Were you ever bullied in school for being overweight? How di

jenng38

I was bullied relentlessly from 6th grade until senior year in high school. My worst memory was in middle school-- a group of girls surrounded me and started barking. The worst part of that was not the girls but it was when I caught a glimpse of the teachers watching and laughing. It was the middle of my senior year when I finally had enough and I put a boy (who had been the source of the bullying) into a wall and held him there by his shirt. No one saw except for his friends who laughed at him for being man handled by a girl. I didn't have any problems after that. It really sucks and I am glad that bullying is finally being recognized as a serious problem. I really feel for any kid who is going through it.

MaximalLife

When I was 11 years old, I got fat was was teased unmercifully by others, including my father and brothers,
That was enough!
I was like Rocky [play the music], and I worked out - lost the fat.
And I was fit - peak condition as a teen on up to age 39 where I ballooned up for the first time after a back injury.
I worked off the fat - peak condition again, then - BANG - age 46 - head injury with severe brain trauma.
I bloated up to my highest weight: 265 lbs - OUCH!

I did what has always worked, and today, I am 194 heading back to 185 - peak condition.

I can still hear and feel every old would inflicted on me as a fat child.
That is a large part of my motivation.
It still hurts.

im sorry you had to go through that =(

Not me.
Hard times and pain makes us stronger; it builds character.
I just hate that the world is such a cruel place, but it is. And we must all face these challenges as they come.
Now that I know how people are and how the world works, I make it work for me.
People should beware the monsters they create.
I have found my place, took my little piece of life's action, and all is well.

Nobody's going to hurt me today without consequence.

Apazman

I was bullied for years until about 7th grade and I hit one kid in the face with a metal basket from the gym lockers.

Sometimes, you just have to spill blood to make peace.

Violence is only language that some people understand.

You can try to ignore it .. or do something about it!,

People are a-holes, time to correct the behavior

I don't have kids but I have always thought about this way, If my kid got suspended or in trouble for fighting at school:
Severe punishment - They started the fight
Moderate punishment - They were defending themselves
No punishment - they were defending a friend who can't stand up for themselves or if it was thier sibling.

jenng38

And one more thing...when a child experiences bullying for any length of time is shapes their personality. It stays with you for your whole life and it can be extremely damaging. Some are more affected than others, but for the most part it definitely shapes the kind of person you become. I tend to be mistrustful of people, but I seem to be getting better with that. It ruined my self esteem for a while, but I have managed to recover that as well. Sometimes the kids has to fight back in order for it to stop. They used to say "just ignore it" but that never works. Maximalife...I am sorry you feel that way. Yes I would agree that hard times make you stronger, but in the case of bullying there have been psychological studies that show this is not the case. Nowadays it is even worse because bullying at school leads to cyber bullying and there have been an increase in teen suicides. This particular problem never makes people stronger. If you were bullied and you feel like it made you stronger, then I would suggest your brain processed everything differently from the start and maybe it was not as devastating to you as it might be to another child. I don't mean to disrespect what you are saying, but I couldn't let this go because I am a psychology student and we have talked this issue to death. I am not in any way suggesting that I am an expert, but as someone who was severely bullied, I just had to make that point

InvictusPhoenix

When I was 11 years old, I got fat was was teased unmercifully by others, including my father and brothers,
That was enough!
I was like Rocky [play the music], and I worked out - lost the fat.
And I was fit - peak condition as a teen on up to age 39 where I ballooned up for the first time after a back injury.
I worked off the fat - peak condition again, then - BANG - age 46 - head injury with severe brain trauma.
I bloated up to my highest weight: 265 lbs - OUCH!

I did what has always worked, and today, I am 194 heading back to 185 - peak condition.

I can still hear and feel every old would inflicted on me as a fat child.
That is a large part of my motivation.
It still hurts.

im sorry you had to go through that =(

Not me.
Hard times and pain makes us stronger; it builds character.
I just hate that the world is such a cruel place, but it is. And we must all face these challenges as they come.
Now that I know how people are and how the world works, I make it work for me.
People should beware the monsters they create.
I have found my place, took my little piece of life's action, and all is well.

Nobody's going to hurt me today without consequence.

^^^ like like like like

PhatAndy

I had an uncle that started calling me Chubs when I was in second grade. In my eyes, he was a grown up and I believed him, even when others told me different. I mean why would he keep telling me that if it wasn't true. Well in second grade I was not chubby. In fact, I was not chubby until sometime in high school. However, I always felt fat and self-conscious. I am by nature an introverted person. This probably worsened that a bit.

I was very bitter towards this uncle for a long time, thinking why would an adult do that to a child, because even when I cried he didn't stop. Then one day it hit me. My uncle, the one I thought was so grown up, was 13-14 years old when I was in second grade. I had let the comments of some punk *kitten* kid bother me my whole life!

I am still very self conscious but I am working on it.

I have faith you will overcome

PhatAndy

Wasn't bullied too badly- only by a couple specific people, but i was an outcast until the summer before senior year.
Freshman year: got a skateboard swung at my face because i was "already ugly anyways and it might fix me"
sophmore: got my braces- god that was fun
junior: ditched by my date as a joke on homecoming
summer between junior and senior year: got cut (lost 35 pounds), grew my hair out long(i'd had it cut like a "rockers" short in back, long up front and dyed red purple- went blonde), braces off, lost the acne, changed how i dressed and held myself
senior year and beyond: hottie-with-a-body who has a complete hatered of bullies (completely the one to call people out on being an *kitten*)
Now? 3 years later? I haven't been to my hometown for more than a week since I graduated. Usually people don't recognize me
***all of these are the reasons for my obsession with the poem invictus***

What an awful expirience, has this changed you at all? your mind how you think? Do you have compassion for others are you sensitive towards it?

I'm now EXTREMELY guarded when first meeting people. I can even come off as abrasive or just really quiet- i honestly had never even had a boyfriend until 4 months ago (took me along time to get over that people weren't talking to me or saying things in a secretly teasing way like the homecoming experience). It definitely left some wounds. My boyfriend says trying to get me on a date was like coaxing an baby animal (yeah- not a fan of the comparison) because he had to be so careful.

I'm also very very very defensive of people, especially girls, who talk badly about themselves or each other- i am always complimenting (sincerely) my friends and the people i'm closest to

I hear you on the defensive part, i struggle with it bigtime. see the negative in things and take things as an insult when they arent

kammy92

Yes I was in school, from about 4th grade to 7th.....................kids can be the cruelest that's all I'll say......................still scarred to this day!!!!!!!!:frown: :frown:

PhatAndy

Yes I was in school, from about 4th grade to 7th.....................kids can be the cruelest that's all I'll say......................still scarred to this day!!!!!!!!:frown: :frown:

PEOPLE can be cruel, it doesent always stop right after school!

tabithajoyy

I absolutly was bullied. I was chubby from elementary-HS & now. I didnt have many friends in school but a few close girl friends It really has scard me, even to this day. I am so self-concious, not confident. Unfortunatly my marriage suffers some because of MY issues. Mainly boys made fun of me in school. Calling me every name you can think of. Making piggy noises (i have a piggy nose), even once i was drinking from the drinking fountain and they said Hey, save some water for the whales and said wait, you are a whale. Ouch! I can't even remember all the rude comments. I do remember i absolutly HATED co-ed gym time. Esp if it was dodge ball day. I was always too slow to run away from the ball and it'd bounce off of me sooo far and kids would laugh so hard and make fun of me for not being able to run. In a way that did motivate me, i will RUN some day. I cant wait to some day be thin & fit and prove to all of them i made it.

ps my sister always bullied me too. she was mean and called me fat and made fun if my rolls showed etc.

HeikkiLaukkanen

Wow lots of painful stories here. I too am glad that bullying is being put under the spotlight.

I was a chubby kid. But a chubby active kid, never a couch potato. I remember lots of unkind comments. One in particular during junior high where it was pointed out that my "moobs" were larger than many of the girls starter breasts. I was fortunate that I was smart and a great student and could fall back on that as a backstop for my self esteem. I kept trying though. I started football in the 8th grade and worked out in the off-season every year. Eventually I leaned out in high school and made all conference offense and defense, and I was wrestling team captain, student body vice president, and valedictorian (disclaimer: it was a small school). Most of my antagonists I came to realize were making up for their own insecurities. By my senior year I could say I wasn't always liked by everybody but I was well respected.

Even this many years later I'm still of the baseline mindset that I'm overweight at 18% bodyfat. The upside was the harassment made me determined to succeed at everything.

PhatAndy

I absolutly was bullied. I was chubby from elementary-HS & now. I didnt have many friends in school but a few close girl friends It really has scard me, even to this day. I am so self-concious, not confident. Unfortunatly my marriage suffers some because of MY issues. Mainly boys made fun of me in school. Calling me every name you can think of. Making piggy noises (i have a piggy nose), even once i was drinking from the drinking fountain and they said Hey, save some water for the whales and said wait, you are a whale. Ouch! I can't even remember all the rude comments. I do remember i absolutly HATED co-ed gym time. Esp if it was dodge ball day. I was always too slow to run away from the ball and it'd bounce off of me sooo far and kids would laugh so hard and make fun of me for not being able to run. In a way that did motivate me, i will RUN some day. I cant wait to some day be thin & fit and prove to all of them i made it.

How has this changed you emotionally? What is your personality like?

PhatAndy

Wow lots of painful stories here. I too am glad that bullying is being put under the spotlight.

I was a chubby kid. But a chubby active kid, never a couch potato. I remember lots of unkind comments. One in particular during junior high where it was pointed out that my "moobs" were larger than many of the girls starter breasts. I was fortunate that I was smart and a great student and could fall back on that as a backstop for my self esteem. I kept trying though. I started football in the 8th grade and worked out in the off-season every year. Eventually I leaned out in high school and made all conference offense and defense, and I was wrestling team captain, student body vice president, and valedictorian (disclaimer: it was a small school). Most of my antagonists I came to realize were making up for their own insecurities. By my senior year I could say I wasn't always liked by everybody but I was well respected.

Even this many years later I'm still of the baseline mindset that I'm overweight at 18% bodyfat. The upside was the harassment made me determined to succeed at everything.

Right on man, that is damn good dedication right there!

mkinzalow

Mine started in the 7th grade. I would ride the bus to and from school. The boys on the bus would always call me big mona and say really mean things about me. There were countless times wheren I just went home and cried. I remember always dreading the bus because I never knew what they were going to say about me. The one thing I remember very well was I asked this gut that lived down the street from me why the fire truck came down our road the night before and to fit in with the crowd he said its because you ate a house. I never forgot that. My eight grade year I got sick and lost most of the weight. The crazy thing is when I got to high school I got reunited with one of the guys that bullied me on the bus and we wound up dating for about a year and a half. I did gain back everything I lost and then some. In which the guy I was dating was very mean and would always talk about my weight. We did finally break up and again I lost most of the weight. After the 10th grade I learned to ignore it, and after that it pretty much went away. By the 11th grade some of the people that bullied me became my friends and the others well I never spoke to again. I do believe that with time some people change (not all but some).

PhatAndy

Mine started in the 7th grade. I would ride the bus to and from school. The boys on the bus would always call me big mona and say really mean things about me. There were countless times wheren I just went home and cried. I remember always dreading the bus because I never knew what they were going to say about me. The one thing I remember very well was I asked this gut that lived down the street from me why the fire truck came down our road the night before and to fit in with the crowd he said its because you ate a house. I never forgot that. My eight grade year I got sick and lost most of the weight. The crazy thing is when I got to high school I got reunited with one of the guys that bullied me on the bus and we wound up dating for about a year and a half. I did gain back everything I lost and then some. In which the guy I was dating was very mean and would always talk about my weight. We did finally break up and again I lost most of the weight. After the 10th grade I learned to ignore it, and after that it pretty much went away. By the 11th grade some of the people that bullied me became my friends and the others well I never spoke to again. I do believe that with time some people change (not all but some).

Yes, Some, not all. I hear you there.

PhatAndy

Some girls in middle school used to call me Shamu. Then the guy I lost my virginity to told people really rude things concerning my weight (after the fact, of course.) I'm not sure I ever got over that stuff. It doesn't sting like it used to, but one of those girls sent me a friend request on FB. I laughed heartily and ignored the request. You would think after all these years (15 to be exact) I would assume those girls had said those things just because they were young and heartless and let bygones be bygones, but no, that *kitten* can kiss my *kitten*.

Amen!

natika33

Bullied, treated like complete crap, however you want to put it, yup.
I was hospitalized in grade 7 and came back with quite a bit of weight gain due to lack of exercise and just in general being depressed. I was to ill to go to school but when I returned in grade 8, I was bullied a lot. I felt I had no friends but I took the bullying because, in my opinion, they were right. 5'4'' and 195 pounds, I was the heaviest girl in my class. I also got various insults such as that my nose makes me look like a witch, and that even if I lost weight I'd still be an ugly pig.
By grade 10, the "teasing" as my councillor called it got worse. People physically attacked me more than once, and while I wanted to tell someone about it, my parents intimidated me. I felt (and still do) like if I told them what went on, they'd call me a failure and compare me to my sister who they say is dead to them, and that was the last thing I needed to hear. So I went through all of it on my own, my councillor's only encouragement being, "they're doing it to make you stronger. Its a lesson from God."
When a rumour started going out that I was pregnant - which, being a virgin, I obviously wasn't! - I couldn't take it anymore. People started calling me obscene names and some boys took it far enough to throw pennies at me and say that's all I was worth.
I dropped out. But I'm finishing my last year at home now [a bit late], though its hard with all the little encouragement that I get.

Not that it really matters. No one has ever cared in the past or will care in the future but I may as well vent a little on MFP. Life has, and will always, suck.

It sounds like you had a lot of crap happen to you and you deserve a good venting! Having been in a bad spot myself for years and years though and having overcome it, I have to tell you that life doesn't suck. It does get better.

You've already made it this far on your own and that's awesome. Winston Churchill had a saying that if you are going through hell you should keep going. If you stop, you'll stay there forever, no? You have to keep going to come out the other side.

It might be difficult, but you are now finishing up your diploma and you are on MFP losing weight. Don't let all those people who were mean to you win! The best revenge in the world is success.

I thought life sucked too, but I was wrong. (^_~)

LelliAmi

I was overweight when i was in elementary and grade 7. grade 8 i started losing weight, but up until then i was bullied sooo badly. it didn't help at all that my A.D.D hindered my social skills. I never really coped with it. Even now, everything people said to me stays with me in my head. I'm working hard to prove those *kitten* wrong.

PhatAndy

I was overweight when i was in elementary and grade 7. grade 8 i started losing weight, but up until then i was bullied sooo badly. it didn't help at all that my A.D.D hindered my social skills. I never really coped with it. Even now, everything people said to me stays with me in my head. I'm working hard to prove those *kitten* wrong.

So much faith in you girl. you can do it!

godricshollow

I was probably a little below average weight in primary/elementary school but that was because I was really active combined with being tall and lanky. Then in high school I was the polar opposite - extremely overweight due to an eating disorder. I was picked on pretty bad, mostly because I went to a performing arts school therefore surrounded by dancers who thought they were doing me some kind of favour by informing me that I was fat. I was okay with it for the most part, but that was only because I had two really great and supportive friends (well, I had more than two friends of course but those two are standout and the ONLY people I talk to from high school now) who were with me through it.

The worst of the bullying was probably in 10th grade because I had the misfortune of being in the same gym class as the people who bullied me and none of my friends were in that class. Oy vey. Worst timetable ever! This one guy was the worst, he called me a "stupid fat ****" when we were playing softball. Ironically he found me on Facebook years later and thought it would be a great idea to not only add me, but somehow get my number and ask me out on a date. Obviously said no but lol, some people.