That I would never have to repeat high school. Actually, high school went well for me, but sixth grade was hell. I was that girl who nobody would eat with, who was picked last for the teams in gym class. Nobody wanted to be paired with me for field trips. People stole and hid my lunch. Girls taped my hair to my chair in class. They put ketchup in my backpack and ruined my books. I was mercilessly teased in the halls about my clothing, my hair, my family. Every day during recess I hid in the library and read. Eventually I ate my lunch in the bathroom.
When I started seventh grade the following year my elementary school merged with three others. For me the bullies moved on and I made new friends. My parents moved between seventh and eighth grade and I have never seen any of the girls who tortured me again.
That kind of isolation never leaves you though. When I read this story-below-I sobbed for this girl. I want to shake the people who are making excuses for the girls who tortured her, especially the adults. I do know why they make these excuses. It is because those people watched her be isolated and tortured and did nothing. Some because they simply did not know how to help, some because they were afraid too, and some because they were the tormentors. The excuses help with their guilt.
I have poured over pictures of myself when I was in the sixth grade. I was a pretty typical looking kid. I have spent hours looking at my face trying to see what was different or attracted their attention. I will never know. The one thing that I learned at the end of that was never to be quiet when someone is being attacked.
This bullying shaped my life. I fight for the underdog for a living. Without those girls I may have never become a lawyer. Thanks to facebook I know that most of them still work in retail. I should send thank you notes.
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