Were you ever bullied when you were a kid?

[mopaul]

I was, and I handled it completely wrong, and to this day I wish I could do it over and give Jerry Brown (the bully) what he had coming to him.

I let a guy bloody my nose on the bus and I was afraid to fight back, although he was the same age as me, I was a sucker who got sucker punched. But what I should have done is stand up and punch the mother fucker right back about 12 times till he cried for mommy.

This is what's going on in America right now, and we are the ones with the bloody noses.

What are we gonna do about it huh?

[lonestarnot]

1. I'm nursing it right now.

[DoYouEverWonder]

2. I was lucky

I had a mom who taught me to fight back. Literally. There was kid who was my tormentor for a while and she almost always got the best of me. One day she started picking a fight (we're talking physical) and my mom happened to be there. I was in the process of getting my butt kicked when I heard my mom yelling. Kick this, pull that, tear her teeth. I got all fired up and won the fight. It was great when her mother showed up at the door and my mom said yes she beat your daughter up.

Fortunately, I'm was a slightly built person and knew that this was not something I wanted to make a habit of, so I ended up being the sort of person that got along with everyone. It was a way to survive on the streets of NY. I could hang out with any gang.

[NC_Nurse]

3. My brother was...

I was his defender. He was autistic and mentally challenged which made him a perfect target for mean kids.

I spent a good bit of my time watching out for him in the neighborhoods we grew up in (we moved a lot, which didn't help).

I don't think any kid knows how to handle bullying, and shouldn't have to. Parents, teachers or whichever adults are involved should be alert to the signs of bullying and pay attention to what kids are up to.

My son had some problems in middle school as well. We got involved, talked to the teachers, principal and other parents and at did the best we could to help him deal with it.

[mopaul]

6. same here

the only time i ever fought bullies is when i saw them messing with the 'retarded' kid in our school. i stepped in and said, 'fight me assholes', and they all left, funtime was over.

i myself was one of two crippled kids in the school, and we got the brunt of a lot of bullying. kids can be mean, and then they grow up to be in politics.

[htuttle]

4. I 'let' a bully beat me up one time, too

...In elementary school. As I recall, I didn't hit him back because I was afraid he'd get even MORE angry. The experience was painful and humiliating.

Well, months later the next time a bully started trying to beat me up, though I was sure I'd enrage them by doing so, I struck the 'heel' of my palm up under their nose with all my might, and BLAM -- broke their nose. They started crying, walked off and never bothered me again. They sported that crooked nose all through high school too, serving as a lesson to other bullies.

I've taken what I learned in those lessons with me all these years later. Even if you're sure you're going to lose, if someone is intent on hurting you, make sure to make them bleed -- it will help to convince them not to do it again, if nothing else.

[mopaul]

5. fighting back is the ONLY way to get through to bullies

[blueknight]

7. my dad was career military

and boxed golden gloves and for the army. we were raised to defend ourselves. hell, my sisters could whip most of the boys in our neighborhood.i never got bullied because everyone knew that shit would not fly around my house. but i spent most of my life as a protector, (still do). i hated a fucking bully then, and still do to this day

[Binka]

10. My Dad Is A Retired Naval Officer

He was always active in sports and refereed basketball on base. He took me to the gym a lot where I learned the wonders of a medicine ball and a punching bag. No guy wants to fuck with me. I had an abusive partner once and after a couple of years of puttin up with his shit I sent him to the local dentist for some cosmetic work.

[htuttle]

11. You know, thinking back about it now....

...I'm realizing that it wasn't that I didn't know 'how' to fight back then. Physically, I'd fought with my brother (just a few years younger than me), the other neighborhood kids, and so on in 'play fighting' mode for years. I knew how to block, how to dodge, and even internalized a few judo throws. We all used to fight with fists, sticks, even pellet guns, but it wasn't real (though we still got hurt sometimes!). Everyone involved in those fights had consented to be involved in those fights.

The problem was that I didn't know how to 'mentally' fight -- I had no "fighting spirit". As I said, I was afraid that fighting back would make them angrier. I didn't want to fight them (they were the ones starting the fights), so I didn't have the 'nerve' to hit them, to hurt them. Getting that 'nerve' to fight back even when I didn't really want to, or was afraid to, was what ultimately made all the difference.

[Binka]

13. Great Point

It took me a year of being bullied to finally "let it rip." It wasn't that I was afraid but I just felt it repugnant to hit or be angrily physical with someone. I had no brothers so I had little to no experience rough housing. But when the day came when my BULLSHIT meter broke and I was REALLY ANGRY and they only way to resolve it was to challenge this fat ugly miserable tormentor, I let it RIP! I had been standing on the high ground and now was the time to get DOWN! So I did.

[Binka]

8. I Was Bullied ALL Of Seventh Grade By A Total Big Fat Bitch

I was only 5-6 and 100 pounds at the start of that year. I grew to 5-9 and weighed 126 when I started Eighth grade after a summer of swim team. She started in on me the first day of school and after school I just walked up to her and told her to "fuck off." She grabbed my hair and I gave her an upper cut to her chin, she went after my hair again and I punched her square in the nose. When she went after my hair a third time I finally had enough and hit her with a right hook at which point I also pulled off her wig. LOL.

It was one of the happiest/proudest memories of my youth. :evilgrin:

[mark11727]

9. I posted this a couple of days ago on World O' Crap

under a different name ...

"For me, HS sucked. I spent a lot of time being stuffed into lockers (topic on WOC) by mouth-breathing knuckle-draggers. It's also were I caught the first spark of what would eventually grow into my "liberal" outlook (thanks guys).

It wasn't until COLLEGE, when I met up with the rest of the misfit toys that I finally found people actually worth hanging out with (thanks guys).

As for chess-club geeks (topic on WOC), my own son was in one in 5th grade --- he beat some kid who almost had him in check, and got slugged when he tried to congratulate him for a good game. The other kid was thown out of chess club for fighting, and caught up to my son a few days later during recess, seeking revenge.

He swung on my kid, who managed to block the punch and laid him out with one shot to the solar plexis (it happened so fast, he didn't even know how he did it) -- and yelled at the kid "leave me alone, ya big jerk!"

I know that violence isn't always the answer, but it certainly seemed to work that day.


And added this morning ---

I have no sympathy for bullies when something BAD happens to them, and when it finally happens, I am going to enjoy every moment of watching the current mis-administration go down in flames.

[kahleefornia]

12. whoah, where are the pacifists??

Is this an allegory for the war on terra?

My mom taught me to ignore bullies - if you don't react, they leave you alone. I was never physically bullied, but it worked for me.

Of course, I'm now very passive aggressive, so who's to say what the "right" thing to do is.

[lonestarnot]

14. You know in dealing with bullies, I think trading exlax for bubblegum is a

good idea.

[mopaul]

16. SOMETIMES revenge is a dish best served cold, but it's better hot

[lonestarnot]

17. Exlax with hot pepper?

[rpgamerd00d]

15. The metaphor is good, just dont take it literally.

We need to "bloody their nose" by winning big in 2006.

They will "learn their lesson" once they realize that everything they "worked" for over the last 10 years can be taken away by the people they exploit.

[Jemmons]

18. Constantly for years

I grew up in a very harsh environment where i was cast as the perfect bully-victim. I was very confused and depressed most of the time. I would fight anybody ferociously whenever i was cornered but i never figured out how to be accepted. I would instantly fall in love with any girl who would pity me, but never do anything about it. I dont remember my early years, but slowly came out of depression in my teens. My parents never stood up for me or helped in any way, but i slowly learned that I could find other heroes to take inspiration from. I have learned that no danger situation is beyond a fighting response and that you should never never never give up.

[H2O Man]

19. Not by other kids.

I boxed a lot, and could beat other kids in fights pretty easily. But I had a gym teacher who didn't like that I had what he considered "long hair." He treated me like shit, and one day, for no reason, slammed me into a wall and told me I had to get my hair cut. My older brother, a professional boxer, noticed I was upset when he picked me up from school that day. He went and communicated his displeasure with the gym teacher. From then on, the guy always treated me okay.

[d_b]

20. School bully not so tough since being molested.

http://www.theonion.com/content/index/3807

Come on, it's The Onion.

[Maestro]

21. I stood up to the bastards, everytime.

I got my ass kicked sometimes but most of the time I stood my own. Bullies were never an issue for the most part although I was bullied. I had to stand up because I moved quite often and the new kid is oftentimes new fresh meat.

[bleedingheart]

22. I got detention for kicking the ass of both my attackers...

for years I put up with being bullied.

One boy spit chew in my hair, I took off my shoe and soundly beat him about the head with it. (for this I didn't get detention because the principal knew the other kid and realized that I was in the right)...

The other time this jerky kid tripped me as I got off the bus and I bloodied my knee. I went after him and his sister. I smacked them both around and in fact the entire neighborhood came out as I screamed at them...in front of my mom's neighbors I called them "fucking hooligans".."ripe for prison".."you will go nowhere in life you bunch of freaking rif raff..."

for that...I got three days of detention and no one bothered me afterwards.....I was an honor roll, gifted student who played violin...hee hee...but I was a closet viper in the making...a trait that suits me well in politics

but in the end...the best revenge is living well...I went on to college and have been luckily very successful...those who bullied me ..some ended up in prison, some got pregnant young and ended up living close to the poverty line....so their young bravado did not serve them well....

[TlalocW]

23. Constantly until around 8th grade

I didn't realize it, but I was getting some muscles - from juggling believe it or not, and I got bigger from lifting weights. I was still a math/computer/band nerd, but I was a large one. In high school, I stopped holding back on my sense of humor and started mocking the "cool" kids whenever they got mouthy with me, and since most of them were neanderthals, they would back down. I would openly mock the football team, saying I and the rest of the marching band would like a reason to play the fight song for the upcoming game so if they would see fit to make a touchdown for once, that would be great. I also learned to work the system by getting all the teachers to like me so that I could mouth off to the other kids, and they would find it funny.

The only physical altercation I was in was escaping from the upperclassmen (and some sophomore) asshole "cool" band members who liked to give red bellies (hold you down and take turns slapping your stomach) as a freshman initiation. They could never get me, and a few of them got elbows in their noses when they gang rushed me once. When I was a sophomore, one of them tried to take me down by himself, and I put him in a wrestling hold and mocked him for a while saying I was getting sick of his trying to take out his obvious sexual frustrations on me and other lowerclassmen.

College was great for me. I escaped from my small Kansan farming community, and only three of my fellow graduating seniors followed me to the same college, and two were gone within the first semester, and one after a year. Once out from their little surroundings, they were no longer the campus hot shots and had to go back to the comfort of Smalltown, USA, and relive their "glory days" there, I guess.

TlalocW

[madokie]

24. Yea I was just a skinny kid in the fifth grade and this kid

keep picking on me, I would just try to avoid him. One day I had to go to the bathroom, at my school then the bathrooms were outdoors. As I was fixing to leave the outhouse in the door he came, came at me like he was gonna really fuck my day up, it scared me and I commenced to kick his ass then and there. Never another problem with larry, when he got back in the classroom, black eye starting to show, red scuff marks upon his face and my hands all red, well the teacher never said a thing, she just looked at me and smiled, the most beautiful smile I have ever seen even to today.

[catmandu57]

25. We moved nearly every damn year

So, I was always the new kid, every damn year I was singled out to see if I would take shit. Well I didn't take any shit, I was always the smallest kid in class, but I carried a big fucking chip on my shoulder.
I came from what was called then a broken home, my parents divorced when I was six, and my father completely ignored us, I hated my step father, hated that mother with a white hot hate.

So I welcomed the bullies, I had a huge anger that needed to go somewhere, the kids learned pretty quick not to fuck with me.

[ThatsMyBarack]

26. I sure was!

The sad truth is, one of my best friends in 6th grade was my worst enemy in 8th grade. I think it was because she got intot he popular crowd and I was the popular target for every kid in school to pick on. Go figure.

It still pisses me off to this day. I desparately want to fight back against today's "bullies" (if you still want to call them that), but I can't do it alone. I think it helps to get mad in numbers.

[NashVegas]

27. I Couldn't Get Mad Enough to Fight Back

I came from a semi-dysfunctional, stoic family and had a hard time working up emotion about anything. That was then, though.

I was bullied quite a bit early on in Jr. High, but when the girls doing it discovered I had cute older brothers ...

[ThatsMyBarack]

28. *Question for "victims"?*

Were you picked on by the popular crowd, or some punk kid flunkalot whom everybody hated?

[dsc]

29. Middle school and early high school were a living hell

To this day I wish I had found a way to fight back. I think part of me figured I deserved it since their major complaint about me was true. I was so glad to find college where I could fit in and not be such a freak. It is a good analogy.

[hollowdweller]

33. Elem and Jr. High were bad. By HS everyone was stoned and mellow

[dsc]

36. I made myself an indespenisble friend

of one of our star athletes. I got him through math and social studies and he kept me from getting the shit beat out of me. I do admit that people also mellow out a bot in high school.

[William Bloode]

30. Nope.

People were scared shitless of me in school. I was in fact so fear even by seniors in school they would not even try any of that freshman hazing crap with me.

I was saw as mentally unstable, which i was. So when i told some one if you touch me i'll, burn your house to the ground, or fuck you up with a busted bottle, people believed me. As a matter of fact i was removed from public school, and subsequently expelled from alternative school, which is no easy task.

My school had some of the safest nerds you ever saw. Being thought of as insane, most folks did not want anything to do with me. My friends were blacks, and nerds in my school. The blacks could take care of themselves, but while i was around my nerd buddies had it made.

[mikehiggins]

31. I only had one kid try to bully me in grade school

When he did I was shaking in my boots but I wouldn't back down. Mostly I was more afraid of looking afraid than I was of being afraid. Or getting hit.

When I got right in his face the other kid backed down, and we later even became friends. Go figure.

Later on, though, the bullying sweepstakes got more intense in high school, with some racism thrown in to make it even better. By that time, though, I had learned that the toughest kids were the best friends to have. Since I was widely known to be in tight with the real crazies (one of whom was famous for punching out a teacher) I slid right by, thick glasses and overweight and good marks and all. Yep. Nerd boy for sure.

I raised my kids to be able to take care of themselves (karate, etc.) but hammered home the lesson that bullying was not tolerated in my family. Naturally, the boy got in trouble sticking up for other kids who were being picked on, but if you have to fight at all, fighting to protect those weaker than you can't be all bad.

Attacking those weaker than you, because they are weaker, alway is bad.

Something this administration should learn.

[mzteris]

32. Sounds like a GWB

solution to me.

[seabeyond]

34. ya... when i was about ten. my mom told er to knock it off

adn she knocked it off. if only the nation would stand up to the bully adn tell them to knock it off. then we would be the one empowered.

unfortunately not enough people recognize the bully, or they are part of the bully crowd rootin it on.

i dont believe you stop the bully by kicking its ass, i believe you stop the bullly by looking in hte eye.

[baby_mouse]

35. People stand up for bullies, not victims. It's human nature. nt.

[donsu]

37. my only bully came when I was 8 or 9, two neighborhood girls chased

me home to my front door to beat me up. My mother came to the door and wouldn't let me in, said I had to fight them off.
my mother made me so mad as I didn't believe in fighting but she forced me to. I kicked the girl off the porch and they never tried it again. I was mad at my mother for days cause she made me fight.

men bully women all the time.