@bedolcaroline We need open conversations about the correlation between being bullied and suicide. Adults tell kid victims of bullying to “buck up” or “just ignore them”. When kids grow up they continue believing that they just have to keep taking it no matter how bad it hurts.
I was heavily bullied in middle school. On the bus the older boys in HS yelled sexually inappropriate things at me. When I got to school kids would moo at me. They threw my lunch in the trash can saying I didn’t need more food. I got called every term for fat they could think of.
I had also been given the diagnosis of ADHD and had been labeled as “Learning Disabled”. So I had to take special classes which meant everyone knew I was LD. After that I was the ugly fat cow that was also too stupid for normal class.
My parents went to speak with the Principal but they said “kids will be kids. Sorry.” At 12 I felt hopeless and I believed everything they had said about me. I started cutting my wrists as deep as I could. I drank a giant bottle of cough syrup, some pain pills...
And a couple air plane bottles of rum. I felt like I had no reason to go on and nothing positive to contribute to the world. I wasn’t scared to die, I was more afraid to live. My mom found me in my room and called 911. Lucky I came through it unscathed.
After recovering physically from that, my parents got me into therapy. I finished out that school year. The following school year my parents placed me in a private school with other LD kids. I thrived in that school and I made good friends.
I’m sorry all of this was so long but I wanted to share my story with you. Thank you for opening up this conversation. We can’t turn a blind eye to this issue. So many people are suffering in silence because we shove the issue under the rug.
