Personal Experience with Bullying.

I have personal direct experience with bullying as a teenager in middle and high school. I was bullied by the same small group of boys. I have been also bullied in the work environment by fellow adults and coworkers. In my own experiences, those in authority who could have and should have done something about it and should had held those responsible for bullying accountable for their behavior and bullying, disrespectful and abusive actions did not do so or refused to do so and often brushed the problem under the rug and tolerated such behavior. I tend to blame too many people found in a postition to do something about preventing bullying from continuing to happen and holding those responsible for bullying, refusing to do so and having a tendency to ignore such issues and not responding to them all or respond in a way that makes matters worse. From my own experience they often ignore the issues when presented to them and tend to not respond at all and do not handle the issue with bullying at all. So the victim is often frequently victimized, which has a long term damaging affect and impact on them. Often those who bullied me in the past was because I was unique and different from them, in a good way and often because I allowed it to happen, by not responding correctly to the bully and by not standing up for myself even when others crossed me or violated me and my personal boundaries in any fashion, including mild forms of disrespect. When I was younger I had tend to be a quite, reserved, shy person, who often kept my feelings and problems to myself and had low self esteem and lacked in confidence. I was often soft spoken and did not talk to much and often kept to myself. Today as an adult in my 40’s I tend to be more vocal, outgoing and outspoken, courgeous, bold, tougher and stronger, candid, frank and straightforward and have no problem standing up for myself and tell the truth and taking a stand, including standing up for my convictions and beliefs. I also may be perceived by bullies today as someone not to mess with. I also have learned to discern and read people better and be better at elevating others character. I have always been one not to conform to the crowd and follow the majority and tend to do what I believe is right. I am also a soft hearted, kind, caring, tender person, the exact type of people who often get mistreated the most and hurt easier and get mistreated the worst. However, I have to thank all those who have bullied me in the past, because they helped make me a much stronger person and to have a much better understanding of myself and how much power I really do have. Today I stand up to bullies, when I used to remain silent , I now speak up! I will not only speak up on my behalf I will also speak up on the behalf of those who are victims of all types of bullying, since I know first hand what it is like to be bullied. I have had the opportunity to speak to young people about bullying and have shared my own personal story with them and I will continue to do so.