Photo Credit: NAYS
I am not ashamed to say I was the victim of bullying as a child. It is amazing how time can heal wounds, but I can tell you that there were moments I absolutely did not want to attend school. Through junior high school, I was always one of the smaller kids in class and—in more than one case—had to deal (or hide from) bigger, more aggressive kids.
I remember a day in shop class when one of these kids actually approached me from behind and choked me with a sanding belt. Our teacher saw the entire episode and never did a thing. I think for that reason I have always looked out for these types of behaviors as an adult and done my best to help out the bullied child, if possible.
As a parent, whenever one of my own kids tells me about not feeling well and not wanting to attend school, I wonder if there are issues with other kids. But I am amazed at how students in my children’s school seem to be far more accepting of differences (and aware of bullying) than children were while I was growing up. But that’s not to say the problem has totally gone away.