General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Have you ever been bullied? [View all]LiberalEsto
(22,845 posts)Because I had skipped a grade, I was the youngest and smallest kid in my classes. I was intelligent and non-athletic.
My parents, immigrants from Europe, were strict and authoritarian. This made me easy prey for classmates because I never had the nerve to talk back or fight back. School was hell for me from third grade through 11th, but things let up a bit in senior year.
Being bullied left me extremely timid and meek, afraid to speak up for myself at work, ask for raises and so on. But it also left me with a passionate empathy for underdogs. As a newspaper reporter I frequently wrote about people who were getting screwed by politicians and companies.
At one point I worked for a year for CAP (Center for Assault Prevention) in Maryland, going to elementary schools and preschools to teach kids techniques to protect themselves against bullying and assault. I often wish they had had a program like that when I was a kid.
For more info on CAP: http://www.internationalcap.org/programs_programs.html