Look mate, I was bullied for pretty much the whole time I was at my pathetic excuse of a secondary school. I never did quite work out why I was the one everyone picked on, I've even asked some of them since and the only answer I ever got was "It was the thing to do."
It wasn't a pleasant experience for me at all. I was always shorter than everyone, taller than the smallest in the year, but easily one of the shorter ones. I was patient and I put up with it. I had my fair share of fights who were always with the 'hard' people in the year and they always came away worse off, but the bullying never stopped and I never knew why. I used to wake up crying because I desperately didn't want to go to school but my dad forced me. My dad used to say "hit them back", but it wasn't always that easy because a) I was smaller and b) I didn't know
who to hit. Some of the people one day would be my friends, the next day it would be someone whose name I can't even remember. I tried the whole teacher route and although the teachers did speak to the 'main' people, it still persisted because they found it funny. I remember for the whole of year nine, I skipped my drama classes and used to sit in the head of year's office because they used to wrap me up in the curtains and kick the crap out of me in full view of the teacher. Like I said, my school was a joke. My dad scared the crap out of a kid once, who did leave me alone afterwards.
One day, towards the end of year ten, I don't know what came over me but I decided enough was enough and I snapped. Anyone, it didn't matter who, if they attacked me or did anything I just launched into. At first the others didn't know what to make of it, so I guess they continued to test the water by carrying on with their old tricks, but if you play with fire you will get burnt. Oh, and do you know the one thing that really ***** me off about this? It's that the teachers came down on me like a tonne of bricks, saying I was to blame, I bring it on myself!
One time at lunchtime, not long after I'd just hit someone for something (can't even remember what about) -- I was walking up to the shops with my friends and the next thing I remember is that I'm suddenly very dizzy, disorientated and falling to the floor. My friends explained to me that a friend of the person I'd just hit had ran up and headbutted me in the back of my head. My friends dragged me off and went nuts shouting at the other guy (my friends DID look out for me). The police were involved.
I guess what my point is mate, is that it will be hard and drawn out but you have to stand up for yourself. After five years, it was only when I became very hostile did they leave me alone. I've even had a couple of them apologise to me in the last couple of years. Ironically, I'm much bigger than the majority of them now but it's a little too late if you ask me. I've not been picked on once since because I
do not put up with it and I'll be the first one there to help the little guy as I was once that little guy.
Just remember, these people in school who you call friends... you probably wont even recall their faces or names in five years time.
I've asked my close friends about it since and they've all replied with similar things that as much as they wanted to help me, they felt powerless to do anything but they respect me because not only did I put up with it for so long, in the end I dealt with it.
If I could go back, I would do a lot of things differently.
I hated school.