Back in middle school, I was very quiet and shy. I let everyone walk over me, and I was scared of the world.
I would come home crying to my parents every day, complaining about my school, and just wanting to leave the world. When I was in sixth grade, my parents told me to go to the counselors and ask for advice and some help. I went to go see the counselors, hoping someone can guide me to stand up to the bullies.
“All you need to do is ignore them and keep your head down. All the bullies will go away, trust me this will work,” she said. The counselor was smiling and telling me not to let them bother me.
I didn’t know what to say, it sounded ridiculous. But I trusted her. Then the next day I used her advice, and the next minute my perfectly new shoes were soaked in toilet water.
“Boys will be boys.”
The advice that the middle school counselor was trying to convey was to ignore the bullies and nobody would bother you. Just keeping my head down and hiding from them will give me a “better experience in middle school.”
One time I was sitting in the lunchroom, looking at the kids who pushed me around. They were just laughing, minding their own business, with no care in the world. I wanted to stand up for myself and grow as a person, but I didn’t have the courage to do anything. I wanted to say something, but their footprint still leaves a mark on me.
I can’t live a life where people walk all over me because if I face reality like this, I will get a bruise. In seventh grade, I was walking to the bus and then out of nowhere I got punched in the stomach. Crying in front of everyone, not knowing what to do and just wanting help. I wanted to speak up and stop this madness.
Realizing the past, just being silent is not right. Avoiding the bullies, running away from them, and crying my sorrows away doesn’t do it. I was letting people take advantage of me.
According to studies, in this country 41% of students who reported being bullied at school indicated that they think the bullying would happen again.
No kid should be afraid of going to school. Rather just walking away from the problem and not knowing what to do. Many kids shouldn’t get a mark on their body. No one should stay silent and hide.
I never knew what to do in that type of situation, I felt pathetic, clueless and weak.
Now as a 21-year-old, I know how to stand up to bullies. I learned that I should walk like an elephant. Keeping my head up high, not looking back and being strong. I should never hide from my problems, but instead face them.
