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'The Bully Effect': Making it stop
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My Bullying Experience, then and now
Hello Anderson, my name is Justin and as so many others in this country I was a victim of "bullying" throughout my years in high school. To be honest I do not think that should be what it is called. It's pure emotional abuse and manipulation and it's done all in the name of "pecking orders" and "social rules" that are not only irrelevant, but a disgrace to our young people.
Even though I am thankful that this huge social ill has finally come to light, back during high school I had no movement, movie, or media outlet on my side revealing what those monsters were truly like. What most educators and people in charge don't understand is that it isn't about fighting or getting someone's lunch money that drives this abhorrent behavior. It's all about power, and the ability to make someone feel so isolated that they feel like their own being on some desert island. It's emotional war, and when you feel like you are somehow flawed or disgraceful just because of who you are; it many many times worse than getting punched in the nose or getting beat up by the jocks out by the gym.
Thankfully, and God bless them, my family got me through that portion of my life and I never considered committing suicide over such low-class behavior. But I sometimes felt like I was the mythical character Sisyphus; who was cursed to push his rock up a mountain for all eternity by daring to question Zeus. That's what it felt like to try and find a true friend my age among people who wouldn't think twice about shredding your soul apart; and enjoying it.
Right now I have recently graduated from college and now work in a STEM field that has given me both social mobility and broke me free from the bindings of the recession. However I will always feel some sort of distance between those my age and myself because of what happened for all those years. But as an adult, I realize now that I must build my own paradise, my own shelter from the storms that once ravaged me through the depths of my heart. And I thank God every day that my family helped me through then, and have the chance to be myself now.
Even though I am thankful that this huge social ill has finally come to light, back during high school I had no movement, movie, or media outlet on my side revealing what those monsters were truly like. What most educators and people in charge don't understand is that it isn't about fighting or getting someone's lunch money that drives this abhorrent behavior. It's all about power, and the ability to make someone feel so isolated that they feel like their own being on some desert island. It's emotional war, and when you feel like you are somehow flawed or disgraceful just because of who you are; it many many times worse than getting punched in the nose or getting beat up by the jocks out by the gym.
Thankfully, and God bless them, my family got me through that portion of my life and I never considered committing suicide over such low-class behavior. But I sometimes felt like I was the mythical character Sisyphus; who was cursed to push his rock up a mountain for all eternity by daring to question Zeus. That's what it felt like to try and find a true friend my age among people who wouldn't think twice about shredding your soul apart; and enjoying it.
Right now I have recently graduated from college and now work in a STEM field that has given me both social mobility and broke me free from the bindings of the recession. However I will always feel some sort of distance between those my age and myself because of what happened for all those years. But as an adult, I realize now that I must build my own paradise, my own shelter from the storms that once ravaged me through the depths of my heart. And I thank God every day that my family helped me through then, and have the chance to be myself now.
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