I am now 35 years old, and I can still hear them laughing. The effects of bullying never really go away, at least not for me. I was always the new kid. We moved a lot because my parents got divorced and my mom was trying to find a good job, and a better life for me and my brother. I remember at one school it got out that we didn't go to church, and that we were Pagan. Because of this a bunch of kids surrounded me after school one day and beat me with their books and bags. I was nine. My mom did her best and held the school accountable, but the teasing never stopped. We moved again, and the cycle began again. By this time I was labeled "emotionally disturbed" and was so messed up from everything I had been through at school and home I was the obvious target. I remained that way until I graduated from high school. I didn't go to college, I was too afraid of what would happen to me. I started working instead, and I got help. Now I see a therapist regularly and I am getting better. I also have three beautiful girls of my own. I am very involved with their lives and schools. I don't ever want them to go through what I went through.