better future

BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT YOU

Posted: 12/11/2013

So my name is Julie. I am 16 I have been bullied all my life, since kindergarten, back then it was not so bad you know the haha you can’t spell red and yes I could not spell it (later to be found out at 16 I have dyslexia).

But I want to say once I hit second grade it got really bad. Like kids were hurting me they were hitting me pulling me off play set and using me. They used me to get things they wanted. At the time, tic tacs were big thing in my school, there was this girl in my class who had to take the elevator every day and she said if I got her tic tacs I could ride with her the rest of the year. Well, that never happened.

By the time fourth grade came round my mom say how bad things were for me and since she was homeschooling my brothers she pulled me from public school and I am now homeschooled. I still have problems with bullying and my escape is by watching PLL. The shows help me just go off into my own world which I needed at the time (this was at 14 or 15 I can’t remember) I am now out of the world but still love to keep up with the show.

But you know what has helped me more than that through all I went through in school there was one person who was there for me. My best friend. She was the only one who liked me for me. She has been the one without even knowing it stopped me from killing myself, because if there is one person who cares for me I don't care how many hate me.

I want people to know that no matter how many people say no one cares about them those people are wrong.

You want to know why? Well because I care about you.

I may not know you but I care about all the people on this earth no matter what you look like.

So just remember I care and I bet so do other people.

By: Julie

Permalink for BECAUSE I CARE ABOUT YOU

Doing it for others

Posted: 11/22/2013

Have I been bullied? Of course.

Coming from a separated family that has moved several times, I've gone through a lot. Being the new girl over and over is tough, but at the same time it's a blessing. Everywhere I have lived I have been picked on, had things said about me behind my back, had friends turn on me, had problems at home. I have fought through cutting myself and am still fighting through depression. The strange thing is, I fit in with the bullies socially. I'm an athlete, I'm in honors classes, I'm a typical teenager. But one thing not typical about me is how I view others. Everyone is equal to me. I am friends with at least one person in each social group in my school. I participate in theatre, I'm in band, I'm in several clubs, and I go to church regularly. I'm not afraid to talk to a stranger and make them feel important. This is why I am bullied.

I may look like some of the "popular" girls and I may participate in some of the same things as them, but I am different. I am myself and that scares them. I moved to a new school halfway through my freshman year and it's now halfway through my junior year. At first, the popular group tried to pull me into their group, which they were somewhat successful at, but once they realized who I was, I soon became a target for them. There have been plenty of rumors spread about me but people don't believe them because they know who I am. There have been many times when I feel worthless, a lot of times being at clubs where I tend to sit by myself due to the fact that the other people don't find me acceptable. But I know those people won't matter to me in the future and what they say about me doesn't matter as long as I know myself.

They have tried countless times to drag me down, and yes, at times they have done so, but as time has gone on, I've gotten stronger. I've realized though that not everyone is like me. Many people who are victims of the bullies in my school don't have the same mentality as me and don't know how to stand up to them. This is what I'm trying to do. I want to stop this bullying. Out of all the places I've lived, the place where I am currently living has been the worse when it comes to bullying, especially since everyone here basically grew up together being in such a small city. I'm the outcast, the "new girl", the freak, but also the savior.

I've stood up for many people in school, stopping the pain that those people feel every day.

I give them courage and hope for the future. This is what I do. I'm doing it for others. I hope more people decide to do the same thing because it can truly make a difference.

Don't give up and don't let the bullies succeed.

By: Megan

Permalink for Doing it for others

Never Give Up

Posted: 11/19/2013

When I was in 8th grade I was walking home from school and noticed two boys beating up on one boy on a dirt path that surrounded the reservoir near our school. I don’t know what it was but I immediately ran up and pushed both of the boys off of this boy whom was younger than I and that I did not know. I told both of them to get out of here now or I will come after them. Both boys hesitated then left. I reached down to the boy on the ground and pulled him up with my two hands. His face was dirty and had cuts on it. His clothes were also dirty. I asked him what had happened. He told me that they just didn’t like him because he was different than them. He said he has a learning disability. I told him look, if they ever touch you again, tell the Principal or tell me. I grew up in a neighborhood where there were very large families and I had a lot of friends unlike this boy. I was in 8th grade, he was in 7th at the time.

Years later, I went on to always help the underdog, the one who was out numbered even standing up to my own so called friends who were about to outnumber a boy one night at a high school party. That boy never forgot that night that I stepped up to the bully in my grade for him.

I went on to become a Police Officer and was one for 20 years in the Boston area. That boy from the first incident approached me in a pub 15 years later and asked my name. I replied who I was. He said, “I want to thank you for saving me back in 7th grade, I never forgot it and I’m glad you’re a Police Officer protecting others.” I was floored!! The other boy I helped at the high school party, well he thanked me years later and he became a Police Officer himself and still is one today!

Sad to say, the boy in the first story passed away at the age of 45 last month due to medical issues he had. Stay strong, never give up and remember that there are people who want to help you. Just ask, reach out and you’ll be surprised how many there are.

By: Brian

Permalink for Never Give Up