Schoolyard bullies picking fights ...

[DVW5150]

Has anyone else here at HPotD had past life experiences with bullies? Or are you a remorseful former bully that has seen the error of your ways? I realize I am provoking some hostile retorts , but that is the nature of this thread . When I was growing up , I attended Maryland public schools . As a red headed kid , I was tormented by big bully types called 'carrot top ' and such . One guy , would punch me in the face over & over saying , " Its a free country !" I finally confronted this bully , and ended up kicking the sh!t outta him , feeling no better than him . After school I would go home and practice guitar . I did this to avoid the harsh hate that they spewed .I learned that controlling anger is very important , and furthered that when I was in the Army . I joined the service because its what all the men did on my fathers side of the family . Going all the way back to the civil war in the union army cavalry .When I was in the "Mogue" on oct 3 , 93' I had the unfortunate experience of defending our position by shooting a child that had an ak and was charging our location with his father (I guess it was his father) . The first thing I thought of was that bully in high school . I envied him for his innocence, compared to myself ;forever changed by what I had to do to defend the men who served with me in that sh!tstorm ...Does anybody relate to being bullied ? Or can you give a perspective on being a bully , what caused you to pick on others ? I hope to find some truth in responses to this , and hope others learn something too . One thing about zeds , they treat everyone equally .

[slickwilly13]

I have only bullied a couple of people in my life, but they had it coming. One was a fat nerd who had his friends try to jump me at recess, because I was hanging out with another that he didn't like. So, I pounded the hell out of him for years. The other guy was just a jerk that no one like. He was difficult to get along with. My friends and myself beat him up on a daily basis. He brought most of it on his self by provoking us. As for being bullied, it never happened because I was introduced to combat sports at age 8 and learned how to fight quite well. I ended any problems with my fist. Therefore, bullies didn't find messing with me worth it.

[Tricky]

Ive been both,i had big ears as a kid & i was relentlessly bullied up until i started secondary school,probably where my anxiety problems stem from.It wasnt physical bullying,purely name calling,but as a young lad it struck pretty deep & i felt like crap.So i used to bully my younger sisters when i got home,i dont know why,maybe to feel better,but i was pretty nasty at times At secondary school i still got bullied up until the third year,for pathetic reasons like my parents refusing to buy me £80 trainers and "popular" branded clothing.At the time i hated my parents for it because i was getting all this sh!t as they wouldnt buy me these things,but now im older and working i realise why.In the final 2 years at school things werent really so bad because we were all starting to mature a bit,so the only grief came from the typical school bullies who picked on anyone,popular or not,and who are now wasters living on the dole

[Cykotic]

Let me see... experiences with bullying... Never the bully but always the bullied. Ended up getting stabbed in the leg, but I got even with him a few years later...

[Kaos]

Nowadays parents of bullies are subject to criminal and civil lawsuits. If I had any asshole try to bully my daughter (for whatever reason the retard came up with) I would have the aberrant mongoloid's parents by their purse strings (as well as the school if it happens on school property)... at least according to my lawyer. It still happens now in some states more than others, but here ... bullying is something you don't want your kid to be doing...especially to children of parents who keep a lawyer on retainer. Whereas psychological bullying is more difficult to prosecute (except in NJ whose supreme court elevated bullying to the same level as sexual harassment), physical bullying is rather easy to prosecute. An assault is an assault is an assault... The days of The Lord of The Flies are coming to a close.

[_liam_]

dvw - thats some heavy stuff man. i used to get my arse kicked, i was this lardy sci fi kid with yellow teeth and raggedy clothes who tried to be cool with everyone despite most of them despising me. but one day when i was about 11 i just decided id had enough, i started bitching back at people, revelling in my tatty nerdiness and aspiring to be more snotty and disgusting than i already was. didnt know it at the time but i was basically turning into a sorta 11 yr old nihilist punk. i convinced myself i was above everyone and they were all dorks, fair play i got beat on a few times for lipping people off and generally being a burberry wearing (because it was the most disgusting design i could find ) obese weirdo, but in true self fulfilling prophecy style, people started to leave me alone and even begrudingly think i was pretty cool. a few years later i was somehow one of the "cool" kids in school and nobody would touch me. i ended up becoming an amusement to the older goth/metal/punk kids, who all assured me that anyone who bullies other people invariably ends up becoming a pathetic loser later in life. 7 or 8 years later, i went to a local pub on christmas eve and saw pretty much everyone i went to school with. it appears the older rocker kids were right all along sh!t, burberry's even in fashion now

[Eyebiter]

Even though the schools preach zero tolerance towards violence, at some point you must fight back. Otherwise you will put up with this crap forever. Growing up used to attend church every Sunday with the folks. Went out of my way at school to turn the other cheek and not fight back. Unfortunately acting like a good Christian only made things worse. Junior high school was a living hell. Finally had enough when I got to high school and decided to fight back. First month had to give one guy a fat lip (he needed stitches) and kick the living crap out of another (he still had bruises on his face 9 days later) before things changed. Got suspended both times and in trouble with the principle. But after that was finally left alone at school. Fast forward twenty years. Now I see this bully behavior among kids half my age. Today's college kids are really bad about walking up to strangers and trying to pick fights. Think they have grown up among these zero tolerance schools and have never gotten into a real fight in their life. They expect to be able to say or do anything without anything bad happening. When this happens will usually let them get in three good insults before things get ugly. Always try to retreat or avoid violence at first. Even if it makes the other people in the bar think your a wimp or whatever. You want to ensure that if the cops do show up you are not seen as the person who started things. If things get ugly be subtle, try to avoid a scene if at all possible. After all you don't want to get banned from the bar for fighting. I usually lean in close in a low voice and tell them to get the **** away from me. Have on occasion stomped on their foot or elbowed them in the ribs to get the point across. Pain can be a great motivator. However in some cases you must use force to defend yourself. If forced to use violence there are plenty of things you can do that will cause pain that won't leave a permanent mark. Don't cripple your harasser. Broken limbs, gouged eyes, internal bleeding are all expensive to repair not to mention will likely get you sued or prosecuted. The soft flesh around the eyebrow is very sensitive, if they get in your face pinch this area with your thumb and forefinger and twist. A punch to the stomach to knock the wind out of someone does wonders. Or simply kick them in the nuts. Usually they will stumble away and let you return to your beer.

[MinionZombie]

I was bullied at High School, there was a little gang of them (one following the others blindly). The lead bully was the one who picked on me (verbal, intimidation and some physical), he was a complete and utter wanker from some chavvy family. He pestered me for 3 years, and then the final 2 years of high school prior to 6th Form (when all the retard bullies finally f*cked off to go on the dole/get sh*t jobs) were more chilled out, he was still a wanker who tried to intimidate people. Last I heard he was working in a girl's clothing shop (like Top Shop or something) being the counter ... what a loser. Damn straight, the people who are "uncool" or bullied in high school more than likely end up becoming successes, doing really cool things and other such stuff. The bullies become twat-faced losers scumming around not doing anything. Same theory for the sporty type "popular" folk. The leader of that bunch at my High School was this preppy f*cker whose Dad was some big shot insurance salesman or something (although it was blatantly all for show, all self-obsessed bluster) ... anyway, this leader of the populars was in fact not liked/flat out hated by his so-called mates, who owned up to this fact in Sixth Form (the leader of the populars didn't stay on). I saw him a while ago sat in the corner of a pub alone looking very much like he'd lost all the "edge" he had in High School. When High School is over, it really is the end for the bullies and jocks, but for the people they bully/trample on it just keeps getting better and better, then we can rub their twat faces in it at one of those reunions - if we're not too busy earning loads of money and travelling to do so anyway. It's karma man, act like a prick in high school - the dole will be calling you forever. Put up with several years of complete sh*t, you'll get the goodness afterwards.

[capncnut]

I was bullied relentlessly for the first year I went to secondary school. So much that I ended up as a regular truant. Roaming the streets instead of going to school was something the bullies also did so I never escaped them. I knew I could make people laugh so I used this to befriend them and BANG, I become a bully myself. Even though I never got physical once, I enjoyed the power my words gave me and I tormented many a kid. I was into punk and we used to vandalise people's stuff and generally be obnoxious: piss in lockers, hide porno mags in other kid's backpacks and then report it to our tutor. Every morning on the way to school, we used to smash this greenhouse that belonged to one of the boffin's dads. The following day it would be repaired again so we just kept smashing it. One day I threw a lawn mower through it and the dad came to school asking who did it. I think it's safe to assume we made that boffin's life hell for a few months after that. In the end, I just realised that I was kidding myself and trying to be something that I wasn't. When I left school, I left everything else there too. Now when I look back on it I just see it as teenage kicks and it was my way of dealing with my own insecurities. There was no chance I was gonna allow myself to be f**ked with so I joined the wrong team. I don't regret it one little bit and if I had to do it again, I wouldn't hesitate. I hate bullying in all it's forms but I wasn't strong enough to kick 10 asses at a time so I did what I had to do.

[MikePizzoff]

I was bullied by this one guy all throughout elementary school. He was always at least a foot taller than everyone in the class and started getting facial hair in FIFTH GRADE! One day, in seventh grade, in the locker room after gym class I finally snapped. He picked me up and gave me a bear hug... only it wasn't a hug; it felt like my ribs were about to snap and puncture my lungs. I screamed and he dropped me. The entire locker room of about 50 people got quiet and looked over to us. Rage was running through my body and I didn't know what to do or say. After staring him in the eyes for about five seconds, which seemed like five minutes, I punched him in the face without thinking twice about it. His eyes got wide and he raised his hand to the side of his face. He slowly closed his locker and walked out in shame. I turned around and looked at the rest of the kids and immediatly everyone started cheering. I felt like a hero and from that day on he never picked on me again. In fact, he didn't even talk to me for about 4 or 5 years.

[kortick]

there was a short period of thime when I was bullied then I made friends with some real off beat charecters and the bullying stopped I can say i nver bullyed anyone though even though i was in the position to do so at times i learned that it wasnt cool to be bulied so i wouldnt be one being a bully means that person is probably being bullied by someone else and they are passing it on (like was mentioned here already) people unfortunately copy the behavior of their opressors...

[Chic Freak]

Kaos: My first reaction is that bullying should be on a par with sexual harassment, it can be so damaging. MinionZombie: I've had that experience of karma seemingly coming round too, the kid who made my life miserable from when I was about 7-9 years old went to prison for a botched attempt to rob a brewery when he was 19 and then made a botched attempt to kill himself in prison *tries to feel sorry for him*

[Cody]

In high school I was prom king, alot of people liked me because of my humor and what I believed in, I was always the one to step in and defend the victim of a bully ive never bullied anyone, it just makes me soo mad that someone could demoralize someone for something about them I TO HAVE RED HAIR, if someone stepped out of line and called me fire crotch, id lay them out. end of problem. never be afraid of anyone.

[capncnut]

*tries to feel sorry for him* LOL, 'cos he tried to kill himself in prison or because he f**ked with you relentlessly for three years? Sounds like it couldn't have happened to a better guy. You'd have to be pretty messed up in the head to bully someone at that age. I wouldn't even try to 'try' to feel sorry for them. it just makes me soo mad that someone could demoralize someone for something about them. I know what you mean. Even though I wasn't all that brutal with my taunts, there are one or two incidents I still think about. Life is life, you can only learn.

[Chic Freak]

LOL, 'cos he tried to kill himself in prison or because he f**ked with you relentlessly for three years? Sounds like it couldn't have happened to a better guy. You'd have to be pretty messed up in the head to bully someone at that age. I wouldn't even try to 'try' to feel sorry for them. You may have a point!