Was this rule fair? [I Was Bullied At School]
I attended a good private school located in the Los Angeles area up in the Hollywood hills. I won't name it because I am grateful to them for the excellent academic education I got there.
But I suffered greatly from the focused attention of the school bully. For a while, I was able to run away from her because I'd figured out she was afraid of bees. So I would run into the lemon orchard and grab a bee off of a lemon blossom (very gently and carefully) and as the bully ran toward me, I would throw a bee at her and she'd run away at top speed with the bee chasing her. I never got stung and began to think of the bees as my only allies in my flight from the bully.
But the school wouldn't put up with this. A meeting was held that included my mother and the next day a new rule was instituted at the school; no one was allowed to run from a fight. You had to fight your challenger or talk him/her out of it. But you were not allowed to run.
Since I'd been seriously battered by the bully, I broke the rule once and ran anyway. And got caught. And punished for running.
Here was how the teacher decided to punish me: I had to stand up in front of the whole class while every kid in the class, starting with the bully, was told to tell me something he or she didn't like about me. (I should mention that two of the kinder and braver students refused to participate in this). Since the bully started it off, and had many insults aimed at me, the rest of the class followed her lead and it was a social blood bath for me. I was beyond devastated, and I still suffer a great deal of social anxiety partly because of it. It was a cruel punishment, and that teacher should've known better.
But the rule remained and the punishment did teach me that I had to follow it. My own view is that if a school requires its students to fight under certain circumstances, the school should include fighting in its curriculum or at least offer voluntary fighting lessons after school. I endured two more years of almost daily beatings before I graduated. The bully would punch me until I tired out, then either push me down or trip me so I'd fall down, then jump on top of me, grab my neck, and bang my head on the concrete patio. I am sure I suffered many concussions from those head bangings. Today, in my old age, my doctor says some of the brain problems I have today (involving memory and organization of thoughts) probably came from those beatings.
If a school requires their students to fight when challenged, that school should give fighting instructions so that everyone knows how to fight.
But I suffered greatly from the focused attention of the school bully. For a while, I was able to run away from her because I'd figured out she was afraid of bees. So I would run into the lemon orchard and grab a bee off of a lemon blossom (very gently and carefully) and as the bully ran toward me, I would throw a bee at her and she'd run away at top speed with the bee chasing her. I never got stung and began to think of the bees as my only allies in my flight from the bully.
But the school wouldn't put up with this. A meeting was held that included my mother and the next day a new rule was instituted at the school; no one was allowed to run from a fight. You had to fight your challenger or talk him/her out of it. But you were not allowed to run.
Since I'd been seriously battered by the bully, I broke the rule once and ran anyway. And got caught. And punished for running.
Here was how the teacher decided to punish me: I had to stand up in front of the whole class while every kid in the class, starting with the bully, was told to tell me something he or she didn't like about me. (I should mention that two of the kinder and braver students refused to participate in this). Since the bully started it off, and had many insults aimed at me, the rest of the class followed her lead and it was a social blood bath for me. I was beyond devastated, and I still suffer a great deal of social anxiety partly because of it. It was a cruel punishment, and that teacher should've known better.
But the rule remained and the punishment did teach me that I had to follow it. My own view is that if a school requires its students to fight under certain circumstances, the school should include fighting in its curriculum or at least offer voluntary fighting lessons after school. I endured two more years of almost daily beatings before I graduated. The bully would punch me until I tired out, then either push me down or trip me so I'd fall down, then jump on top of me, grab my neck, and bang my head on the concrete patio. I am sure I suffered many concussions from those head bangings. Today, in my old age, my doctor says some of the brain problems I have today (involving memory and organization of thoughts) probably came from those beatings.
If a school requires their students to fight when challenged, that school should give fighting instructions so that everyone knows how to fight.
70-79, F
