What were you made fun of for in school?

[RangerPooh]

Acne, weight, clothes.... I hated upper elementary, junior high, and parts of high school.

 

[SaintsManiac]

My biggest tormentor still lives in our small town on the prairie of Minnesota. I harbor this belief that maybe someday she will apologize to me for being so awful to me (we share some mutual friends on social media), but I'm not holding my breath. I still remember the awful feeling when she asked (sweet as syrup) to borrow my sweater in music class, put it on, and proceeded to laugh and carry on about how UGLY and AWFUL the sweater was, and who would wear such a thing, etc." It was one of many times I was reduced to tears. I never wore that sweater again, but it was one my mother had lovingly sourced at a garage sale....and I DID like it because of what it represented. The incredible love and resourcefulness of my mother in trying to make me "fit in" on a budget of pennies and dimes. But, that evil classmate ruined it for me.

I've looked up a couple of the you know whats on Facebook. Of course they've all found religion and want everyone to LIVE, LAUGH, LOVE.

 

[Turn the Page]

My hair. My clothes. How I wore my clothes. My hobbies. The fact that I didn't go to house parties on the weekends...not that they invited me anyway. My lack of friends. Being a bookworm. My job. My car. Being smart.

I wouldn't go back to my school years for anything.

 

[John VN]

Crater Face --- nuff said?

 

[DisneyTravelers2008]

I wish I was making this up....

I had red curly frizzy hair and freckles and bucked teeth. And...it gets worse...

My last name was "Pickle" and my mom drove a green car and we lived in a green house on Dill Street. And when I rode the bus home every day {E.V.E.R.Y.D.A.Y.} I was completely ridiculed. Oh it was BAD!

 

[jaybirdsmommy]

existing.

 

[NotUrsula]

If you can be "light-hearted" about this topic, even from a distance, then you really didn't experience being picked on.

In my case, it was sexual harassment. To this day, I have no idea what triggered it, but it started happening when I was 12, very shortly after my father died, and did not let up for a single day for the next 6 years. We even moved across 2 states, and it started right up again just the same in the new place. The rumors that were spread about me in that fairly small town assured that EVERYONE just "knew what I'd been doing" even though I *did* nothing at all. I had no social life whatsoever; I was home with my mom every night. The final insult was graffiti in letters 8 feet tall on the town water tower -- THAT stayed there for 5 years after I left (on a Trailways bus, the morning after my HS graduation.) To this day, over 30 years later, those spurious rumors are taken as fact in that town. (The interesting thing is that, once I moved to a major city, I never experienced it again on a personal level. Catcalls in the street, yes, but not the sort of persistent persecution that I lived with as an adolescent.)

Needless to say, my kids catch holy hell if I get wind of them trafficking in rumors. Also, my DH was once offered a very nice job in a small town; I told him that if he took it he'd be moving there alone.

 

[Christine]

Nothing much. It was pretty much high school and someone always had to make some remark about being skinny. Yes, I was seriously thin, even though I ate what I wanted. It was the time of "tight jeans" and I couldn't get any jeans to fit me tight. Had to take in the legs on my sewing machine. This was the late 70s/early 80s. People could just be downright mean about it.

 

[HannaBelle]

My red hair, my freckles, my weight... School was rough was and I have zero desire to relive "the glory days".

I did have a small group of friends that I am still friends with today. The other 950 people I graduated with can suck it.

 

[wilbret]

I don't think I ever got teased to my face? Sucks so many of you had to deal with it. I've always worried that one day the person next to me may be important one day in the future. I used to think I was going to be in politics, lol.

I hate bullies. I was never a little kid, but my oldest son is definitely on the small side, and has to deal with bullies, and it breaks my heart. Dumping out his backpack, name calling, etc. For the longest time, he didn't even tell us about it. We've tried all the strategies you can try. Walk away. Ignore. Make jokes. Turn them in. School admin really can't help, it just makes it worse, as they lack tact. I have told him that I would never ever get mad at him for defending himself. If he has to bop a kid in the nose, then I'm okay with it. I haven't heard any bad news so far this school year. ;-)

 

[ImDMous]

All the normal things; weight, height, buckteeth, straggly hair, being poor. I was definitely not in the "in" crowd, more like the "target" crowd. In Jr high when I started developing, there was a "gang" of kids who rode their bikes from my neighborhood that would all hit me on the butt when when rode past me, every morning. I tried switching times, switching routes, they always found me. Sometimes I would stop on someone's porch and wait for them to go by, but that was pretty awkward also just standing by someones front door trying to explain why I was there. I'm just thankful to not have to go through any of that anymore. I'm sure I still get judged for how I look but at least most adults keep it to themselves.

 

[Flight]

my oldest son is definitely on the small side, and has to deal with bullies, and it breaks my heart. Dumping out his backpack, name calling, etc. For the longest time, he didn't even tell us about it. We've tried all the strategies you can try. Walk away. Ignore. Make jokes. Turn them in. School admin really can't help ...

Yes they can.

But they do not have the courage to do so. They do not have the political will or backing to take serious and effective steps to do so.

Instead they might have a random poster in the hallways or classroom urging students not to bully. There might even be an assembly with the student body where bullying is mentioned and discouraged. These are tiny efforts at controlling bullying. The administration can ensure much more is done.

They do not.

 

[Flight]

I remember at one time being called “Professor” in school. It was not meant as a compliment.

Interestingly, decades later taking series of classes at my work, again I was labeled with the same title. This time it was a compliment.

 

[wilbret]

Yes they can.

But they do not have the courage to do so. They do not have the political will or backing to take serious and effective steps to do so.

Instead they might have a random poster in the hallways or classroom urging students not to bully. There might even be an assembly with the student body where bullying is mentioned and discouraged. These are tiny efforts at controlling bullying. The administration can ensure much more is done.

They do not.

They should be able to help, but in his case, the teacher handled it with the tact of a gnat. She approached the kids and effectively said, wilbret jr says you did this to him. How do you think that worked out? Several of his friends left the school because of the bullying. Admin was ineffective.

We have a new principal and my wife is now a teacher there, so it’s a different world now. (And that son is now at middle school)

 

[Luv Bunnies]

I was very tall in elementary school. In my 4th grade class picture, I was a full head taller than the two boys who stood on either side of me in the back row. I was called "stretch," and I can't count how many times someone asked, "How's the weather up there?" I was also shy and didn't quite know how to respond. By 7th grade, some of the boys had caught up or were even taller than me. By high school, I was on the tall side, but it was much less of an issue. I finally stopped growing at 5'8". I'm relatively tall for a woman, but not overly so. I enjoy my height now, but back then I wished I was shorter and could just blend in.

 

[Buckeye218]

Red hair. Didn't bother me or scar me for life; rather it made me learn to stick up for myself. Anyone called me "Red" got a punch in the arm. But that was a different world then (the 70's).

 

[nicolita3]

Everything. My weight, skin, clothes, all seemed to be something would make fun of me for. The worst thing I hated was in high school I liked hanging out with a group of guys, people used to make comments about it saying I was sleeping with them etc. It was bad even the teachers made comments. I will never go back to that school for reunions or anything, it was a miserable experience.

 

[Tangled Pink]

Nothing light hearted about this thread. I was mercilessly teased in junior high and into about 11th grade. It was absolutely brutal. I was gawky, awkward, poor, and insanely intelligent. A very bad combination. You name it. It happened to me. So, sorry, there's nothing lighthearted about being "made fun of."

I am with you mnrose-I have a disability that came from a freak accident and even though it wasn't visible, the kids knew it was was there. Strange, but I had good friends in the class below mine but my classmates were cruel. I will not go to a class reunion although people do change, I don't want to revisit anything high school related. There was definitely a learning curve that is for sure. Today I am successful and have a beautiful family and couldn't ask for a better life!

 

[Tangled Pink]

If you can be "light-hearted" about this topic, even from a distance, then you really didn't experience being picked on.

In my case, it was sexual harassment. To this day, I have no idea what triggered it, but it started happening when I was 12, very shortly after my father died, and did not let up for a single day for the next 6 years. We even moved across 2 states, and it started right up again just the same in the new place. The rumors that were spread about me in that fairly small town assured that EVERYONE just "knew what I'd been doing" even though I *did* nothing at all. I had no social life whatsoever; I was home with my mom every night. The final insult was graffiti in letters 8 feet tall on the town water tower -- THAT stayed there for 5 years after I left (on a Trailways bus, the morning after my HS graduation.) To this day, over 30 years later, those spurious rumors are taken as fact in that town. (The interesting thing is that, once I moved to a major city, I never experienced it again on a personal level. Catcalls in the street, yes, but not the sort of persistent persecution that I lived with as an adolescent.)

Needless to say, my kids catch holy hell if I get wind of them trafficking in rumors. Also, my DH was once offered a very nice job in a small town; I told him that if he took it he'd be moving there alone.

I'm sorry that happened to you.

If you can be "light-hearted" about this topic, even from a distance, then you really didn't experience being picked on.

In my case, it was sexual harassment. To this day, I have no idea what triggered it, but it started happening when I was 12, very shortly after my father died, and did not let up for a single day for the next 6 years. We even moved across 2 states, and it started right up again just the same in the new place. The rumors that were spread about me in that fairly small town assured that EVERYONE just "knew what I'd been doing" even though I *did* nothing at all. I had no social life whatsoever; I was home with my mom every night. The final insult was graffiti in letters 8 feet tall on the town water tower -- THAT stayed there for 5 years after I left (on a Trailways bus, the morning after my HS graduation.) To this day, over 30 years later, those spurious rumors are taken as fact in that town. (The interesting thing is that, once I moved to a major city, I never experienced it again on a personal level. Catcalls in the street, yes, but not the sort of persistent persecution that I lived with as an adolescent.)

Needless to say, my kids catch holy hell if I get wind of them trafficking in rumors. Also, my DH was once offered a very nice job in a small town; I told him that if he took it he'd be moving there alone.

If you can be "light-hearted" about this topic, even from a distance, then you really didn't experience being picked on.

In my case, it was sexual harassment. To this day, I have no idea what triggered it, but it started happening when I was 12, very shortly after my father died, and did not let up for a single day for the next 6 years. We even moved across 2 states, and it started right up again just the same in the new place. The rumors that were spread about me in that fairly small town assured that EVERYONE just "knew what I'd been doing" even though I *did* nothing at all. I had no social life whatsoever; I was home with my mom every night. The final insult was graffiti in letters 8 feet tall on the town water tower -- THAT stayed there for 5 years after I left (on a Trailways bus, the morning after my HS graduation.) To this day, over 30 years later, those spurious rumors are taken as fact in that town. (The interesting thing is that, once I moved to a major city, I never experienced it again on a personal level. Catcalls in the street, yes, but not the sort of persistent persecution that I lived with as an adolescent.)

Needless to say, my kids catch holy hell if I get wind of them trafficking in rumors. Also, my DH was once offered a very nice job in a small town; I told him that if he took it he'd be moving there alone.

Sending hugs to you. I cannot believe the school didn't take this more seriously and go after the kids who were harassing you. I hope you have the peace in your life that you deserve.

 

[shh]

Don't even get me started on how POORLY physical education classes were run in '70s and '80s when popular kids were captains picking teams and that feeling of always picked last/no one wanting you on their team. No individual sports or activities were ever allowed that could give a child who's overweight or poor at sports a shot at enjoying fitness and building some self worth...just kickball, softball, bball games....where the only thing that matters is winning.

Honestly, I have never had a PE teacher I would call a "teacher" - because I have respect for teachers and none of the ones I've had earned that title. They did more harm than good, favoring the kids that were thin or athletic and embarassing the few (in those days, hardly anyone was fat) who were overweight or struggled with sports. Today, PE teachers like that wouldn't be allowed, but back then, no one advocated for kids.

(Anyone see that Frasier episode about the PE teacher he dated - and the awful memories it brought back for him and Niles about their crappy PE teachers in the past? Sooo true.)

The bright spot is that quite a few of us ended up having more successful lives than many "popular" kids who figured they'd coast through life on looks and charm. Rarely ends well.

Plus, a miserable childhood is practically a prerequisite for becoming a successful rock star, comedian or actor lol