bullies

’I’m going to play outside!’ I called for him but he didn’t answer. I saw him by a tree. Then I saw the rope.’: Mom loses son to deadly internet trend, ‘No child is immune to this’

“It resembles suicide, but it’s not. His bullies DARED him to do this the day before he died.”

‘Kids, will you follow me up the stairs?’ We walked into his bedroom. I knew something was wrong. ‘Where is Mommy? What happened?’: HIV warrior details journey with grief, trauma

“‘Lexi has AIDS’ was written in graffiti outside my science class. Soon, the whole school knew. I was spit on, constantly told, ‘I hope you die.’ I was tired of fighting. ‘I don’t care if I die anymore.’ Immediately, my stepmother began planning my death party. ‘Enough is enough.’ A family friend took me to the school counselor to repost the abuse at home.”

By Sophia San Filippo

‘You’re so deaf sometimes!’ My eyes started watering. I felt so alone and worthless. I decided to keep my deafness a secret.’: Woman advocates for deaf awareness, ‘I’m proud of myself’

“I was the quiet, deaf girl with no confidence. ‘Why is everyone looking at me?’ The closer we got to school, the tighter I grabbed my hair so my hearing aids wouldn’t be seen.”

By Janai Smith

‘If you’re gonna hit me, just get it over with.’ She threatened to flush my head down the toilet’: Bullying victim urges understanding, ‘This is why they become bullies’

“I did absolutely nothing to her. I feared for my life. Years later, her sister and I bumped into each other, and we hung out. She told me about Elsa. She had been through hell.”

By LJ Herman

‘Daddy is going to take me from mommy and I will never see her again.’ My memories are dark.’: After years of childhood bullying, woman finally breaks free from trauma, ‘I am free’

“My family would say I was ‘crying wolf, I was fine.’ ‘I wasn’t depressed. To stop faking it.’ I was spiraling. Money was tight for my dad, so we had to stay in the same room. I lived a lie. I woke up, went to school, put on a smile. Then I then came home and fell into darkness. My dad finally made me start paying rent to live with him. I put my key in my apartment door and just sighed with relief. I was free. Free to breathe. No mental abuse. I was free.”

By Eliza Murphy

‘All done,’ she mustered out, with an approving ‘finally mom’ look. It was the hardest decision.’: Mom of 10-year-old bullied for facial deformities vows to fight back after her death, ‘Sophia was like no one in this world’

“I’ll never forget the moment we were told the news. ‘Sophia’s mouth, hands and feet are severely deformed. She might not survive birth.’ But she did. Her birth was the exact moment our lives changed forever. When they laid her on my chest, a voice in my mind said, ‘Comfort her, you need to comfort her.’ I was in shock as my little girl stared into my eyes. I’d never seen anyone like her.”

By Eliza Murphy

‘Freeze Miss Piggy, spread your legs. Put your hands up.’ That’s what my brother said before the gun went off.’: Woman overcomes childhood trauma to mentor kids, instill ‘wisdom, knowledge’ that ‘no one did for me’

“We were playing cops and robbers and didn’t know the gun was real. It was my mother’s gun. I hear a man’s voice asking, ‘Where the money?’ as I was hiding under the covers. I remember running down the road to the police station in our pajamas. I was 5 years old. ‘I know it’s going to get better, please protect my mommy.’ I never thought it would end. But yet, I held onto a small piece of faith.”

By Eliza Murphy

‘A push in the hall, being thrown in the trash. I dreaded school. I would end the day in tears. It wasn’t going to change. Why? I was an easy target.’

“They would take my glasses off my face and see me wander around blindly trying to get them back. Then they would settle for throwing me in the trashcan. All I wanted was to go about my day in peace, but things only got worse.”

By Eliza Murphy