Stop bullying awareness thread (Giveaways included Lvl 1+!)

I used to be a bully, a very cruel one. One year before entering college my mind just realized what I have done and the irreversible ways I affected others lives.

After being selected to go to a science contest along with one person who I constantly bullied. We spent one week together trying to defeat the other participants, we became best friends and I stopped bullying altogether. I think that by realizing that he was just another human lead me to reflect that bullies tend to dehumanize their victims by using concepts like racism, classism, religion, nationality, etc as excuses to attack/target them.

One moment that I will always remember was the morning I took my bicycle to get to school and while on the highway someone tried to run me over. I evaded the car by a few inches and landed on some tall grass. I got up and looked back, the car stopped a few meters away and I recognized the person. He was a kid (now grown up) I bullied a lot some years ago. I wasn't even mad at him, I felt like I deserved it. He then kept driving and I grabbed my bicycle and kept going. We never saw each other again after that. After that I accepted that I had to live with the consequences and remorse of my actions until I die.

In a world that is rapidly devolving. This site and it's kindness shows that there is hope for humanity after all.
Thank you for that.
Bump!

I hate bullying man. I used to deal with it so much as a kiddo

As someone who was very much bullied as a child. I remember hiding in people back yards in trash, as I was avoiding a beating. as half a dozen kids rode up and down the streets searching for me.

I think this is a nice sentiment. I think it is a good cause to battle. However, i would always encourage people to think critically, and not let your biases take over. Bullying is possible TO ANYONE of any race/creed/gender/class/etc FROM ANYONE of any race/creed/gender/class/etc.

What you don't want to do, is start generalizing people and demonizing people. Things are helped by education and understanding. I believe many who abuse, come from abuse that did not have adequate support. Do not contribute to bullying, by focusing on attacking abusers blindly, and instead focus on helping those victimized.

I think one of the greatest risks people have, is that in our attempt to help people, that we end up becoming the thing we hate. It's very possible. Avoid lynch mob justice. Don't let fear rule you, and make you point the finger. Let justice and evidence and support win the day. Positive things. Not blame and hate, that just leads to more of the same.

This is just my opinion. Take it as you will. Be safe. Have a little faith in humanity, and try to do your best. Your best isn't being a superhero saving the world, it is simply trying to do at least a fraction better than you were yesterday. That is all.

Cheers!

I had to deal with a decent amount of bullying when I was young. It was no fun.

However, what happened to the kid is quite a shame.

A saddened, but thankful, bump in return though!

TOO BAD BULLYING IS NEVER GONNA END.

As long as irresponsible parents exist who neglect their kids, those neglected kids will become bullies.

I faced bullying a lot as a short kid in school. It's never going to end.

The world is turning more and more horrible day by day anyway.

bump+thanks :D

bump

Bump, and thanks for raising awareness about this issue.

great thread, important topic, bump

I was bullied as a kid and once seriously considered suicide as a result.
And this was before the rise of social media on the Internet. I expect it's gotten worse now since bullies can just hide behind a computer screen with little to no repercussions....

Bump for a great cause

Bump

Bump for a sensitive topic, kitty. I don't have any personal experience with bullying, but seeing this immediately brought lyrics to mind...

Daddy's been looking down his nose at all of them
And I've been looking round for someone to tell me who I am
He kept saying I was too young to finish a fight
I'd die each time they came I never got to draw my knife
Well it was just a pair of shoes in a middle school room with the world watching in
An angel is crying I'm dying just a little inside as they ran away
Funny which words stick around 20 years down when you're driving alone
What's a boy to do when there's no man at home?
What's a boy to do when there's no man at home?

bump for a really really nice thread.
don't want to write out anything and get emotional but this is important

I can't fault you for wanting to talk about bullying. We will always need to discuss it. People can be real assholes to each other.

bumo

Mean people exist in the world. People twisted by evil exist in the world. Asking them to stop nicely doesn't usually work. The answer to bullying is to resist it, to fight back. Over time, U.S., society has shifted from "fight back" to "look for an authority figure to protect you." Sure, that can help you if an authority figure is handy and willing to step in, but it doesn't solve the problem. A lot of the solution is learning to be psychologically resilient, but there's also the physical aspect.

I was bullied, off and on, for the first 25 years of my life. I learned to ignore jerks, but sometimes they refused to be ignored. Regardless, not one bully continued to pick on me after a fight (if they even had the guts to fight). These days, however, everything is screwed up and we have teachers who get fired for separating fighting kids and police officers who get sued for arresting criminals. We have generations of kids who are totally unprepared to survive in a nasty and vicious world. That job usually rests on the father., but where is he?

Something to consider.

A very closely related phenomenon to this is the idea of internet vigilantism, and this sort of bullying or ganging up on someone can happen at any age, to any person. I think it's important to remember that this is a very human trait, and that in order to prevent this sort of thing, we have to consider that we are ALL capable of it too. How often have you seen a news story or some shared social media post in which an internet mob goes too far and ruins a person's life or calls for extreme retribution without knowing the full context, details, or background events of something?

An important lesson I've learned through experience is that in order to prevent bullying on a wider scale, one has to recognize that we are all capable of it. To be able to recognize the bully in yourself helps enormously in being able to recognize and be courageous enough to stand up to bullying in others.

Bump

This is a real problem worldwide in every culture...

people bully for attention,
so if you don't let their words get to you then you starve their reason for bullying
only you give words their illusion of power over you, recognise that bullies(like fake news) will say anything for attention and ignore their
childish cries for attention, the sooner you learn that words are just words the better since it's a very useful skill

of course do seek help if you need it(definitely if it's physical) but there will always be assholes
regardless who never change so for those cases ignore them and remember there are plenty of good
people in the world, everyone's not a dickhead, i think the Steamgifts community is evidence of this fact :)

sad bump :/

Bump for a good cause. That suicide was tragic. :(