Real Teens Speak Out

The Dark Won’t Just Disappear

Are we really in this constant internal struggle?
Where we hate ourselves
And we kill our brothers?
Acting like were animals
Taken each other
just to
Kindle more candles
And shame our mothers

It’s the bullies at school
Even other countries
One day it’s an April Fools!
Next: we don’t agree
And all a sudden
We got bombs goin off
at all degrees

We still hangin on to our yes’s please?
Throwing our trash in the right place or just debating about being free?

Not even that
We just got girls and boys on TV
Kids growin up, dreams of wanna Bs

Are lyrics the tissues soaking up our tears?
Where’s mom where’s dad?
Fears on-top of fears
More impressive then the pyramids
If you count the years
It’s been long enough
We should know how to treat our peers.

Now Believe me I’ve seen it, Since I wasn’t even a teen yet, I mean it

To Every bully and bullied
I declare: Be Aware
Dont be scared,
it’s the snickers and sneers that got us here But persevere, And be sincere I promise this ain’t the final tier

Cause starting this year
we quit whispering into ears
Start showing up at Poetry SLAMS for more than cheers or dough We’ve seen the Facebook posts!
But Rosa Park didn’t TALK about sitten in front row!

I know! we don’t have to wait for more dyin just do what I’m tryin-

So lets Be out there
Don’t let the opportunity go like the polar bear Compliment someone on their shoes or their beautiful handsome hair Instead of what’s easy Hate never got us anywhere

Don’t have to be perFECT
Just don’t let evil go unchECKED
Spread the seeds of love, give each other warm hugs, and watch us grow-greenhouse eFFECT

Most of all remember-
Feels good to be volunteers

So please please Stop- drinking beers
Cause
when you wake up
Pshhh
The dark won’t just disappear.

Friends Against Bullying

This is my story about the time I got Bullied:

I have been bullied since kindergarten. That was just little picks. It all severely started in Middle School. Throughout middle school and the beginning of high school, I was tripped, shoved, kicked, hit and I was even talked about on the internet even though I don’t even use social media like Facebook or any other type of internet site of that sort. A person even texted me to ask me out and it was all a joke. I thought that maybe there were people that liked me for who I was. In middle school, I tried to “fit in”, only to stand out even more because the ones that acted like they were “helping” me, made even more of a joke of me. I started being called all kinds of names. It affected my whole school life. I was afraid of how high school was going to be. I went to summer school then on to 9th grade. I still cant believe that I had to fight my way through school. I got tired of all the garbage! I started to hit, kick and even slap back! Of course, that got me suspended. After all this time of crying and hurting, I finally fought back! Again, my bullies still came after me but I am the one that got suspended for standing up for myself. After the suspension, I left school for a bit and went to online school. I needed time to think about who I was and what I wanted to be and not how everyone else wanted me to act, dress, behave, etc. My classmates and peers were cruel and it tore me apart. When I was online schooled, it made me realize that I am one person. If I am running away, what is happening to the others that are being bullied? So it had me look at the real person I really am. So now I have a hard time making friends because I don’t know who I can trust. I feel safe knowing that I have my own little circle of friends and some best friends. I have even started my personal project about bullying, “Friends United Against Bullying”, I carry around a red notebook to have classmates sign a pledge that they will not bully others. And I am finally telling myself that I am not scared of anyone who puts me down, they need more out of it than I do. I am able to forgive the people that have done wrong to me but I will never forget.

My Friends Against Bullying website

Poem Against Bullying

Walk through the halls of an unknown land Trying to figure out how to fit in, May not be the same as everyone else, But is that a reason to cut me down? Every day I face a new battle don’t you see, Not knowing who will push or tease me.

Will I be made fun of for my clothes?

Will I be shunned for my shyness?

Will the other kids laugh and point?

Who will beat me up I think to myself,

when I am alone in the hall?

Will anyone hear my cries?

When I am running for my life?

Kids tell me I am to slow to score a goal, Teachers tell me you’ll never make the grade, They look at me and see what they want to see.

When will I be seen for me?

My parents tell me do not be afraid.

Do not listen to what they all say.

Your dreams are powerful and can be attained.

You are worth more than you’ll ever know Don’t give up on yourself.

I sit in my room at night and cry,

Wishing I was like them inside.

Why do kids hate me so much?

What did I ever do to make them hurt me so?

I just want the bullying to stop in school.

I want to be free to explore the world.

I want a chance to find myself,

I want to be happy once again.

I want to find the smile I once had.

I want to be seen for who I really am,

I just want a new beginning.

About the author:
I was a shy kid in school with many learning disabilities. I struggled with anxiety and depression and know what kind of impact that can have on a child. I also was told on several occasions that writing poetry would get me no where in life so why write. I write because I find joy in it and am good at it. Writing is something no one can take away from me. I have seen a lot of bullying going on in my childrens school and wanted to make a difference. After I saw the NFL players characters unite shows on television I decided to talk to some teachers about focusing our poetry unit in April around anti bullying poems and what it means to kids that are facing it in todays society. I know how bullying can crush a childs perception of them selves and how hard it is to go to school and face those fears every day. This is just my way of helping others.

Advice

I would recommend to:

• Talk to someone you trust
• Try writing about it
• If you can – try to not let the words get into you head.
• Find a healthy way to take out your anger or fear.
• Find a way to distract yourself
  • paint your nails
  • shop
  • listen to music or watch a movie
  • play a sport
  • play a video gam
• Read a book
• Sing
• Draw
• Write a note/letter/email to the person bullying, but don’t send it or give it to them.

( perfecto) !

I Became My Own Hero

In my time of getting bullied, I contemplated suicide in more ways than one. I felt as though I was nothing at all but a waist of space. I was beaten, hated, and ridiculed just because I looked a little different from most kids my age. I would retreat to my room and reach under my bed and ,grab a knife or some type of sharp object. I remember putting it to my wrist, wanting to do it but I just couldn’t for some odd reason. One day my mother had me come home and listen to a few instrumentals. She asked me “Do you want to go freestyle to one?” I didn’t know what happened to the me on the inside. I felt brand new. I was happy and no one could stop this felling. It was like I was a super hero. Like Spider-Man or The Hulk I felt amazing. I started thinking about what I was told for so long and used those words as strength to try and draw power from. and get inspired off me because all my life I was told and taught I was nothing and now I’m something I proved them wrong I became my own hero. RobenX. I want to be yours as well. My super power is music and I want to use it for good to save you as it saved me.

We just need someone to listen

I want to start off by saying that this is my first time to actually join or at least contribute, support a program that helps those who are in need of help, because you know, we know that problems like bullying need to be addressed. This also is my first time sharing my story, but I figured since it would help others, then might as well give it a shot. And if you all would not mind, I would love to join to help out kids who have been victims, even though I’m just thirteen years old and don’t know that much about the world. But what I do know is that we experience pain, problems like bullying that can lead to suicide and major depression, which I have experienced as well. I always had this motivation to at least help other people, because when I was bullied, I was a young girl who didn’t know what to do. I was dumbfounded, and scared at how they would threaten me with death, and harassed me in every possible way. Words do hurt and so do actions. Because by the time I was punched or kicked for being too smart, or being too different from all the other people, I was traumatized for a girl of only 6 to about 8 years old. I remember being afraid of going to school, because my teacher would force me to sit at their table, and under the desks, they would kick me as hard as they could. And I would return home with my legs all bruised up. And yet I was still scared to speak up, and day by day, second by second, I developed major depression, eating disorders, and even started self harming to the point I was suicidal. And one day I just came to realize that this is not ok. What they do is not ok. Because no one has the right to make someone else feel down just by calling them ugly, fat or any other offensive terms. I have a story. We all have a story. And we all have problems, some bigger than others, but that gives us even more of a right to help each other out. I had no one to help me when I went through a rehabilitation process, but we are not alone. We don’t need someone to understand, we just need someone to listen.

Light

It was the last thing I’d ever thought to see in my life. Everything started in Elementary school. I was never really that good with school, I was always taken out of class to have tests and books read to me, I felt embarrassed, but then I soon figured out that they were just trying to help me, and I got better, my reading level increased, and I was so happy. Just when I thought nothing could ruin all of this, I was so wrong. Kids started to tease me, calling me names, yelling at me, pushing me during recess, I always hid in the bathroom. I would sit on the little counter by the sink and eat my lunch. When the teacher found me, she said I had to start eating in the cafeteria, she assured me that everything was going to be okay. But again, she was wrong. Everything was not okay. They started teasing me, and sitting really close to me because they knew I was afraid of them. They would take my dollar I had in my lunch box my mom always gave me to buy a cookie to get something for themselves. Soon after that I started staying in the classroom with my teacher during recess, I always gave her some lame excuse on how I didn’t understand a math problem, or couldn’t spell a word right. Soon she figured out that I was just hiding. When she wanted to take me outside I literally dropped to my knees and cried. I yelled and screamed praying she wouldn’t take me out there with them. That’s when I saw her face completely change. She knew that this wasn’t just teasing but it was something serious. So she allowed me to stay. I helped her clean her classroom and straighten out the desks. But one day I came to school and she wasn’t there, the substitute told me that she had her baby the other night and she was going to be out for the rest of the year, the substitute never let me stay in for recess, that’s when I had to toughen up and get out there, I just sat on the bench the whole time, the kids called me over to play with them, and of course I smiled and came over, and then they started making fun of me again. I mean I knew that kids can be mean but I didn’t know they could be that cruel. Anyways, the bullying went on and on throughout the years, and it got worse as I got older. Especially during middle school and half of high school. They would say that I have a mustache. Every single day they said this, and in my head I’m thinking, you said this yesterday, and the day before, and last week. Why do you keep saying it? Then I pinned it all on myself. I really thought I had a mustache. So I went home and shaved my upper lip. I would have done anything to make them stop. Anything. But whatever I did, nothing helped. That’s when I wanted to give up. But then I thought t myself, why give up? Your just letting them win. Do you want them to win? So I stood tall and accepted all the words they said to me. It hurt like a ton of bricks. My heart was just shattered, and my heart was bruised and just broken. But I heard that when you’re heart is broken, it lets the light inside.

There’s No Such Thing as Normal

I am a perfectly healthy and average 12 year old girl who isn’t allergic to anything but Penicillin. Almost everyone in my 6 grade classes (we have 2 classes) is friends with each other. Nobody would physically hurt each other or bully each other to the point where one of us commits suicide. It’s nothing life threatening. However, at lunch time, sometimes I get bullied. The problem is, the people at my table don’t realize they hurt me. They’re all pretty nice people, I’m friends with all of them. There are 4 boys who sit at my table and 2 other girls. For lunch, I usually bring a tuna sandwich because I like tuna. Sometimes I bring a sandwich that includes mayo on it. Sometimes I bring a bagel with cream cheese. The problem is, the girls and one of the boys were asking me today things like “How do you like tuna?” Or something like that. Then I told them the foods I didn’t like. I don’t drink pop (I never have), I don’t eat fruits like strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, mango, etc. I am not the type of person that likes foods that most kids like. I do like grapes, bananas, apples, watermelon, and some vegetables. When they found out this, they were for some reason appalled by this. I don’t see why. Not everyone likes the same thing. They didn’t physically hurt me, they just acted kind of rude. The girls weren’t as mean as the one guy. They just said things like, “I can’t believe you don’t like strawberries!”. It didn’t really hurt me, but they acted like I was an alien or something. There’s no such thing as normal, because everyone is different. But they acted like it was against the law to have a different opinion. It hurt me a little. The other 3 boys didn’t really say anything, they just continued to eat their lunch. But I’m not sure what to do. If they do it again, how do I respond? I feel like crying because I don’t want to deal with bullying.

My Story

It all started in the 6th grade when i shaved my head for kid’s with cancer. Because i dressed like more like a guy then I did like a girl. Everyone kept calling me a man or they would call me a dyke or a lesbian. At the time i hadn’t realized that i actually was. I also shaved my head in the seventh grade for the same cause. While my friends got all the good recognition for it I got all of the bullying. No body knew what i was going through. I didn’t tell any of my friends that i had started self harming. I started the end of my sixth grade year. At first it was only one or two but then it turned into more. My 8th grade year the bullying had gotten so much worse. Everyone kept asking me what i was doing in the girls locker room and why i went in the girls bathroom. I hated almost everyone at my school because i got crap from everyone. I didn’t want to be there anymore. Everyone would say ohhh look its the girl who cuts herself, ohh look its the girl who is suicidal. I got sick of it so that year i tried to overdose. My friend got there in time and made me throw up the pills. I didn’t want to go back to school. After that so many more people started making fun of me. I had one friend and even she made fun of me at times about me being gay. Once i got to be a freshman i started standing up for myself and tried to not let anyone get to me. I still self harm to this day but im not as bad about it. The bullying still happens and it hits me hard still but i’ve learned to not listen to what people say to me. I’ve started to help other people and its helped me as well.

Why?

Why don’t you see the things you say effect me. Why do you think it’s okay to call me all those hurtful names. And to spread lies about me. Why can’t you tell that you need to stop because they really hurt me. Do you really find a satisfaction in seeing me fall apart? And in seeing me in pain and tears. Do you really find joy in telling people lies and causing me to walk alone in the halls hearing people whisper hurtful things that you said about me that aren’t even true. I can’t answer that for you. But you can. Why not try to stop and see how much pain you’ve caused me and how many nights I couldn’t sleep because to much was running through my mind. Couldn’t you just let me be happy? And not run your mouth about me. Please just tell me why you do this to me? What have I done wrong to deserve this. Just give me an answer.