by Anna Hofman

Created on: May 30, 2009

I was very, VERY badly bullied at school. Here is advice straight from the heart, that I KNOW will help you, or whoever it is that needs help. I know the feelings of dread, the thought "everything and anything I do will make it worse". Well, it turns out that isn't true.

My main tip is to be comfortable with how and who you are. How can you be bullied if you aren't affected by it. If you're smart, short and slightly over weight, who cares? Be happy with yourself and comfortable with yourself. Don't give people the impression that you will change for anyone and, without being cocky, be confident. But how can you be confident when you have people picking at your ego all day? Read on.

If someone begins trying to pick on you, depending how bad it is, you could try laughing along with them or making a joke of the situation. Don't be nervous, because, ultimately, if they do get physical they just put themselves right under your thumb: aggression is never smiled upon and they'll be looking at potentially being kicked out of school and you can involve the police - no matter what you think, it will keep the bullies away. If you put your foot down and say I WON'T be a target for people who have nothing better to do than to pick on others, they will steer well clear of you. Notice how they always have to hang around in packs? It's because they're far more cowardly than you and need a posse just to hurl insults at you. How pathetic? So why hide from these kinds of people? It will be best for you and everyone else if you just call the cops and let them take over. Besides, if people dislike you because you called the cops, which I doubt they will to be honest, who cares? It's only school, you won't be there your whole life and it's easy to make friends once you've got rid of the bullies on your back.

Another thing, is the more people that join in the worse it is, especially if it's a whole class and these situations are difficult to tackle, however there are many child help lines you can call anonymously for advice and again, you can talk to teachers, or go straight to the head master or head mistress.

When I called the police because the bullying got so bad with me, I was convinced everyone would hate me - people ended up respecting me and being really apologetic for not stepping in when they witnessed it happening. I went on to make loads of friends - some of which had also been bullied by the same person, and because she was given a warning by the police she was no longer an issue for anyone. Exclusion is another form of bullying and bullying is being taken more and more seriously. If you do ask for help, someone will give it to you, no matter how bad your situation is, from name calling to being physically attacked by peers.

Learn more about this author, Anna Hofman.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.