You’re a bitch.
You have no friends.
You’re worthless.
Cunt.
Kill yourself.
These are the last words a seventh grader should ever hear. The words that made an innocent thirteen year old stop eating, sleep religiously, and shed pounds like the tears she shed as she cried herself to sleep every night. The words that her parents did not hear about for months because she thought they would yell at her, tell her to suck it up and go to school.
These are the words I heard every day for months as I rode home on the bus. The people I had called my friends for years sat back and watched, even sometimes laughed at the harsh words thrown in my face as I sat there waiting to be safe at home.
All I could do was wonder why or what I had done to deserve such treatment?
When I finally confessed to my parents, they were beside themselves with anger and confusion, but mostly sadness. They were angry because when we went to the school board and my counselor, they did nothing to reprimand those involved. My school did nothing to enforce the rules against bullying. This was a problem. They were confused that I, a shy but always kind seventh grader, was a target of bullying, something they never saw coming. They were sad because of all the weight I had lost, all the friends that refused to stick up for me, and the faculty that did not seem to care at all.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), students are more at risk to develop depression, anxiety, sleeping disorders, and do poorly in school. One in five students report being bullied in school and yet, to me, it seems we still have not come any closer to putting a stop to this terrible action.
Now I know, I never deserved this. No one ever deserves this, no matter what skin color, age, religion, or gender. At this time, I learned about how one is impacted emotionally and physically and that sometimes words can do more damage to an individual than any type of physical harm. I did learn that anyone can be a target of bullying and I hope that everyone will know that bullying is NEVER okay.