__________________________________________________________
Growing up is a scary thing to go through as is, but growing up and dealing with bullying from morning until night is something completely different. My older brother and I went to school together, but we were three grades apart. Before my negative experiences, I saw, firsthand, the cruelty of bullying when my brother was mentally tortured by others, and I felt the helplessness of not being able to protect him.
Everyday at school, my brother was called so many hurtful things and I even heard them from students in my grade. Attackers made fun of him just because of the clothes he wore or how he talked. He would come home and ball his eyes out to my parents. I would sit there next to him, watching tears fall from his eyes, and I learned that the childhood rhyme that began “sticks and stones may break my bones…” lied. Words can hurt.
My parents took him out of school so fast he could barely blink -- before anything worse could happen. He was in Pennsylvania Cyber School for 2 ½ years -- alone. Once he reached his senior year, he had the confidence to return to his high school for his senior year.
His final year of high school for him was such a struggle, but guess what? He fought through it, and I was so proud watching him walk across stage to receive that diploma which, after all the hardships he went through, he so rightfully deserved.
Once my brother graduated, I was, for the first time. I felt like I lost my protection because he always had my back. The brother-sister bond we have has always been unbreakable, but it felt like I was all by myself.
I can’t even tell you when my experiences with bullying all started. I was just not liked in school and had no friends. When I did have a friend or two who I thought were my friends, they would fuel the fire with everyone else who made fun of me.
At lunch, I would sit at the end of the table by myself having little pieces of paper and scraps of food thrown at me. I heard the names they called me when they whispered or were bold enough to use them when I was standing right in front of them. Sometimes I wouldn't even eat because people called me fat. I still remember so clearly in my head walking to class; these girls took my books and scattered them down the hallway. No one helped me. While people walked around my books all over the floor, no one even acknowledged me or thought to pick them up. I tried to hide the tears that burned my cheeks. What was wrong with me?
I had to walk into homeroom every day with the same comment spat at me “You are worthless. Why are you even alive?” All I could do was sit there in the corner by myself and act like it didn’t bother me, when inside I wanted to so badly break down. My grades were awful. I had D’s and C’s. I never had any grade higher. I would barely make it off the bus and to my house before the tears started to flow. I took one look at my parents; they knew exactly what was wrong.
I couldn't escape the bullies outside of school either. They bullied me any time they saw me walking in town after school or even at the football games I went to. I was also cyber bullied; online for all the world to see, they would make fun of my clothes, shoes, and how my hair looked.
Once my parents got fed up with the bullying day in and day out, they took me out of school and, just like my brother, I enrolled into Pennsylvania Cyber school. The last day I stepped foot into those hallways, I returned all my books for every class. They had the guts tell me that they were happy I was leaving so they didn't have to look at me, but the truth was, I was the one to be glad to go.
When I was taken out of school, my grades were so bad that I was held back and repeated my 8th grade year. I had no life. I had no friends. I had nothing. I never wanted to leave my room. I was just a hermit who wanted nothing to do with anything. I was cyber schooled for two years until I had the courage to try another school suggested by my parents.
Coming back to a public school was so scary for me. I didn't want it to be like it was at my home school. However, my return to the classroom setting wasn't any ordinary setting; it was here at my second home, LCCTC. Was soon able to realize how blessed I was to be able to be a "normal teenager" sitting in a high school classroom with my newly-made friends. This made me really appreciate my school now!
I still have screenshots of a group of kids threatening to beat me up and film it. They may have kept the evidence so they can watch it over and laugh, but I keep them just to remind me of what I had to go through to appreciate where I am today.
Thanks to LCCTC, I will now graduate with honors and my CNA certification -- opportunities that seemed so far from possible just a few years ago. I can truly say that I won the battle. I came out on top and am stronger because of it all!
My advice to those who are dealing with bullying in their lives: "Stay Strong. It will get better, and you can persevere with strength and success!"
To read more articles from The LCCTC Eagle, click here: http://thelcctceagle.blogspot.com/
