Every Pink Shirt Day I reflect upon my own experience with bullying.
I was bullied quite a bit in Elementary school. I”m not really sure why, I guess no one knows the exact reason. During my younger years of about six or seven I was a young cute blonde with a huge smile and heart for other people. Perhaps it was this innocence that made me the perfect victim.
One of my first memories of being bullied was when I was walking to school and this boy came from behind and out of nowhere jumped on me and started punching my back repeatedly. I yelled at him over and over to get off me but he just kept punching. When he finally stopped I ran to the office, and called my Mom crying at the top of my lungs to come pick me up. I still to this day don’t know what provoked the attack. What was awesome was my Mom going over to his house and reaming him out. What wasn’t awesome was the kid ended up living next to us, so for years I had to put up with his sneers and mean remarks over the fence.
Me age seven. Who would pick on THIS cutie?!
Another memory I have was the day I wore a nice dress and tights to school. I”m not sure about today, but for some reason in the ’90s dressing up for school was a prime target for bullies. One day I got up early to put on my brand new dark blue floral printed skirt my Mom had just bought me and a light blue matching flowered top. I had also bought new tights and chunky heels that in that moment made me feel like I was the prettiest girl in the world. Well, my pride was crushed when the minute I walked into class this big bully sitting at his desk whose last name is ‘Little’ (ironic, I know) loudly said “nice skirt” in this mean sarcastic tone and then went on to tell me I looked ugly and needed to also get rid of my thick eyebrows if I wanted to be pretty. Again, I ran to the office as fast as I could for my Mom to pick me up. There were a lot of pick ups those years. I never wore the floral printed skirt again.
The emotional bruises from bullies never goes away. Here I am at 32 years old and I still get misty eyed when I think back to those years. What also makes me sad is my future son or daughter will likely have their own experience with bullying There is evil in the world and it shows its face the minute your kid steps foot outside the door. It’s just the way life is. All you can do is armour your kids with the strength and confidence, as my parents did, to carry yourself forward, tear-stained cheeks and all.
Years later Mr.Little did apologize to me and said the reason he bullied me for so many years is because he had a mad crush on me. I hope he raises his son or daughter to understand there’s a proper way to show your affection for someone that doesn’t include sharp words or fists.
Happy Pink Shirt Day Day! May we raise our kids to never be bullies. And may the victims rise above and run the world!
– Vanessa xoxo
@VanessaLYbarra
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