School

12-07-2008

I also suggest just being who you are. No need to make a big deal about it unless that is your personality - but no need to hide it either.

I didn't really suffer from bullying all that much - but I did have size on my side ... despite being the youngest in my classes (thanks to skipping straight from 2nd year to 4th year in primary school), I was still amongst the tallest (and largest ) - which I'm sure helped.

I did well in school academically, but didn't have a lot of friends until I reached university - there I found that almost everybody was trying to forge a unique identity too, and my uniqueness actually became much more normal (if you understand that slightly twisted logic).

I am still great friends with many of the people I went to uni with - even though I now live in another city on the other side of the country.

12-07-2008

Sim, that's what I intended to say, I just didn't word it right!

12-07-2008

I'm sorry you're having such a crap time with people at your school - they sound like real neanthderthals and it makes me very cross that your teachers are not able/willing to help you and that you're having to bottle so much up. Kids can be very cruel and I think, so can some teachers.

I work a lot with several bullied students at school and we use the 'no-blame' approach to sorting out bullies and it really seems to work. We also have lots of social skills building groups, support groups and lots of clubs where like-minded people can meet e.g. warhammer, Dr Who club etc and these really help studetns who don't fit in with the so-called 'cool' kids. Do you ahve anything like this? Do any of your local animal centres have clubs e.g. farms, zoos,

Is there someone you can talk to on a regular basis? School counsellor? It's good that you can talk about what's happening to you on this site and people are giving some really good ideas and advice, but face-to-face talking can be really useful too. Do you have an anti-bullying forum and policy at your school? Most schools in the UK have this and it is a good place to start tackling some of the issues. Do you have friends who can support you and lookout for you?

It's late and I'm waffling on. I'll see if can find out about some strategies you can use to tackle the bullies. We have a couple of boys who street dance (in a club made up nearly entirely of girls!) and get called 'gay' - they've said things like 'please don't say those things to me as I get bullied a lot about that'. it sounds lame but it has worked and shamed people into shutting up. We don't have 'dance offs' but kids do fight from time to time and use a lot of verbal taunts, internet chat room abuse (MSN & BEBO) as well as pushing people around. I hope things start to improve for you. You are not alone and I think your school is not stepping up to help you - they should. It's a whole school issue and they're pretending not to notice.

Clothcat

12-07-2008

...I also meant to say that you sound really talented with your dancing and that they're probably jealous! It doesn't help you right now but if you go to university, there will be like-minded people, your uniqueness will be far better appreciated and you will meet new and hopefully more accepting people.

12-07-2008

Thonoir thanks for your advice, perhaps its best to flaunt your inetrests, everyone else does (almost everyone)

But Jimmy, your are most right in a way sometimes its best to hide your full self from your classmates, you can so a little foresight into animals but perhaps not as much as you entirely want,

oh by the way there is a year 13 over there? if so, is that because of you guys don't have prep?

12-07-2008

Thank you, all for your advice,

Patinece is probably the best assuring tool for me at the moment, I guess, future holds a lot for people on this forum, so intelligent,
Hopefully the so called definition of cool kids will become nothing but really awesome cool fast food workers?

Oh buddah I sound so evil,

12-07-2008

In the UK it works like this:

years 1-6 = primary education
years 7-11 = High School
years 12-13 = College/Sixth Form
and then University follows them

12-07-2008

Who defines 'cool' anyways? Not me.... though I am awesome.

(TOTALLY tongue-in-cheek!)

12-07-2008

Oh thanks, jimmy for clearing that up,

12-07-2008

Hahaha I guess you are pretty awesome then agian who defines "awesome"?