True Stories About Bullying

This is more of a series of true stories with a lesson and poetic feel to them than an actual poem. All of these stories happened to people I knew, or happened to me.

I am bullied. Yes, I am definitely not the coolest guy on the bus, never the coolest guy in the room. I never really fit in anywhere, and if you are reading this, then chances are that you and I are alike in this way. Everyone is bullied, regardless of it's shape or form, your friend could call you gay, s**t, f*g, dyke, but they're 'just joking' and the truth is: It hurts. The sad truth is: Being bullied every day of your life hurts more than being stabbed with a razor sharp, red hot blade. The difference between a red hot, razor sharp knife and bullying is this: A wound inflicted by a red hot, razor sharp knife hurts where it is applied, but the wounds left by a bully's words never heal.

I had a friend in the sixth grade, her name was Sarah. Every day, she was called a variety of names; skank, s**t, dyke, w***e, you name it, but as bad as those words were, she knew that they weren't true. She ignored them. Then one day on the bus, with all of the regular words being tossed at her, one word cut through all the rest with the velocity and power of an oncoming locomotive; Ugly. I still keep in touch with her today, in grade nine, three YEARS later, despite her boyfriend who has loved and supported her for three years, she still doesn't believe in her own beauty.

I had a friend in the seventh grade, his name was Kyle. Now, Kyle definitely was not a 'looker' if you know what I mean. And he was all right with that. He didn't want to be handsome. He just wanted to stop being called hideous. Sure, Kyle had buck teeth, greasy hair, freckles, and he may have smelled a little weird on some days, but Kyle was the NICEST guy you will ever meet! I once was over at his house, and my mom couldn't get out of our driveway because of all the snow! Kyle's mom asked to drive me, and I accepted. When I got home, Kyle thanked me for riding in his car, AND he helped me clear the driveway of snow! That was in grade seven, we were really good friends then, and still are now, but over the years, despite how much I stood up for him, I watched Kyle fade away into a boundless void of emptiness.

In grade eight (the WORST year of my life) I was bullied more than ever before. I was bullied by whole GROUPS of kids, a LOT, almost every day. there would be six or seven kids in a group, they would all beat me, pick on me, call me names, steal from me, everything. I fought back once, before it got too bad, but I got detention for getting into a fight, and so did the other kid who I got in a fight with, only the other kid didn't show up. I've been telling my parents about it, and they support me, but teachers do nothing. So one day, the worst day yet of my bullying predicaments, I go home and tell my dad about it. So my dad tells me: "Ryan, next time one of those groups of kids picks on you, you center out the biggest kid in that group, and you just wail on him. You do not stop until someone drags your cold, lifeless corpse off of him, do you understand?" He asked me. I shook my head. "But I'll get suspended!" I shouted at him. He smiled at this. "Yes, and during your suspension period, you can do whatever you want." He said. This got me fired up. So the next day I go to school, and the six or seven kids gather around my bus stop. They start shoving me around and calling me names. So I single out the biggest guy there, Thomas Dixon, I think his name was, and I walked right up to him, and nailed him as hard as I could in the gut, I bring my knee into his face, I kick his in the stomach, finally he recovers, I reel back and punch him in his already bloody nose, he recoils back and falls. I get on top of him and wail on him. I punched him in the face too many times, considering the fact that I shattered his nose. It took three teachers at once to pry my off of him, and it took those three teachers multiple tries to do so. And well, long story short, I got two weeks of ice cream, movies and video games. ;)

Author's Note

These are all true stories, I have saved them up over the years and finally decided to post them. Please tell me what you think, and tell me if you want more, because I have tonnes more ;)

Reviews

[dan]

Ryan, First I have to confess that I was never bullied. I'm 58 years old and back then bullying incidents were few and far between. I KNOW it must suck to go thru that torment, but you need to know one thing. If you can keep your head up and just say to yourself, "F**k 'em! See me 10 years from now!" Do you know what you'll find then? If you study and keep your grades up, in 10 years you'll have a great job as a tech analyst or engineer and the kids that are harassing you now will be a shift manager at Mickey D's, if that! That's when you can walk up to the counter, order a Big Mac and tell them, "Hey, while you're at it, will you kindly shine my shoes too?" Whatever you do, don't give up! I read too many stories of young people taking their own lives over this; BE STRONG, stay the course, continue to develop into a well-adjusted adult, and keep saying, "F**K THOSE A******S!" Be yourself, keep being yourself, and YOU WIN! Message me if I can help anymore, OK? take care, guy, don't let petty people defeat your dreams. take care...dan

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you so much for your kind words and support, Dan :) It's been a while since someone has cared. Even the teachers stopped caring after a certain point. Thank you so much!

[dan]

Good luck, bud. take care...dan

[Crazycatgirl_10]

These are so sad. I can really relate to your friend Sarah. I too cannot see any beauty in me. I wish though I can have had the guts to stand up to my bullies like that. Kudos to you for doing that.

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you for the review, and if you cannot find beauty in yourself, get a better mirror. Look a little closer, stare a little longer!

[~]

Ohhh.. I love those lines :) sorry to butt in, but I really like Shane Koyczan. Your work is sincere and I hope it will help all those kids that keep being bullied. Well done!

[Grace Morrow]

Damn, I'm sorry. It really sucks that you and your friends had to go through that. Loved your dad's advice, and the bit about teachers not helping was so incredibly true it hurt.

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you, I was as truthful as could be in this piece. :)

[Laura Lynn]

Nice style. the grade 6---->7----> 8 structure helps a person follow a lot, of course we are greedy by nature so we want what we want each day it is the same

So many weeks of ice cream, movies and video games. What else in life is there? One must strike them out for the sake of __what else is negative__ ...orchards and periwinkle, some plainer puritan fare, what?

[Ryan Henderson]

Thank you for reviewing!