hey,

wow.. there isn't much to say but that...

I completely understand where she's comming from...

I myself have gone through that..

But i just wanted to say that.. There are so many bullies and by-standers in the world, that w/ guindance offices teaching coping techniques, sometimes it's hard to catch everyone all the time. I know myself, when i got bullied they told meif i told anyone they would give it to me next time even worse.. so i was scared.. this was grade 6. They pushed me infront of a bus, put glue in my hair.. kicked me, spit on me, wrote all over my locker... it was horrible..

I think in the long-run it makes you stronger though.. It's like Asprin, if you take them all the time.. you eventually build up an immunity to them. This isn't suppost top be opposing or anything, but i'm just speaking from experience..

anyways, i thought this was very well written!

-THC

I ... don't know what to say. I mean, well, I didn't know that there were people who were that mean to actually do those kind of things!

Yeah, you're right. People are twisted. And things usually don't get better when they are older. It's either you, or them, right?

I wish I could understand you a bit more, but I only understand the part where you said that you were a really smart kid. I'm not that smart, but when I was younger, I was supposedly rather intelligent. I'm not that intelligent anymore, but I still am in the advanced classes and have a little of a (false) reputation for being smart. But no one's ever given me a hard time about it, so I can't understand you there, even though I wish I knew where you were coming from. Nobody should have to deal with that pain just for being smart.

What is with those kids? There are other people who might be a little upset that someone is smarter than they are, but only jerks would take it that far.

I wish that this didn't have to happen to you. No one should have to deal with that, and live that way when they're young.

I agree with everything you say. I know exactly how you are feeling.

"Because I was the kid who got A’s on the tests and knew the answer I was and am a freak and all of you made my life a living hell for committing this crime of being too smart for my own good." I'm the kind of kid that gets A's too and it is worse than you think. There are two choices when you get a test back. People either make fun of you and call you things because you've got a good grade, or they make fun of you because you made a mistake. Either way you lose.

People are evil. Kids, adults. There are all the same. I've come to the point where I really just want to do bad in a test so then at least I would be normal, then maybe I could just be one in the crowd, not get noticed. I've hoped before that people would tell me what a good job I've done, but I'm done wishing that. Wishing and dreaming don't make anything come true.

Well written. I believe this is a personal piece right? A question though, if children in groups can be cruel, what about adults? Do you believe they are any less cruel... I'd like to hear you out on this.

Overall good job.

Just to let you know I did read this (since I'm leaving longer reviews on everything else).

firstly: monkey dung to those n00bs who read this and missed the point of it and then would think to post a review and encourage you to 'cheer up,' 'get over it,' or 'think positive.' THAT IS NOT ALWAYS A POSSIBILITY.

secondly: there is no way I can change your past; take back what happened to you, or make you feel better about it in anyway

BUT please remember that I'll always be there for you if you need me (except, perhaps, on days when I have :( migraines).

Always,KMJ

Can you read my mind? That was my life, untill I found more people like me. They are fine, and they know what I went through so they understand. Thank you.

Looking at the other reviews, I see that most people have told you that they agree with you and understand how you feel. Don't you see that childhood teasing is just that? Everyone goes through it at one point or another, because children expess exactly how they feel, whether or not it hurts someone else's feelings is beyond what they are thinking about. It is something that everyone has to go through, but you have made it into a singling out of yourself. There is no way to change the nature of children, it is and always will be brutal. I'm sorry that you have experienced this trauma, just as I am sorry for every other person (including myself) that has had to go through it. That's life, you just has to be the strong one to realize you shouldn't care.

This piece is wonderful. Very poignant and full of emotion - awesome job.

Wow, your story is so touching and true. You've definitely got a flair for illustrating emotions. I can see that some of this comes from your own life, and I hope that it gets better.

Hey, I like this story. I can...sort of relate. I have never thought of myself as smart, though I was good at some subjects that most people did bad in, except Math, in which I have always done badly in...
I was teased verbally through primary school after I got into a fight with another girl and she scratched me down the face.
When I went to High School that stopped though, until this ** of a girl, with a whole group of her friends began it all again. At one stage, three of them ganged up on me. One of them stood on my back, another held my arms up at an awkward angle, while the third continuously hit me in the face.
It was the first and only true fight I have ever been in. I got out of the grip of the one holding me, pushed off the one on my back and turned the tables on all three, you know what they did when they knew what it was like to live on the other side of the abuse? They turned around and ran like chickens.
After that, people actually began talking to me as if I existed. i was largely just ignored most of HS, but after that, I was a human being.
Whenever they began teasing me form then on, I just smiled sweetly at them...it was then no fun for them and it stopped.
I'm not saying it is okay to hit people, and I did go to the police with what they did to me, as I acted in self defence. I then found out that the reason they were bullies (and I also learned that a lot of people were getting the same treatment as I got)was that they were abused themselves, but at home...
Just my little bit to say here, but maybe the normal people aren't as normal as everyone thinks, and in some poeople it is all an act to cover up their own pain.
While it stopped for me, I understand that some people cannot stop it, and continue to be hurt.
What I think is to look at the people that hut you the most and think of why they do this to you. It could possible be that they are beaten regularly too, they just won't tell anyone about it and take it out on people that are smarter than them. I guess it would be like they think you might find out their secrets and hurt you to keep you quiet even if you don't know what is going on.
Yeargh! Well enough of my story. Good luck with college if you are still going to go.

I've just added your essay into my "favourite stories" list. I can certainly empathise with you on this topic. I know what's it like to have the 80% of the classroom hating you for no apparant reason. The bullying experiences I had were certainly horrorble and even today the memories of their taunts and acidic words still haunts me.
Anyway, I REALLY hope you read my story "Broken shards and hopes". Good luck and God bless.

My best friend was bullied for most of his time in Primary School. He's had a hell of a lot of problems and he used to feel like complete and utter **. He didn't deserve any of that. I don't agree with the statement 'people arent bad'. Some people are. I believe that there is a bit of good in everyone, but many are just enjoying making others feel bad too much to show it.
About ten minutes ago, this guy in my form class decided that I am an ugly ** and that I'm a freak. I've been called a freak before. Today actually, by a popular girl speaking to my best friend who posed as one of her friends on MSN. But also by this one girl who I thought was my best friend. She has ** me up so much. Only now am I beginning to let go of all the pain, all the anger, everything that she did to me. The person who is helping me is my best friend, the one who got bullied.
I don't pretend to know what it's like to be bullied 24/7. I have brilliant friends, I'm not alone. He was. I know what it's like to be very very paranoid. It's hard to explain this in a way that'll be relevant to your story. I'm supposedly intelligent. This girl used to call me a 'swot' because I was good at stuff. I suppose what I'm trying to say is that I can imagine exactly how you feel. In primary school I was never really good enough to be anyone's best friend. I never got physically assaulted but my so-called 'best friends' kept changing their minds about being friends with me. There was one occasion when the only person who stuck up for me was a dinner lady. The teachers thought I was being stupid. I can imagine the pain you felt, trust me. When I talk about it, it seems like stupidity, but I think you can understand that stuff like that did affect me in a big way.
Hmm... I do realise I've been a bit rambly now... I apologize if I've just been stupidly rambling on.
Peace ~ Velvet

Before I read onwards I just want to congratulate you on this. I'm guessing that it is a personal piece and I take my hat off to you because you convey your emotions clearly in this. It's relevant for me right now, in a way.
Peace ~ Velvet

I agree WHOLEHEARTEDLY! I have suffered since I was 3 and 1/2, in day care. I've always been smart. Sounding like I've swallowed a textbook is my specialty. Something like what you mentioned actually happened to me. Where the kids took your math test to show everyone the one you got wrong.
The day that happened, I was wearing a baggy peasant top. My worst enemy decided to say something really inappropriate: "You really should wear a bra." I was understandibly ** off and swore at him. My teacher got mad at ME!! Then, after searching for the better part of 10 minutes for a couple worksheets we were going over, I gave up and the teacher asked me a question! I said that I couldn't find my sheets. Everyone decided to start saying "Oh! Jessi! You didn't do your homework!" I was so damned fed up with it that I broke down. I couldn't take it! All my teacher did? She gave me a pass to guidance when there was a HUGE test the next day! I was ** off, understandibly.
I've always been tortured, teased, and pushed around. The music I listen to is undefineable. The clothes I wear are undefineable. The stuff I like is undefineable. I really can only be a nerd because I'm smart, I love to write & read, and I am a teacher's pet.

This story definitely had an impact on me. I, due to some miraculous stroke of luck, was most certainly a nerd, yet I escaped the kind of treatment (most of the time) you mentioned in your book. Your writing addresses and issue I've always wondered about. Why children are so cruel to each other. The media often portrays images of children being happy and enjoying each other, but we never see what happens when the camera shuts off do we? And since everyone was a child at one time or another, another question is, why do adults forget? Childhood should never be so painful that the memory of it is one that should be locked away forever. Unfortunately, for some, it is.

Although it is hard to believe, I know there are good folks out their who don't by into "children's mob hysteria". I know you heard this before, and it's hard to believe (I've felt that way on the days I came home crying-mostly in third grade: the time when children are at their most cruel), but I was one of those good people. Having experienced just enough torment to know how much it hurt, I have never been able to stand the sight of it happening to another person. So take heart, there is a minority out their working against the bullies of the world.

I seem to have forgotten the review part!
I can tell your story was good because it made me think so much, a quality that few stories have. I could really feel the emotions coming through the page (screen?). Grammar, mechanics, and flow were all very well done. Keep it up.