Bullying at school can affect your entire life.

[nobully]

I was bullied at school not only by the kids but one real mean teacher. I kept it quiet from family because I didn't want to appear weak. The trauma created by Bullying at school can affect your entire life. I grew up not trusting anybody and had a fear of trying anything new in case people made fun of me. I still have very little faith in myself and my abilities and my self esteem is very low. I have auditory processing disorder which makes it very hard to focus and learn. Having this disorder at school, along with the stress of being bullied it became incredibly difficult to learn resulting in people labelling me dumb. I have 2 young sons now and get very defensive if they are bullied. Thankfully it hasn't been as bad for them. I do however have a niece who is very sensitive and was bullied for most her school years. She also doubts her abilities, has low self esteem and when she was around 10 developed obsessive compulsive disorder. There are a lot of schools out there that just are not doing enough to stop this. There were some incidents with my niece that should have resulted in the bullies being expelled from the school. Instead they were simply told not to do it again. My son had trouble at the same school. I told his teacher twice that a certain boy was being nasty to him. She did nothing a couple of weeks later the same boy was given an award for being considerate to others (even though he was still being nasty to my son.) My son and niece soon left the school. I now believe the same school is down to less than half the students. One of my hobbies is to write and record my own music. Most of my songs contain a message.I'm not the greatest musician but I do want to get my message across and maybe help inspire victims of bullies.

[white knight]

Hi nobully,

Agree with you, bullying can effect you for a lifetime.

There are a few posts that might interest you that I've written, simply google them

"Topic: bullying- beyondblue"

"Topic: wit, the answer to torment- beyondblue"

"Topic: so what are their mental illnesses"

The last one turns the tables on bullies.

Tony WK

[nobully]

Thanks, I will check them out.

[Zeal]

Hi no bully,

It's unfair that you were bullied like that, but I'm very glad that you have two lovely kids now and support them unconditionally. I also have Auditory Processing Disorder, which has made learning more difficult. It's taken me longer to achieve things in life, to be honest. I am fortunate that I had good support at some critical periods. In Year 1 at school I was a poor reader, so I was taught one-on-one by a very patient and determined support staff teacher. The LAP program was brand new, and Mum said I was one of the first to do it. I was a very shy and polite yet stubborn kid, but the constant attention one-on-one paid off. The program worked, and I remember being asked to read in front of a panel of educational teachers as a young kid who'd had success with the program! English and reading are now my strongest abilities. The same can't be said for maths - I have always struggled with it.

I am studying third year psychology at my local university this year, and I'm struggling to focus on my practical report reading at the moment. I would love to get into Honours next year, but I know how high my marks need to be. Oh well, I will at least try!

I'm really sorry that you still suffer from low self-esteem and don't have faith in your abilities. I can very much relate to that feeling. That improved for me a lot a few years ago, but I still have my moments. It's awesome that you're a Mum - that is an accomplishment in itself! Good on you for being proactive with your sons' happiness and learning at school! Moving schools would have been for the best. I hope your niece can get help for her OCD - hopefully she is receiving mental health care from a professional she trusts. I've had OCD at various levels for a decade now. I really hope that she is able to reduce the impact and severity of her condition.

It's great that you record music! It doesn't matter that you're not expert at it - just doing it is amazing. I admit that I have no musical or performing arts skills. I am tone deaf, I cannot play a musical instrument, dread situations involving dance, and cannot act. It doesn't bother me anymore; I just make light of the situation! Maybe it makes others feel a bit better! Also, I really appreciate talent of this nature.

I better stop talking now, as the word limit has almost been reached!

Best wishes,

SM

[Zeal]

Hi again!

I trialled the Reading Recovery Program which is part of LAP. I just thought I'd make that minor correction in case you wanted to look into it 🙂