My Experience: Living through Bullying by Kalley McClure and Gemma Gatto

This companion piece is written from two points of view:
an Introvert and an Extrovert; enjoy!

From an Introvert:

"This, Too, Shall Pass"

by Kalley McClure

I think it’s pretty safe to say everyone has experienced some form of bullying at some point in his or her life. When it happens, it can feel like you’re alone when you’re going through it.  Whether it was a child or even an adult who bullies, you’ve probably been bullied before.  It’s kind of sad how often bullying occurs, despite the fact that we all get that “don’t bully” speech in elementary, and the biggest problem is this:  When it occurs, how do we deal with it?  I hope my story lets you know that if you’re being bullied right now, you are not alone, and it’s okay to reach out to someone.  The most important thing to remember:  This, too, shall pass.

It was probably fourth or fifth grade when the kid moved to town and started attending the Kid’s Club at my church. He would lock me in closets, trip me in the games we would play, whisper degrading comments in my ear -- basically just made me feel incompetent and worthless.   It also made me angry.  

What used to be the best part of my week quickly became lonely and painful. I could have just stopped going, but I didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of taking away something I loved. Instead, I fought back. I took what he gave me and dealt it back twice as hard. That went on for a few years, him pushing me and me pushing back, all the way up ‘til sixth grade. When we came back from break, and he was gone. It turns out -- he had moved to a different state during the summer.

While it felt good to return that anger in sort of an eye-for-an-eye manner, I learned something:  It didn’t stop him.  Nothing stopped him.  Sometimes “mean” is “mean,” and there’s not too much I could do to change that -- not at my age.  What I learned that I CAN change is how I handle it.  

I have experienced bullying since then.  This is how I now handle it:  I’ve started retreating and pulling into myself. I don’t speak out or draw attention to myself. I figure, “If they don’t notice me, they can’t target me,” if that makes sense. And for me, it works pretty well. People don’t tend to notice me, and if they do, my quiet demeanor tends to always put me on people’s good side. It’s not that I’m weak; I just choose to not engage -- because people who are mean should not be permitted to dictate my sense of self-worth. Since I’ve started choosing to not engage the bullies, bullying hasn’t really been an issue for me.

Remember, this, too, shall pass.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
From an Extrovert:

"Thick Skin" 
By Gemma Gatto 

Everyone's taught from a young age not to bully. We have signs and assemblies teaching kids the importance of treating others with kindness and respect. No one has ever thought to teach children how to handle the bullying when it happens. Children everywhere are taught from a very young age that they should treat others with the same kindness and respect they they would want to be treated with. Inevitability, bullying still continues in every school and happens the majority of the student population at one time in their life or another. Everyone handles bullying in a different way -- some turn into bullies themselves, and others do anything in their power to remain positive and fight back. I choose to do the latter.



A very popular method that I have used to react to bullies is sarcasm. It shows that I can take a “joke” even if it wasn't meant to be taken that way. It can present a level of confidence and lets my bully know that I can take a hit and and laugh in the face of adversity.



Teaching kids to form a tough skin as a child is important to protecting them in the future. So many suicides happen to people who are bullied simply because they don't know how to handle it. Young lives are so precious and with all the technology in the world today, it makes the chances of bullying even higher for young kids.



When children learn how to properly deal with the struggles of bullying, the chance of the bully getting bored and moving on is greater. It's how I have decided to live, and it works for me.