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Was the bullying I faced in high school really unusual and severe?

Ok I am actually a 23 year old male but still I get dreams about my school days bully so I will share what happened during my 9th and 10th grade. I live in Bangalore in India and in our school during 5th grade to 10th grade, there was this boy(lets call him A) who would bully me often. In 5th to 7th grade, he would mostly physically bully me like punching, kicking and I complained to my parents but still he continued bullying me making his bullying more severe by 2nd half of 8th grade and his bullying was at its peak when we were in 9th grade and he continued bullying me in 10th grade.
In 9th grade, A would often insult me calling me ugly, saying I don't deserve this that, saying I am not part of the class and often saying no girl will like me and he would often make me do embarrassing acts like forcefully making me do belly dance in front of my classmates or act like a dog or act like transgender especially during lunch time. He would sit in front of me and even throw food wrappers on me as if I was a dustbin or wipe his hand on my uniform and if I ever fought back, he would scratch my hand hard leaving scars almost daily and if I hit him back, he would get even more aggressive and slap my face multiple times so hard that my glasses used to fall. As I was low in confidence, I would just sit in one place in school and not move at all not even to washroom and A used to take advantage of it and bully me. And in one school educational trip during starting of 9th grade, he even made me carry his and one of his friend's school bag to humiliate me in front of other 9th graders. And even my classmates didn't support me and the other boys too would get hostile towards me and laugh seeing A bullying me or even join the bullying at times.
Like once A forcefully decorated my face with fruit peels and another boy from the class took pics of it and posted it on Facebook calling me a fruity fool of the class. Even the topper of the class was mean to me and once punched me multiple times on my upper arms due to a false accusation about me that I broke his exam pad. Even in 10th grade, A continued the bullying. He used to always near me like a shadow and bully me in every opportunities he used to get. In another trip during 10th grade while returning home in bus, he again humiliated and insulted me in front of my peers and even juniors too. I hated going to school especially as my academic performance was going down and also my classroom environment was pretty hostile. Thankfully I finally got rid of A after completing 10th grade and then in 11th grade, he finally wasn't my classmate anymore and I had newer classmates and a positive environment in class even though in 11th grade I faced hostility from my seniors
who were in 12th grade about whom I will make another post. But yeah the bullying by A made me miss out on many teenage experiences like socializing with girls, making many friends and possibly even dating and I avoided talking to girls to avoid getting further humiliated or bullied. I still get dreams of A bullying me even now at times.
I am really sorry you went through this, no one deserves even the insults, let alone all the other horrible things you have experienced. It is clear it still affects you to this day, I hope you are kind to yourself now, as I'm sure you've learned you are the only one that can stand up to yourself.

I will now give you some unsolicited advice which got me through my conflicting feelings on being bullied. Sit down in your safe space, and try to induce a meditative state, take a few deep breaths and then unfocus it. See that young version of yourself, in one of those situations, and as you are now, stand up for that young self. Protect him. And sit with that feeling and with yourself for as long as you need. Remember to slowly move your extremities and then slowly open your eyes when you stop, don't get out of a meditative state too sudden as it can break the effect. It may seem like nothing, but our brains cannot actually distinguish between what is real and what we imagine and it can alleviate past traumas significantly from the first try. :smile:

I wish you well my friend.

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