Currently, I’m in seventh grade. I have bacteriaphobia/OCD. I go to a psychiatrist for it. My problem is that I wave something – papers, jacket, fan, etc – when people cough or sneeze, and I hate touching the floor or my shoes. Apparently, my reaction to coughing is funny, because people fake cough around me. Sometimes I hear them laugh. There’s so many tips for what to say to a bully who’s insulting you, but I haven’t found anything for what to do when a bully is doing a perfectly “normal” activity without saying anything. I haven’t told the school yet (once I told the guidance counselor, but that was in a smaller school where I knew names) for two reasons. The first reason is that I want the bullies to come to it on their own, just like I want to get rid of my OCD on my own. The second reason is this – bullying is natural. When you talk badly about a politician, when newspaper writers call people racist – heck, even when you call the bullies “evil” – it’s a form, more or less, of naturally wanting to put yourself on top. Some people do it less than others, and in different ways, of course, but it’s still normal. And when the school tries to fix it, they confront the bullies, which makes the bullies feel justified to continue the attacks. So it’s just a cycle.