Words

Hi, my name is Michael and I am 17 years old. When I was 15 I went through the whole of high school tortured by name calling and ridicule. My whole class used to mock each other but the abuse towards me was on another level. My family weren’t the wealthiest and people would make fun of my clothes, I never had the latest brand of trainers or the cleanest uniform. We were on a water meter so people would say I was smelly and think of all sorts of names to hurt me regarding my hygiene. I suffered from terrible acne so I was abused for that, I was never referred to as my name just spot related abuse. I felt my teacher was intimidating and when I told him things people had said he didn’t really listen and nothing was ever resolved so I stopped telling him all together. I felt so alone and no one was on my side. I didn’t want to tell my parents because they had enough to deal with regarding finance. School was the hardest time of my life. Now I am in college studying A levels and have a great friendship group and judged less. Words still remain a constant scar in my mind but everyday it gets easier and I get stronger.