Freaks, Geeks and bullying.

She's 9. She does read a lot, but also tends to have a lot of energy.

She tends to be very lonely at school, and i don't know how to find her a group (or even just a potential friend or two) who is more like her. I know there must be others like her out there somewhere...? Her best friend moved last year a couple of hours away, but she never went to the same school as her.

I'm hoping for drama class this year (they have an after school one at her school sometimes), since she's exressed interest and I think it would be a good outlet. She's been in dance classes and Taekwondo before, but had to quit both due to illness.
 
I wasn't particularly bullied in high school, but I do know that rumors got spread around. I wasn't the typical girl in high school. I liked what I liked and if you didn't like me that was your own problem. I was big into TV shows, because they let me escape from my own "loner" status. I was also big into sports, well I still am, but girls thought it was strange that I was so into sports.

I played club soccer since I was 12 and then played 4 years of varsity ball as well. That wasn't good enough for the girls at my school and they started calling me "dyke" behind my back because I was different. I didn't have to have the nicest clothes or have my hair perfect.

I just wanted to be me, and have people accept who I really was. Did it hurt when people talked behind my back? Yes, but I found out who my true friends are when they stuck up for me. I'm still big into sports, and I didn't let it deter me. Right now I know a lot of "friends" I use that term loosely because they really are not my true friends. Who are miserable because they changed for a boy. I didn't and I stayed true to myself. Found a handsome young man whom dare I say it might be in love with. So to people who are bullied in high school I'll say, don't change be who you are. In the end you'll likely like who you've become. :]

---------- Post added at 03:00 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:54 PM ----------

KellGreen said:
She's 9. She does read a lot, but also tends to have a lot of energy.

She tends to be very lonely at school, and i don't know how to find her a group (or even just a potential friend or two) who is more like her. I know there must be others like her out there somewhere...? Her best friend moved last year a couple of hours away, but she never went to the same school as her.

I'm hoping for drama class this year (they have an after school one at her school sometimes), since she's exressed interest and I think it would be a good outlet. She's been in dance classes and Taekwondo before, but had to quit both due to illness.
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Does she have any interest in sports whatsoever? When I was around 6 my mother describes me as you do your daughter. I was then enrolled in T-Ball and Soccer, and made friends quickly which has/is difficult for me. Maybe as suggested by funsmiley a book club or some sort of club where there are younger kids who likes the things she likes. Maybe they can bond over that.
 
mamarsh18 said:
Does she have any interest in sports whatsoever? When I was around 6 my mother describes me as you do your daughter. I was then enrolled in T-Ball and Soccer, and made friends quickly which has/is difficult for me. Maybe as suggested by funsmiley a book club or some sort of club where there are younger kids who likes the things she likes. Maybe they can bond over that.
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She's been under restrictions from sports and playground equipment due to health issues (brain-type injury) and even when she is given the ok for normal activities again I'm honesty terrified of her getting injuried. I was a major soccer addict throughout my entire childhood, but I'm afraid for her - I don't want to baby her where unnecessary, but I'm terried after almost losing her. It's really very difficult to try to find the right balance.
 
I wouldn't say I was bullied but I was definitely picked on. I'm a 6ft1 girl so you can imagine me, at school, sticking out like a sore thumb. I used to be called lanky, giant everything. Something's more hurtful than others. I was constantly criticised for my height and to begin with it got me down a little but as I got into high school I just got on with it. Nobody can change the way they are in that respect and I personally would never want to. I love being tall, it's not something to be shamed of and I wouldn't change it for the world. Nobody ever laid a finger on me as I was head and shoulders above the rest. The people that used to pick on me have amounted to nothing in life to date and I'm a firm believer in karma. There were times when I use to think I'd never have a tall boyfriend because I was taller than most men but my boyfriends 6ft8 so there's someone out there for all of us.

I think you just have to be happy in your own skin. You should never make apologies for who you are and always be proud of yourself. If you do that then IMO no one can put you down.
 
This might sound weird, but I was bullied for my taste in music and somehow that was tied to my ethnicity.

I grew up in LA in the mid-90s and I went to a predominately latino school (I, myself, am a latina). At the time, "rock" and "alternative" music was associated with caucasian people. Latinos were supposed to be into rap music. I don't know where these stereotypes came from but they were part of our code of the school yard.

I listened to a lot of the grunge music of the time and I dressed in vintage and "weird" clothing. It wasn't long before this one guy took notice and decided to taunt me for, in his words, wanting to be white. I had friends of all nationalities and colors and never associated anything about myself with wanting to be anything other than whatever I was. I liked the music that I liked and there was never any racial connotation to it. But this guy would constantly make fun of me and make mean comments about me to other people. When I'd walk by, he'd start saying "play that funky music white girl", like the song by Wild Cherry. It sounds so dumb but it hurt me a lot.

It wasn't that he was accusing me of wanting to be white that bothered me, but it was that I wasn't accepted by someone of my own ethnicity. I didn't feel latina enough or that I belonged with my own people and that's something I struggled with for a long time. I think this guy's bullying had something to do with that.

The funny thing is that years later, I had him in an art class. By that time, the whole rap/rock music thing thad exploded and all of a sudden it was okay to like rock music if you were a latino at my school. He had the nerve to ask me if I was into Nirvana, because "he loved them". It made me so angry and like, why did you make me suffer only for you to accept that kind of music now? It was weird.
 
Honestly school never was all that bad for me. I don't think I was ever flat-out bullied. I did get picked on occasionally, though. For me, the worst was when I was in sixth grade. There was this one classmate of mine (and please pardon what I'm about to say. It's been 13 years, and it still stings) who such a complete and utter bitch. I know I never did anything to her to deserve how cruel she was. I know I was certainly awkward and maybe a little odd (I still am, but everybody has quirks. 😀) Thankfully I only had one class with her the following year, then I never saw her again. Thank god. To be honest, I hope I never see that wretched bitch again as long as I live.

In high school, I honestly had it pretty good. I've always been really introverted, and enjoy being by myself, so I wasn't ever really social or outgoing. I'm much more social now, but I'm still very much an introvert. This did cause some people to tease me a little bit about not really talking all that much. I just didn't have a whole lot to say, I guess. One-on-one conversation I've always been fine with, but in larger groups, I tend to keep quiet and observe more than participate. Weird, I guess. I also sucked at gym class, which always meant I was picked last. I've always hated sports, but thankfully I only had to deal with that crap for one semester. And some people seemed to somehow know I was gay, which was weird since I wasn't even sure at that time. That was extremely sporadic, though and I was never called "fag" or anything, so it never bothered me too much. Plus, I fortunately am a pretty big guy, so maybe because of that I wasn't teased too much. So honestly, high school could have been better, but it definitely could have been worse.

I know alot of people have had it much worse than I ever did, and I truly feel sorry for them. 🙁
 
It's amazing when you think how far civilization has come, that as a very large majority, society is still years & years behind. It's so,so simple, to be able to accept someone for who they are, what they like and dislike, what they look like, who they hang out with, what they do in life. People should just be accepted and NOT single out for not liking the "popular trend".

I hope that the Paralympics is a shining example of people who are seen as "different" by many, are still people, and extraordinary people at that.
 
Since I'm a Junior now, I'm going to just say that I REALLY hope I don't jinx myself with the following post.

In my first year of Middle/Junior High School, I got picked on alot, most of it due to the stuff I liked (Music, movies, tv shows, etc. I wasn't into Buffy yet though), and this pretty much went on for the whole year I was a 7th grader. I pretty much went into a semi-depressed state, and I was relieved when the students picking on me (People from the year ahead of me) left and went to the downstairs part of the building (Until this year we had Middle and High School in the same building.)

Since then, I've been left alone, and for that I"m thankful.
 
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