Bullying...

I know I should write and I will later about our vacation to Cape Cod and my father-in-law's visit, in June but this topic came up on the radio the other morning while driving to work. I was bullied in grammar school. I was in 6th grade and going thru changes with my body (heading into those pre-teen years - starting to wear a bra and lots of horomonal changes beginning). I was on the chubby side and most of the other girls in my class were thinner. There was this one girl who was popular and was very outspoken with a hard edge to her. One day in the gym locker room she started to pick on me about my weight. I was never the type to fight back or say anything to her face, so I just took it. It wasn't a daily thing, but deep inside it hurt nonetheless. It took me quite awhile to get up enough of courage to tell my Mom about it. She knew something was going on because there were days I would play "sick" in order to not have to go to school - my Mom was tough about being absent from school (you need to be throwing up with fever to stay home). She would ask me over and over again what was the matter and finally I told her. I was so afraid of this getting back to the bully that I begged her not to go to the school administration, but she did in the end. Luckily, the administration took this seriously and took the bully aside and talked with her. Also luckily, she stopped. It is sad that I have such a vivid memory of this time in my childhood and that the minute I think back to it, I can feel my emotions coming to the surface (even now as an adult). The weight issue for most women is so emotional...boy, does that hurt to the core to be told you are FAT and UGLY at such a tender age where being accepted matters so much. I am still fighting my weight all these years later, but fortunately I am a mature confident adult now that I weather things better with the motto "you don't like me or don't like the way I look, then move on". I have grown into myself and realize that life is short and that I need to love myself first - that is what matters the most. I also, think having gone thru loss in the past 2 years has changed me. I don't have the need to be fully accepted by all. Now today's bullying is a whole other story. I am shocked how bad it has become for kids these days. From cyber-bullying to fights and killings. Lots of school administrators don't want to get involved. Parents feeling trapped to do something to alleviated their kids from it by paying another kid to fight the bully. After listening to all of this and realizing how bad of a issue this is for so many kids and parents, it made me stop and think about what if I had a child who was being bullied today, how would I handle it? I suddenly felt so helpless and glad that I wouldn't have to face this situation in my life. I was so relieved at that moment that I was childless and that I wouldn't have to see my child so upset over being bullied. I don't envy these parents at all who are dealing with this issue.