We moved to Charlotte, NC from Brooklyn NY thinking that the life here in Charlotte would be better for my 14 year old daughter. My daughter attends South Mecklenberg High School. From the first day of school it has been a living night mare for her. She has been called name like, " whore, bitch"! And that she' gonna get her ass kicked. Everyone she talks to they would eventually get to and then she would be left alone without friends. She refuses to ride the school bus, because at the end of the school day, this would continue on the bus. She gets picked on everyday since August 27, 2012, and it seems like there is nothing the school could do. The administrator would let me know that there is 2600 students in the school and they can't monitor them all.  the more she complains is more they begin to look at her as the "common denominator".  Whenever I complain they would say, " you sure it's bullying, bully comes in many forms". I am not stupid I do know what bully means , it can be verbal,  such as teasing or name calling, intimidation using gestures or social exclusion, which is what she going through. I HAVE NEVER COME ACROSS A MEANER SET OF CHILDREN THAN THOSE BULLIES THAT ATTEND SOUTH MECKLENBERG HIGH SCHOOL. 

Sharon Carpenter

Hello, I am Kaitlyn and this is my story. I'm a 14 year old in Middle School, and i have to admit it's really hard. I've been called "bitch", "whore", "fag", "skank" and so many more. Just because I am "different". Just because I look at things in different perspectives. Just because I personally believe that love is blind, or that love is love. In 5th-7th grade I was a cutter. Suicide crossed my mind almost every single day. I would walk past people in the halls and they would laugh at me because I wore different clothes than they did, because I am "fat". Going through that..each and every day, it broke me. But I was always to scared to tell anyone..I still haven't told anyone. I was almost to where I couldn't feel anything. But now I try to stand up for myself. I try to keep my head up. If I see anyone being hurt or put down, I stand up for them. I want to make a difference. And I am taking a stand. Together we all can end bulling, because people don't deserve to be pushed so far that they don't feel like going to school anymore, to want to commit suicide, to feel like they don't belong, or that they are "different". Everyone is beautiful the way they are. Everyone is perfect.  

In 8th grade. I think that is when I broke down. I couldn't handle any more of anything. 8th grade I thought would be it for me. I would go home thinking "if I was gone no one would care. The wouldn't miss me." to me it felt like I wasn't even apart of anything. Felt like I shouldn't of even of been there. I would get picked last for everything. I wanted to leave. I didn't want to have to deal with all of this anymore but then I thought. If I did that. If I killed myself. They would of won. They would feel accomplished of what they did. And the thing is they didn't feel bad about what they would say to me. I cried myself to sleep every night being scared of what they would say to me. But today I'm here. Happier than I would ever be. Because being in high school, having new friends and that one person that can make you smile and feel worth something. That one friend. Now all I want to do is have other kids know that they can be happy. That God has a plan for you. You may or may not know what it is yet. But whatever it is, at that next school reunion. You'll be successful while those bullies, watching you be successful showing them YOU won at the end of all this. What I'm trying to say is. Don't give up. At alYou you're better than those bullies by a long shot. Don't think otherwise. each and every single person whose been bullied is much more stronger than what they think for being put through all of this. 

Hi, I'm Calvin, this users brother-

When I was in 3rd grade,I switched schools. But when I got to the new school, my only friend was a kid who I went to the prior school with. At recess, I sat alone on the wall outside, and one day when I thought about how it was going at school, I cried. When nobody noticed, I tried to join in on the pick-up football games some kids played. they said that I was too small to play, not fast enough, and didn't have enough skill. But the next lunch, a kid, Christian, came up to me and asked me if I wanted to play. Even before he said what we were going to play, I said yes. So after we got done with our game of tag, we again asked the football if we could play. They said yes.

                                        -sincerely, strength in numbers

 I'm new to this. So I guess I just share my story.

Hi, Im Alexis. To start off I was bullied in 7&8th grade. It started in 6th by just random times of being picked on. I let it go cause I didn't think much of it. 7th grade started and my classmates would look at me and say "oh her" "she's in our class" small stuff like that. The beginning of the year wasn't too bad. Then the winter happened. I had to have surgery on my hip which ment cursing crutches for 6-8 weeks. Everyone thought I was faking it. This one girl actually said she was going to push me down the stairs whenever she was behind me. I had to beg people to carry my books because obviously I couldn't carry them myself. After that ended, I started to get called names. Slut, whore, easy, bitch, worthless, and a whole lot more. All the girls at that school were fake. Used me for my stuff. It all happened through the rest of the year. 8th grade. Woohoo right? The kids are still the same. they didn't want me at all. I remember walking into that door of the building being just scared. Terrified actually. Everyone would just look at me say go home don't come to school. They would call me stupid. So I've missed a lot of school between 7th and 8th grade. No one can really understand what I've been through. My principle even said "just put on a fake smile" he didn't care that I was getting blamed for everything or that the kids didn't even want me to be There. Honestly there is no words to explain how horrible those years were. I have so many things to say and I can't get the words out of my mouth. Anyway. I'm Alexis and I AM Someone.

I got bullied all through school primary and high school it wasnt fun , i got called names kids used to threaten to kill me and beat me up all becasue i never reacted i just stood there and took it so it was esy for them . i left school to go do a apprenticeship as i throught it would be better through being with mature adults but i was wrong i got tormented by my boss he would stand over me yell at me it was all a experience that i want to take and use to help people that are getting bullied let schools know that this is a serious matter and kids can hurt themself because of it and its just not on I want kids to no that there are people out there they will help and there not ALONE

I guess I never really realized that I was getting bullied until things about The Bully Project came up. My "friends" would make fun of me because of things that I had done, regretedly of course, and I would just brush it off and tell myself that they were "just joking around." And... I have friends that get bullied, and it's not fair to them if I don't do or say anything. I always told myself that when people would disrespect me because I'm not the vision of perfect, that they would just get over it.... but people never stopped making fun of me or my friends. I'm not normal, or perfect, but I'm amazing in my own ways. Sure I have my faults, but my pros outweigh my cons. I won't stand to bullied anymore... tolerating is harder than saying, "Stop." I know, now, who my real friends are, and I'm going to help others find their true friends too. 

My father died when I was eleven. He was my protector and defender. My mother was raised not to go against those in positions of authority. So when the teacher started picking on me in eighth grade, I just had to endure it. I was a fat kid. So many people who are “normal” make life hell for those of us who aren’t – by their measure, “normal”. Is it just because they can or because they’ve learned it from their parents or other family members? I don’t know. I only know how it made me feel.

In 1973, my eighth grade teacher made remarks about me daily. Called me “Big Mama”. Called me an elephant. Nicknamed me “Jumbo”. He said the trailer tilted when I walked in. He said, “Big Mama has to buy her clothes from Omar the tentmaker”….among other things. Those are the ones that I vividly remember. He also encouraged the class members to make fun of me. I recall one girl (a cheerleader) saying “no Janet, don’t sit on me”. The class exploded in laughter and I was humiliated. This happened pretty much every day. He was my TEACHER. I was thirteen. I had no ideas about what I could do to make it stop. In class, I pretended I didn’t mind – laughed along with the rest of the class. But it broke my heart. It taught me that how you look is more important than anything else and that any other achievements you make can never make up for being ugly and fat.

This harassment that I endured daily caused me to withdraw from people. I spent a lot of time alone in my room. I just didn’t want to risk being in any position to have to listen to comments about how ugly I was. It caused me to hate myself. Praise for my good grades and good behavior did nothing to negate the abuse I suffered. I didn’t deserve anything because I wasn’t “normal”. I knew I was loved by my mother and sister, but the pain I carried for feeling like such a grotesque, repulsive person is etched in my soul forever. A lifetime of loving and caring family and friends cannot take away that pain.

When I started seeing a psychologist in 1998, I tried to describe my feelings of depression, which had become almost unbearable since my mother’s death in 1994. When he asked about my childhood, I broke down in tears when I talked about the harsh emotional abuse I suffered in eighth grade. My doctor wanted to know why it was that I thought that I didn’t have a right to be as happy as everyone else. Well, it all started when I was a kid. My teacher and classmates TOLD me I was ugly and therefore worthless, daily. There it was. I was taught in the same place where I studied English, History and other subjects.

I have two daughters whom I have trained since they were little not to make fun of anyone. They were taught to defend those who others make fun of, and to stand up for themselves. I could never live with myself knowing I had made someone else feel the way I felt all those years ago. The old saying “sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never hurt me” is an absolute lie. Words can lead to feelings of depression, helplessness, hopelessness and a life of torment and pain. As we now know, words can be the breaking point for many of us who suffer from low self-esteem and even self-hate. So many have taken other lives or their own after enduring this kind of emotional abuse. I’ll never understand the lack of empathy for others among so many people in the world. It’s like a disease.

Stand up for your friends and family. Get involved – use your voice. Let’s not allow bullying to ruin another life. The BULLIES are the ones who should be ashamed, not those they prey on. We are making progress. I recently read that anti-bullying laws have been passed now in most states. We have to keep going. We can make a difference. If we spread anything – let it be love!

My best friend was a victim of bullying. My friends made fun of how his head is big and ears and how he's short. But at first I thought they were joking until he cried. That's when I stood up to them and yelled. I never knew how to really help him because I noticed how he cut himself. I almost even lost him after some suicide attempts. Now we are even closer and he's getting better. This movie opened my eyes to around the world and it makes me angry and sad. I want to make a difference. I've always tried to stand up to the bullies making fun of someone else. As of now I am still trying to stand up for everyone getting bullied.

I have been bullied since i was 12 people would kick me , trip me , push me and call me names . i moved then it got better then i moved again but people would stare at me , call me mean names then this girls made a mean picture of me on the blackboard . Teachers always said it was my fault . It makes me feel so low when people just pick on me for no good reason so i keep to myself. Bullying has always made feel so low and still does . I always call myself stupid bc it sticked in my mind