From lying down to standing up

sleepinyourhat

My name is Maria, and I’m a junior in high school. I’ve been a target for bullies since middle school. Until this year, my strategy for surviving the cruelty was simply crying with my mom and then doing my best to ignore and avoid my aggressors. Eventually those people would leave me alone, but they would be replaced with new bullies within a year. That all changed one day this year with the words of a boy named John, purposely spoken loud enough for me to hear:  “One of these days, I’m gonna kill her. One of these days, I’m gonna kill her.”

When I got home and told my mom, she said that we had to report this to the school. I was scared at first, until I realized that fear is the fuel to a bully’s fire. I wasn’t going to lie down and take it anymore. I reported Alex the next day, and he and a witness were called to the office for questioning. Both denied that John had said anything about killing me, but they did admit to being “unkind” and were given stern lectures. The incident also went on John’s school record. Since that day, I have had no more problems with bullies.

Standing up for myself sent a clear message to my peers: I am nobody’s punching bag. I have realized that I am someone worth fighting for, and no bully can convince me otherwise.

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