Bullying in Japan

I was bullied unmercifully as a child.

First because I was white in a mostly Aboriginal school, then because my family was poor in a mainly affluent one.

Having to wear hand me down clothes, never owning a bike (let alone the horses most the other kids had) and living in state provided housing caused me a lot of pain as a child.

An older girl would follow me around pinching me and pulling my hair so hard it would come out.

I ran away from school so many times that my Mum would have an Aunt who didn't work check by the house each day to see if I had come home.

Yet no one did a thing about the bullying itself - just told me to toughen up.

I think it is good that the Japanese Government seems to be at least trying to address the problem.

you know... now that i think of it, i got bullied quite a bit my years in japan. but it was mostly by the guys so i the girls treated me good, sometimes better BECAUSE i got bullied ^_^
mainly got bullied because of my size and not because i was from canada, though it did come up from time to time (i was the tallest kid in school, not freakishly tall, just won by like 2cm or so) the girls liked it, so it turned out to be the best years of my life.

Ne Danny, behaving like a child seems great to me, because one could keep his soul young for many years with such a ninpo ^_~ They say no matter how old is you are, the matter is how young is your soul.

Bullying was not a huge problem where I grew up, but then again I was so big for my age nobody really wanted to try. My brother on the other hand always got picked on by the entire school. I felt real bad for him.

In the US in general, there isn't a big occurrence of bullying in schools. I think it all depends on what city you grew up in and what kind of school you went to.

In college there really isn't any bullying. Maybe some name calling here and there (mostly when people are drunk).

This article makes me think twice about moving to Japan.

hmmm, i havent really been bullied as a child but i can imagine it must have been terrible for you :(.
in the Netherlands bullying isnt a big issue as far as i know, it happens but not in big numbers.

I've heard stories from my aunts of how my younger cousins have been bullied and battered real bad at the school I was in. she said the teachers there wouldn't do anything about it. it went so bad that they had to transfer to another school. I haven't been on that school for over ten years, but I do remember that I was lucky enough to be one of the taller and larger kids at school so bullies tend to stay away from me. or was it the fact that they knew I had martial arts class after school. lol ^^ just a tip for would be parents, Get your kids to study martial arts (even for just a little bit). but make sure to nurture them with loving care as well, so that they don't end up being the school bully in the end.

don't recall ever being bullied, mostly because i'm an all around nice guy to everyone i meet, befriending people is kind of a natural thing for me. that and i have a take no shit attitude, if you cross me, you'll be sorry. that said, i have witnessed bullying in elementary and high school. most of these cases do not involve violence but a form of ostracism. teachers act oblivious or ignore it all together, while the kids are usually too afraid to tell their parents or the authorities. this is how kids become emo...

its not a really big problem in my region ... i never had it yet in highschool because im big enough and strong enough to kick the others guy *** and defend myself but also people in the school tend to stick up for each other.. my group tends to as well i saw this mentally challanged kid got bullied earlier -the dude was kicking him or something like that- we yelled at him hey wtf you doing... guy sure backed off... well i'd guess you be afraid of a huge group of juniors... why not lawl. must have been bad Danny but at least you got a better job now and you are probably doing way better then those who bullied you... those who bullied you are probably at the mac d's back at home haha... or maybe the walmart funny when you think of it most people who bully are just jealous or stupid people...

Bullying only happened when I was in primary school, because my primary school was private school and most students is of Chinese descendant (Chinese Indonesians).

But, after that, I go to public school, where most students are indigenous Indonesians, and you know, that was already over the 1997-1998 Economic Crisis, and well, yeah probably I didn't got bullied because of my parents' above average socio-economic status.

I too was bullied constantly. Starting from Kindergarten up to grade 7 or 8. It still happens every now and again, but not too much. It's still left me rather defenseless, however, and as a result it leaves me as the one my friends tease. I don't mind, as I know they don't mean it and truly are my friends, but it's one indication of the damage bullying has done.

I also have zero happy social memories. I had some great times and experiences with my family, but I only ever had one friend, my 3 year older neighbour. It wasn't until Grade 6, when I was 11, that I made my second friend.

The truly horrible thing about it though? Even though it's long since stopped, it still affects me. I have trouble speaking up, I have less than zero self confidence, I have generally poor relationships with all but my closest friends, and thus have never had a girlfriend.

I guess I've experienced both sides of the coin - Bullying and being bullied.
Can't really remember much about the bullying part but there were lots for being bullied.
Was called names by my tutors, slapped by a teacher as I was talking while walking towards the assembly hall, got picked by the entire class and almost got bashed by a group of schoolmates ^^;

Didn't tell anyone though, and toughen up myself.

Off Topic a little: I think kids nowadays are getting much more spoiled ^^;

I've been on both spectrums while living in America, and visiting Japan. I mean hey, what other kid has to worry about both the atomic bomb (what America did to Japan) and the rape of nanjing (what Japan did to China)? I get so much BS from people on those issues, it ain't funny...

Never really had a problem with bullying to the extent that others have had. Even though I was one of the few Asians in Elementary, Middle and High School I got along pretty well with every "class" of people you could think of. Sure I had the occasional slur/racist comments/remarks thrown at me, but usually those were by uneducated people.

I was treated like a foreigner (like asked if I celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas and other stuff) even though I was born in the US because there were just 2 or 3 of us (Asians) throughout Middle/ High School, sorta like an exotic bird.

Guess I'm also in the line...been bullied for several reasons...took some time but I managed to get past it......and Danny don't care about those questions of behaviour...I'm just a small kid trapped in an adult's body...the sad part is ...I wish I had an armour ;)

Bullying is a serious offence here in Singapore... If you're reported of bullying, you'll get a warning first... Next you get some caning and you might even be expelled... BUt most of the guys and gals here are great and don't bully but some are just jerks who take advantage of their size and bully people... Danny I respect you man! Don't ever change!

I'm surprised with the number of cases for college. Seriously, shouldn't you have matured up by now? It's really all respect in college.

I had some minor problems back in my middle school days. But deep down, I know they're just idiots who didn't know how to deal with life. I'm satisfied knowing that nearly all of them never made it pass high school. Don't get me wrong, I'm not evil. But it doesn't mean that I should feel sorry for them.

worst here -_-
I remember at grade 7 this kid gettin picked on alot... even by preschoolers lol ... 12 years old minus 6

Happen to me couple of times, I almost get kick out of school after get in a fight with a kid pick on me ( his dad have pretty big social stand so I get all the hammer >

NOt much of a problem where I've gone to, except if you go to terrible parts, a.k.a. "Ghettos".

Thankfully, I've never been bullied. My size and ability to get along well with ANY kind of person helped.

oh don't worry Danny, if you act all adult all the time, you'll be stressed and get all sorts of diseases.

I can't say I got bullied coz even if I was called names, I didn't really care. When I got older, I usually fight back. I wasn't physically intimidating but it's a good thing I have a very sharp tongue. hehe..

Our childhood is over, we have the rest of our lives to worry about. right?!

I totally understand where you're coming from, Danny. For me, even though I lived in a predominantly Chinese area in Canada, I was the new kid that moved in, and I was small. Didn't help to have a last name that sounded like slang for prostitute.

My family moved to California, and I still received some bullying cause I was still completely socially inept. Then I grew tall and fought back. Haven't received any problems since 8th grade.

Now in college, I'm trying to make up for lost time, but I guess I should be studying. :p

Hopefully I can keep it up once I graduate and get a job. Looks like its working well for you.

Its sad though to see it start at such a young age, and the kids don't know how to deal with so they try and end it the worst way possible.

I was bullied ever since i was a child until about the eleventh grade. And I have no idea at all why it stopped then...

As Triddy has said before, the effects of bullying are still in effect even long after it's stopped. (It's been four years.) I too, have trouble speaking up, and am usually shy to everyone I don't know. I sometimes stay that way.

I can honestly say that in my entire life I have had and still have just about 3 very good and close friends.

But through all this misfortune I can also honestly say I've gone out with three girls in the past who were KNOCKOUTS. I felt so lucky, and still do even though I've been single for a while.

Well, here's looking to a bright and wonderful future!

I was really sociable up til around 6th grade then I became socially inept and was getting bullied up til around 10th grade but 6-9th grade was a terrible time for me.

Danny, I feel for you and your friends. I am an Exile. I was born in Boston, Mass. but I grew up in Canada. I got more crap than you could imagine for being an American (I was ten months old when my family moved to Canada), so I figured when I moved to the States, It would be okay. Maybe that was just wishful thinking. I moved here, and I was considered Canadian. I was an American citizen... but I was considered Canadian. So, her I am, living in America.. and I am an Exile. I welcome my brethren to join me.

I agree life is short so live it up now or you never will...well I got teased but nothing really came of it...no one really goes too far...

Didn't get bullied much during my childhood mostly because I have many friends during those days. Also, bcoz those days i'm one of the smartest in the class, many of my classmates turn to me to assist their homework, which lead them to not bullying me. In secondary school, I have many school delinquent as my friends, so of course students didn't dare to bully me. Calling names are common during my school days (everyone does it for fun), so I don't take it as a form of bullying. Maybe key to avoid being bullied is to have many friends

Wait wait wait wait.... you mean in Japan there are BULLYING in COLLEGES? Are you serious?? I mean even on both bully's and the victims, by college you'd think that both sides would be adult enough to just not care anymore!

bullying is everywhere, at work or at school. bullying here is not much of a problem compared to japan's

bullies are just insecure individuals...

@Coffee
I suspect that the bullying in college is more along the line of frat house hazing that we get here in the states.

Thou in a dorm environment some form of bullying is bound to happen if those in charge are uncaring or unwilling to enforce the rules. And from what I have seen college kids are not that much more mature then high school kids, throw in a little booze and no adult supervision and you got a recipe for bullying to happen.

Oh yeah, I was victim of bullying on both preparatory and highschool. I still have a scar near my left eye from an incident in the first week at preparatory. As many have already told, teachers don't care, don't listen, until you react violently to the abuse. Then YOU are the bad guy, how hit the 'poor' kid, who had problems at home...
I don't know how it is in other countrys, but here seems to be that students must be the physical and emotional punching-balls for those with problems at home.

In high school, one of the bullies turned out to be my very first friend from when we were 3-year old. Never meet the guy again until highschool, and I was so so dissapointed when I found he was the bully that was making my life impossible.... :(

And now there's cyberbullying, which is worst, because there's no way to vent the rage.

I was bullied in elementary for a couple of years, then my bully went to middle school. I still remember the guys name because it has left a mental scar in my memory. I believe I have grown up to be normal, as normal as an otaku can get lol, and have no problem expressing myself when appropriate. Sorry to hear about your horrible childhood Danny and everyone else's as well.

I'll go a little further on the subject and call bullying one of the main reasons for school shooting accidents and such.

I was kinda victim of bullying too... but I guess here in Brazil things are not as bad as Japan or US.. or UK.

But yeah, it happens. Might get physical, might be more subjective... but I guess lots of us have some stories better left in the past.

I heard some stories of brazilians who went to japan as kids (japanese descendants), and were treated awfully in school.

For instance, in japan, brazilians are "burajiro-jin". So kids in school would call the guy "butajiro-jin"... relating brazilians to pigs.

Things like this can ruin a person's life, creating scars that could lead to mental issues... which leads to school shootings.

Depression is the other consequence.

But I'm kinda glad things didn't turn out too bad after everything I went through as a child and specially as a teenager. I'm even a little proud of myself.

And so should you Danny! Crappy childhood, and look how far you got!

It's like we earned the right to be children once again. XD

Bullying sure does exist also in France... even though it does not seem to me so common than what can be seen in US TV shows or japanese anime.

Not sure about Singapore.

I was relatively spared from it, and then I studied martial arts: it boosted my confidence with teaching me respect and temper in the same time !

Hm...Can't say I ever got bullied in my life. Just teased and called racist names. But although I am a girl, and was pretty small for my age, I was the fastest girl in my elementary (bragging here!!!XD) , and I was always standing up for myself and sadly enough even getting into huge fist fights with the guys. I even protected my friends when i felt something bad was being talked about them. Hahah! Yeah...the great times of comming home with bruises under the eye, or some other place on the face. Hah hah! I look back and I laugh at it because those "not so pleasent" moments taught me to stand up and speak up so everyone can see and hear. Now that I'm a few years older, my attitude has changed in to the "Never give up, Never let ANYONE push you around, and always believe in yourself even if all odds are against you." Btw Danny-san, I think it's great that you're a kid at heart. Not many can stay a kid in heart while having a good career, a great wife, many friends and a good hobby. XD

if you've been bullying and reported to the police here, I congratulate you that you've just dug yourself a grave.

There are often a number of bullyings here, ranging from the minors to the serious. Some are just classmates "playing" with each others and could just be solved within themselves or by the teachers. Of course, the serious and intense ones would go to the police.

I've not been bullied and have not be a bully before. Mainly because I'm one of those "solo" type in class.

I'm sure there are bullies everywhere but here in the Philippines it's not such a big problem, at least where I went to school it wasn't. I don't remember any bullying at all actually. I know some kids called each other names and such, but for my batch at least, you weren't "in" if you didn't have a pet name. Most people just took it in stride.

What's a bigger issue here is that of fraternities and serious injuries/deaths from hazing and initiations.

this is a confession of sorts.
I have been a bully when i was in secondary school.There was this guy in class that many of my classmates would pick on and i joined in because of peer pressure and the need to divert attention from myself(im quite close to that fella in terms of social ranking)
when i reflect on my actions now. It really makes me sick of myself for being such a horrible person.
It's been a couple of years since my *dark* phase.I have apologised to him and since have embraced the otaku way of life.
But in the back of my mind i still feel guilty for ruining his secondary school life.

I have been bullied quite a bit when I was younger (primary school and early adolescence). Hopefully it never happened out of recess time. I always had the chance to have a supportive mother and sister and to know about the Good and Bad in life but also to appreciate the beauty of life... Otherwise I guess I might have turned out the wrong way and paid a heavy price.

Instead of turning violent (Which is the easy but worst path in life) and try to cope with pain via addiction and dangerous behavior, I mainly went for positive self-talk, patience and relativism. I however became quite cold and distant and created my own emotional armor. I have learned a lot about life, accepted myself and how this world works and matured a lot with time. I can be very loyal and give everything to those who deserve it and be very fierce to my enemies.

I have yet to establish a network of true friends and give friendship, affection and love for those I deem deserving. A long and painful trial to overcome, but something necessary for happiness.
For now, I am fighting for my future with the best I have. I also try not to have regrets so I don't suffer from emotional pain.

Yup, experienced physical bullying myself as one of the few non-whites during my New York grade-school years. Not so much in school, but by my babysitter's sons!

I'm only a couple years older than you, Danny, but thankfully, I never experienced the extremes I've read about. (The worst I remember is being called a "Chink" by a random bus-riding kid during my walk home, and almost getting hit in the head by a snowball from a car on another walk home.) Luckily, although painfully shy, my self-esteem was kept afloat by my good grades, kickball skill, ability to draw, and a few fellow geeks along the way. Even made it to salutatorian. ^_^;

But maybe I'm doing a similar thing. Reliving my childhood.

I kind of feel that if you're too peaceful and shy, you make a fine target for bullying, what happened to yours truly.

I also always wondered why some people were experiencing discrimination because they tend to go their own, unique way. It is not because one decides to be different from the others and not follow the main trend that they are monsters or sort.

I didn't care about not having friends. I preferred to stay away from ones only present for fun or for superficial reasons and those with the ultimate goal of getting something from you and dropping you like garbage once they got what they wanted.

The only way for preventing and not being (much) affected by bullying is to show that you are an individual with feelings and inner strength. To have the necessary support, someone to rely on in difficult moments is definitely helpful in this process.

Just never do something stupid out of despair as it will eat you whole instead of saving you.

Thanks for reading.

Had my share of bullying back when I was in first grade but that was it. :D I got fed up and stood up against those bullies...now I bully the bullies. lol. I find that they bully more those kids that seem to won't fight back, but if you do you'll see that they're not much of anything. hahah. ^^

My babysitters' little brother bullied me so much when I was growing up. On a daily basis, he'd hit me, push me down, and even one time he sat on me punching me in the ribs.

School wasn't so much a problem, sure I got picked on because I was the tallest girl in class and I had glasses. Highschool, I joined the volleyball team and my picking on days were over. Hurray for sports, they equal instant popularity.

@Danny, dude, there is never any need to explain yourself to others who question your interests. Pay no heed to those emails as they're miserable people who only WISH they had something they enjoyed in their lives as much as you do now. Armor on my friend, armor on...

Fortunately, I've never really been bullied. Only a racist remark once in a blue moon. Good memories and good people around me as a kid/teen. Unfortunately, it seemed all too short with all these adult responsibilities on my shoulders.

Ever since school shootings started making news, there has been ads here in N. America against bullying, and also increased cyberbullying. Which I can attest to as I use to help moderate a forum/chat site. Lots of kicking and banning I tell ya.

Actually, now that I think about it. Back in elementary school I remember this new kid who was picked on alot. One day during recess someone started harassing him, and he took out his pencil and stabbed the bully in the hand. Ironically, he got in more trouble than the bully. It was a very confusing moral being a young kid at the time.

I second him. In Singapore, bullies often get away with it while kids that retaliate in self-defense are the ones that get the punishment. Apparently kids are supposed to report to the teachers instead of taking matters into their own hands; but some of the teachers apparently just don't give a #@$^. I was lucky to get into a school where the majority of people are civil.

yeah depends on which school

and depends on the severity of bullying. Light bullying is ok in my opinion, which is something that is infrequent, not prolonged over a period of time, not enough physical damage to cause damage for more than 1 minute, and not enough psychological damage to last more than 1 minute.

and it's sad but there's bullying in the workplace. It seems that after people grow up they start going the opposite way again.

Bullied kid success story:

I lived in France for a couple of years as a kid, and naturally because I was from the Netherlands, I got bullied :) Luckily my mother and my sister took up on it (I had no idea what was going on), and I think my dad told me to stand up for myself and fight. So one day, there was a large group of kids following me, and I went Berzerk and attacked the leader. It's one of my few victories in life, I had a great time in France after that. It also taught me to not dwell on the bad things in life, but to instead look at all the good things! I came out stronger, and I never bullied anybody myself :)

Glad to say ive never been bullied but ive been around people that have and it really shows in their self confidence etc.
The sad fact is i dont think it's ever going to be truely eradicated. It seems that kids these days almost expect it will happen. I remember a report on the news in the UK not so long ago that backed up that view.
I think in the UK the situation has become better over the past few years with government drives to stamp it out though.
It seems in Japan it's almost part of the culture to bully "outsiders" or have a negative view of them for whatever reason. For a country so far ahead technology wise it certainly seems like they need to raise their game.

Bullied happens almost everywhere in school but amazingly that doesn't happen in our colleges, only when you're a sophomore or caloiro as we call it, we get to make them loads of pranks and make then do funny stuff but then after that week of pranks we stop and everything is back to normal no bullying happens during the entire year everyone is very nice to each other believe me.

In high school and mid school things can be different, since I live in a small town I was never bullied in high school nor would I let it happen but in mid school I was a couple of times but it was nothing I couldn't handle by myself ^^.

@FatBastard
That actually sounds like part of my life in elementary school.

Addendum @Anyone interested
I think the bullying problem in America is compounded by the fact that the country has gotten really politically correct as of late, to the point of Zero-tolerance policies (ie. If you're in a fight, even defending yourself, you get suspended/expelled). The problem with these zero-tolerance policies is that usually its the kids who don't care about getting expelled who do the bullying, and the kids that care that do care, so they can't fight back.

Even if they tell someone about it, schools will probably want some proof of this bullying, and if the kids can't supply good enough evidence, then they're kind of screwed. Even if one bully does get stopped, he still might want to take revenge from this.

If the student takes the issue outside of school and fights, he still could possibly get kicked out, and even then, there's the possibility of trouble with the police as well. If the kid goes this route and fights, well, usually bullies pick on someone with little to no friends, whereas the other party will possibly have, a party of people backing him up. This also goes to the issue of evidence. Your word against theirs and friends.

Wow, long comment for me.

I was bullied a lot in my early years on primairy school, mostly because of my skin color. But my mom really stood up for me and discussed the bullying that was going on with the teachers too. On high school they started bullying me as well, but because that ended up in big fights a lot it soon stopped. ^^ But just like CrazyAnimeTuga said, the sphere on colleges is so much different than on primairy and high schools, I've never seen or heard anything about bullying on my college so far. Sure, some of my class students make fun of my surname (which is Chinese and sounds a bit odd in their eyes) and call me the son of one of the teachers (even though I don't look like that guy at all XD), but that's not really bullying in my eyes since I can laugh about it too.

When I lived in China attending elementry school, I was not bullied. Until I moved to the city where they looked down on people from rural areas. I was bullied both by teachers and student. My grandparents didn't liked it, when I got poked in the hand by a sharp pencil by my teacher, we moved back.

Then I came to America, it was fine until I when to a middleschool in a not-so-good neighborhood. I was called names and got picked on but it wasn't so bad. I was not looked down because they thought I wasn't as capable, I was just different.

In highschool I attended a special program where I was placed among peers who knew better, bullying was not known, especially those dealing with stereotypes.

I slowly come to understand that bullies are a good indicater of a person's direction in their future, so I don't worry about it too much.

I never experience bullying in my entire life probably because I'm just to plain for some bastards to make fun of me.....

As I have seen in my high school days, bullying usually takes place at the fist and second year (13-14 yrs old). After that all the people around you seems more mature...

FYI: In the Philippines Grade School is 6 yrs (from 7 - 12 yrs of age) then 4yrs of high school (13-16 yrs of age)

In Japan there's a middle school right? what age does one expected to graduate in high school?

I'm rather intimidating to most people, and have always been quite popular, so I've never really been bullied. However, the people around me have, but I always try to do my part to stop it because nobody should have to deal with it

I feel sorry for you and other bullied children. :(

bullied a lot in my middle school, after high school there's none of it.

i kinda forgot those experience, as most of my bullies are my friend now, some other go to different high school.

but, u know, bad ppl will get bad karma, some of "was my bullies" lost his leg because he got into a fight,
though he's a bully that i hate most, kinda pity him now

There was a dude in high school that hit my back every so often and say "haha i got you" as soon as he got off. I don't like that guy to begin with. It persisted for about a year; I went from mild ignorance and dismissing it to feeling very angry, intolerable and wanting to make him pay.

The last time he pulled this, I lost it, chased him outside the staff office, lost my balance and crashed onto the floor; one of the staff came out to see what's going on. The dude laughed at me, pretended to extend his hand and said, "come on, it's a joke"... I cried "NO, LEAVE ME ALONE"... in which case I was escorted to the principal assistant's office. It was when I opened up and told the assistant what was going on and the reason for the hostile confrontation outside the office.

I left the office bruised but at the same time relieved; it was odd. Found out later that the dude was ordered to cease all bullying against me and barred any physical contact between the two of us. No more hitting the back.

I'm a bit more aware of bullying in internet play. Leaders abusing their powers, people questioning the integrity of others... the list can go on indefinately. I 'left' two guilds on Everquest... two guilds that claimed to have some sort of a family atmosphere but the members could throw that out of the window at the slightest hint of disagreement.

so bullying still exists? it seems so ancient and primitive, as regarding the handling of a greater power gone bad, in my experience i have always solved such things by gaining upper hand, but then again i always had a short temper. But still, where are the parents in all of this? what the hell do kids know? it should be the parents that should be able to straighten this mess out, but in the end everyone has a choice, always

speaking of suicide (little off topic, but still) what are the rates in japan? I have heard its sky-high, i know that sweden is probably on of the top 10 in most suicide country,

Danny - Looks like not much has changed since you grew up in Hackney - Poverty, Racism and social collapse is what its looking like in many of London's poor neighbourhoods - just check out this video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iUjIpMAF9kY

Sad.

I had the best child hood possible in my country, Portugal.
All i remember was having fun with friends playing around.
Obviously there were bad kids, always trying to hurt everybody just for their fun(usually they were from poor families, with a tremendous lack of good education), but me and my friends stayed as far as we could from them.

Do anyone here know Portugal?
Cheers

Bullying we all experience it in our life time. I am glad that it was not bad for me sure i got picked on and made fun off. But I usually turned my enemies to my friends or just tried to coexist with them. Japan is lucky they have gun laws in the US unfortunately bullying is taking to the extreme some kids commit suicide or pull out a gun spree. That is a shame killing because your peers were cruel.

i hate bullying
bullying should never happen

In my region; there actually isn't at least against my race. Though, since I've grown up in the U.K. like you (Danny); I've gone through a lot of racist (which is a form of bullying) in my childhood life to the point when I had pain (leg ache), I was not given medication. I didn't realise at that time since I was young and not a "smart" kid like most asians, but after I pondered about it when I got older; I realised I wasn't very much liked. For both Primary and Secondary schools I went to I did in some form feel bullied by teachers or kids; though the actual region I used to live in was very friendly even though I only knew 3 neighbours (next door and opposite). In the country I live in, there are many bullying in the form of racist particularly in the workforce; its very hard to get a job, even though the demand is there. I've never bullied anyone on a constant basis like most bully's but had ONCE beat/hit a kid, who was one of my friends; otherwise I had always been a victim.

why cant all of them be good lolis like girls in Kodomo no Jikan?! I'm referring to the girls..as for the guys..no comments...

as for me, i think i'm kinda lucky...maybe cos i'm small in size.. :/

there was a few cases of bullying in singapore that made headlines in the papers.

a memorable one that came to mind was of last year where a bunch of girls brutally kicked, punched and then forcefully trying to remove the top of a then 13 years old girl as one of the bullies suspected the young girl of seducing her boyfriend.

one of them even took video of the bullying on her camera phone and circulated it via bluetooth. very soon it got online and was further circulated.

i saw the video, it was very disturbing. very sad to see youths behaving this way.

they will later caught by the police and prosecuted.

http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,108570,00.html

Sorry to hear about that Danny.

I myself had a very good childhood, but I still don't want to outgrow it. I often still play with little kids, play in the playground (especially the swing), watch cartoons (anime, too, of course), play pranks on "adults", and buy character stuff (I love Hello Kitty!).

While I'd never been bullied, I always stood up for kids who were. I always got back at those bullies, a lot of them are really dumb.

forgive me if my words offend anybody here and also the long lines:

i myself have been bullied since my school days ever since pre-shool.i can still remember the names of my bullies/their acts/their faces and the teachers themselves who could'nt be bothered to listen and they dissmissed it as a mere nothing so i suffered in slience i sypathatise those who commit infamous acts such as school shooting and killing of bullies for they just want to feel justifed.whatever the schools says is totally propaganda.parents dun know what goes behind the closed door of schools.telling the teachers to stop the bullying won't help as they will continue to bully when the teacher is not around.my advice to all who are victims of bullying hope it works:show no fear for fear is a weakness of every man and be strong always both mentally and physically.

p.s:people who take revenge are the ones who want to feel justified for unjust act that was done to them.

Nevada-tan stood against bullying... and well... she became an Internet meme.

Hit them with a bat once and they'll leave you alone after that. They'll think you're crazy.

@D_Blade, its never too late to create a close circle of friends, you just have to be willing to get hurt. Its just like any relationship. If your armor is too hard, like a large tree in a strong wind, it will break. If it is strong but flexible, like a tree it will bend with the wind and not break. I protect myself with mental and emotional defenses, but you have to learn to let these down once in a while or else you will be truly alone, surrounded by nothing but your defenses.

People, we have all been hurt by someone else being thoughtless, or uncaring, or just plain stupid. Lets not make ourselves suffer for it, and realise that life is too short to harbor grudges. Because, in a way, that is letting the other person know that they got to you. Instead, show them that the best revenge is success. I cannot tell you how many people I have seen from my High School days that were @$$holes, that turned out completely different. So I show how it didnt affect me by doing better in life, by having an amazing gf, and a great life, and being happy.

@Animefreak222, I completely disagree. I dont think anyone is EVER justified in killing innocent bystandards because they were bullied or picked on. This is just a pathetic excuse of a coward, that doesnt want to claim responsibility for their actions. This is a cowards recourse, anyone who can sympathize with them are the same who say that mass murderes are just "misunderstood" and that it was something elses fault that they turned out that way. Someone else didnt point the gun at an innocent classmate and shoot them, the person bullying this coward certainly didnt, the bully didnt strap themselves with bombs and grenades and go on a shooting spree, it wasnt the teachers fault.
Take responsibility for your actions people, this is the real world, and the only one that decides how you act to a situation is YOU. "Its your life alone, rise up and live it"

Bulling , eh?

I had a little coming at me doing public school, but it wasn’t to bad, though i still got into some fights i dont know how our problems was fixed but they where, might be because no one ever grouped up on people it was always 1on1. I remember we had this second room behind our class, which we filled with madrasses and pillows and then every break you could call a guy out to a less violent fight in that room, was really great.

I have seen a lot of bulling, I think doing public school 4-6 girls had to transfer away from our class because of bulling and one of those girls later became family through marriage and even though I didn’t bully her she gave me some pretty evil looks at the first few family meetings.
In high school I somehow became the ring leader of the geeks/gamers and we are quite many so no one bullies us, since quite a few of the gamers are strong and we are many.

That being said I don’t think bulling is a big problem in my province, though it certainly is a problem. I must also somewhat agree to the saying what doesn’t kill me makes me stronger, I remember a line from a song going “If bill gates got laid in high school do you think he would have founded Microsoft, of course not you got to me some hardship in your youth to motivate you to success later in life”. In can get so bad that it destroy persons who are weak and strong people and of course I can’t agree to the happening

I too got my fair share of being bullied too. I was very soft and kinda plump back then. Was always being targeted for verbal abuse when I was in my primary school. Saddening words like fatty or fata$$ would reach my ears quite occasionally.

Theres also an incident that have etched in my mind till now. There was supposedly an art competition when I was in my primary school. Comes the time for us to hand in our art pieces to the teacher in charge. I was taking out my art piece when a classmate of mine suddenly snatched it away from me and showed it to the class in a mocking tone. I was very very embarrassed and sad at that moment. He even went far into crumbling that drawing that I did. Justice was never on my side then. The teacher didnt punish that brat.

Since then I decided to learn to stand up for myself. Cheer up Danny :D, life can be unpredictable and cruel at times. What we can do is learn from an experience know how to deal with it in the future .

@Random Hiki, since you have no idea what conditions I grew up in and the amount that I was "bullied" then I think its safe to say you have no idea if I was "properly" bullied. I understand people being upset, I understand having evil thoughs and feelings. Reacting in this way is UNFORGIVABLE. These people dont just kill the bullies in their school, they kill everyone they can find. Because THEY got their feelings hurt. Trust me, I have been bullied, I had a harder time then a lot of people I know. Stop making excuses for other people for their actions. There is no excuse to do this, regarless of how bad they were bullied. I just cant agree with a mindset that writes the murder of innocent bystandards off as justified. I dont imagine a single person here, if they had their brother/sister/mother/father killed because someone felt they were being bullied and so went on a shooting rampage would feel it was justified. Do you?

@Random Hiki.. or anyone. In High School, after a couple of years of adjusting to moving from another country (where I was an outcast because I was American), in sophomore year a person I had befriended decided to turn on me and he and seven other people attacked me in a park at night. Im not a small guy, so I fought back, because considering one guy came at me with a huge tree-cutter and someone else was pointing a gun my way, I was sure I was going to die. I grabbed the first person I could, and kept punching him in the face until all I could see was blood.. this is while I was being kicked and punched from behind. I managed to escape eventually and even though my parents called the police, I knew if I told them who it was it would be a thousand times worse for me at school. Everyone at school knew it happened, I was cut and bruised, had two black eyes, and a broken rib. My friend had turned on me so he could look "cool" in this groups eyes. I wasnt very popular at my school, because I was new, so I enlisted the aid of a couple of other outcast to help me find these kids. One by one, I pulled them out of class and told them that they were cowards for attacking me all at once, and then had the other kids keep it a 1-on-1 fight as I beat them. I didnt go into the school with a gun, even though some of these "kids" had used weapons on me, and I didnt hurt anyone that wasnt involved. I was angry, this is just one of the incidents I suffered at school, so trust me I understand the anger.. the rage, the horrible mental pictures and the emotions surrounding being picked on. After that I just ignored those involved, and they ignored me. Im happy to say I have seen a couple of them (its been many years) later in life and they are doing poorly and some of them are in jail. I, however, and doing very good and have succeeded in life to a degree they will never obtain. F*ck them, and anyone else like them. Karma is a vengeful B*tch and she exacted a revenge I could never have gotten by myself. People like this dont deserve to die, they deserve to live the with consequences of their actions.

Sorry this was so long, but I feel better. I promise Im not mad at you Random Hiki, or Freak or anyone. Maybe I just needed to get that off my chest.

in Belarus there is always a bully in class. People always bully someone who is not like them or simply seem weak. In high school in America when I moved there was no bullying. I haven't seen any as well. I went to two different high schools here. Had to change to a new one when we moved to a another apartment. There was one time a guy in leadership class who was kind of mean toward me, however after girls heard him say something mean to me, they jump him with words and after that he became very friendly toward me. HAHAHHA

Bullying is a big problem everywhere and now we have a lot of TV ads about cyber bullying as they cal it here in USA. Kids are mean.

I've been very shy in grade school (and still am but it got better) but I didn't have big problems with bullying until grade school was over and I went to the gymnasium.(We got 3 schools: gymnasium, realschule and hauptschule. You need to graduate in gymnasium to be able to go to university, the 2 other schools are more, let's say: technical)
I've been bullied by people from my grade and sometimes I went crazy and slapped them in the face till they cried which kinda helped me but I would get the punishment because I attacked them and they would continue after a while. Then I had lots of problems with people from the hauptschule (they're education is terrible, at least in my city), they would just start insulting me and my friends because they wanted to get in a fight and when you tried to explain that you didn't do anything, they would attack you...
I don't have problems with people from my school anymore,(they weren't really solved but we try to ignore each other) but I still have huge problems with students from the hauptschule because the only thing they want is to beat you up, they got no education and their brains in their fists, they look for you in groups when you're alone and so on... I hate this town..

well in my case one year in school i hada this problem but i resolve it by hiting the kid so hard in the face that hi did know where he was. In high school a have this problem in my first 3 years there (when i enter mu first year i used glasses and brakes so imagin) then in my 3 i became popular by my own and helped kids that where having problems adapting (I thing that because of this i became popular with students and teachers) y collegue i did't had any problem so i don't have much of a story here, a just fight back and got over it. By the way i behave like a kid to, i think this is what keep me young.

I was bullied in the early years of high school. But lucky for me it did stop. I was bullied because of my height(I'm very tall for a girl) my height has always been a problem at times. And I still get picked out every now and then, because I like what I like and I'm actually a nice person. My friends get picked on and have abuse shouted at them too, but only because he chooses to wear a long leather coat... Last year(I'm in 6th form college now, linked with my old high school) I was travelling home on my minibus, and they thought it was funny to throw a blown up condom round the bus. They kept hitting into the front when I was sitting(they'd picked on me before now) and when I actually popped it, they decided to put what was left of the condom in my hair. This is younger years abusing an elder, who they should respect. But they just don't. It's chavs... chavs are responsible. Britain is slowly going down the toilet... :sigh:
Yet I am still a fairly optimistic person. I dont let stuff get me down. I just enjoy the little things. :grin: Like anime, manga, games, drawing etc. Hopefully at University there will be more people like me.

DRAGUN, nice train of thoughts and my respect to you. It's great for you that it is far behind (even if you still think about it somehow) and I am glad that it never went that far for me.

There is always better but also much worse in life.
And yes, I am definitely ready for creating durable relationships. It is just about opportunities, circumstances and chances, but also some strong personal will and a sense of confidence and trust.

Killing innocent people out of anger is the worst one can do. There are always alternative, much more peaceful ways for that.

Thanks D_Blade. You have always seemed like a good guy to me.

@Meimi132: Dont let it get to you, when you get older and guys are falling over themselves trying to get your number, just smile to yourself and laugh at the idiots that dont use their brain. So use that energy and turn it into something that will help drive you ahead.

It gets easier as you grow up people, I promise. Please dont let yourself suffer now.

That's too bad for you danny. Thankfully, around here teachers won't stand for that kind of behavior and other people are respectfull to one another. Some people mess with their friends sometimes but they stand up forthemselves.

The last time I was bullied was in elementary school but that was because there were disrespectfull and immature. People are actually pretty respectfull to me and im never picked on.

@DRAGUN:

Your sure? Everything seems to get worse here in my eyes :/

Nothing compared to your story (my respect for handling it like that btw)
but I'm getting tired of violence increasing :(

Wow, this post is getting a ton of responses!

Over here in Canada, we have a free service called "Kids Help Phone" that deals with school violence and domestic abuse. Kids are encouraged to phone the helpline if they feel that they're being bullied or abused. They have people that listen and give you counsel and try to solve your problems. Never tried it myself, but I heard its very good. They regularly advertise on TV and also have these talk seminars in schools.

@Tempest: I wont go into the mental despair that I felt at certain times in my teenage years, how it affected me... But I can tell you with certainty, that if you give it a chance, it WILL get better. You have to keep a positive thought process, or else you have failed before you started. Just use it, turn it inside and help it temper your will so that it is stronger. Its sounds corny, but if you visualize it, it works.

Wow...is everyone here "bullied"? Is no one ever the "bully"?

XD

Really, as much I hate bullying... I hate what happens as a result... Depressed people brings along a bad situation... *sigh* Shaking my head, that's all I can do.
At least it's good to know that some people know how to take care of themselves long enough to enjoy what they deserve. Good job, Danny.

holee cats! 100 comments!?! congratulations on this Danny. lol

i think that happens everywhere i hate those guys i hope they die unmployed under a bridge ^^ they believe so superior always hurting someone or not letting someone bulled develop correctly

I never had a problem with bullies when I was growing up. I'd heard of it happening sometimes, but it was very rare.

Neurological researchers are uncovering the causes of inappropriate aggression and violent behavior. This should lead to effective treatment before too long.

@DRAGUN:
I believe that this incident had a LOT of influence on you, I feel sorry that it went that far in your case, stuff like this is stuck in your head :/

Thanks for the advice, I'll give it a try. I'm kinda in a depressed phase right now so reading the comments helped me in a way.

who cares if i buy figures and watch anime (which in my family they're called cartoons._. my mom keeps telling me GROW UP!! but my dad doesn't really care), even though i have good memories from my childhood, i still love anime & collect figures

@random hiki: Lol@ “ "entertaining" other prisoners”, I guess it IS true that the nail that stands out gets HAMMERED. Ahhh… prison humor. I wasn’t offended, Its not a problem.

@Tempest, Im glad it helped. I have been there before, just don’t let it get to you. You ARE stronger than that.

@lin-da-kenobi: We can only be who we are, no more, no less.

Thanks for the kind words and sorry to hear that there have been so many of you who went through ordeal through bullying.

For those who mention that you don't have many friends - you have us and I will be launching functionality soon so that you can contact and make friends with fellow otaku directly.

What wont kill you will make you stronger.
Even though I had a lousy up brining, maybe I wouldn't be where I am without that treatment. Wanting to do better than those bullies became a goal in life.

Late to the party, as it has been lately. Hope this gets seen...

Everyone, I can think of too many sites I visit or have visited where there are such a decent group of people. Danny is right, you have friends here. Although I've been busy a lot lately, my door is almost always open for a quick IM or Skype.

I don't have too many fond memories of my childhood. I was mostly an outsider, but was luck that I knew people who were in many of the different "groups". It was until I was older that I realized -despite being bullied by some- that most thought I was a fairly nice guy.

@Danny, You do not behave like a child. You live life with the enthusiasm of a child. Then again what do I know. I need someone to explain to me how an adult is suppose to behave. This grown up thing is highly overrated. I say live life with passion and never take yourself to serious. Life is full of enjoyable moments and great opportunities to be had. Grab all you can because you get only one chance.

Wow looks like this entry has become a really serious discussion :O (not a bad thing)

When I was a kid, I had been on both ends of the bullying and being bullied ^^; I'm not proud of what I had done where the bullying is concerned and I wish I was still in touch with the person I had hurt (unintentionally) so I can apologise o_o; And I really mean it. =_=

I agree with @DRAGUN, it does get better as you grow up. I find that since I was able to overcome those people that just make others feel small. I am a much better person for that. Sadly to say such things often drive people to mental breakdown and issues. Many USA school shootings are partly happening because of bullying. Even bullying by teachers where they make students feel ashamed.

@Dragun:
I tried to get up and start the day with positive thoughts and it worked, I didn't feel like a wreck while I took the train to school and I started to feel a bit better in class too.
Thanks again for your advice I think it kinda woke me up :)

I was bullied at times when i was young, because i am the youngest/smallest-sized boy in the class... I believe it changed me a lot,no matter good or bad. but things are not that bad for most of us. they can batter you, they can take away your money, and abuse you by doing whatever they like, but they can not take away your thoughts, which make you strong in your mind.
also, those who bullies others in school, they are also kids, and they are often growing up in a environment which is lack of love and careness.. from this point of view, they are also lamentable...
so, no matter what happened on you, just be tough...

@Tempest: Good! Its amazing how fast the change comes when your mind is right. Just keep it up. Im glad this worked, cause plan B was to put speed in your cereal, and Im pretty sure that illegal. Lol. Plan C was strippers, but Im not familiar with the Deutchmark/USD exchange rate.

*DISCLAIMER: Any opinions expressed in the above comments are the sole opinion of the commenter, and do not reflect the views/ideas of Dannychoo.com. Except for the stripper part. Please kids, drink your drugs and dont do milk! Stay in school...uh.. reduce, re-use, recycle... by the power of grayskulll......

Rofl :D
Nice ideas but I think plan A fits best ^^

Btw: We don't have D-Mark anymore since 2002, we got € now like almost every european country ^^"

Thats right! You guys went all EU on us. So much for the stripper idea. Lol. Have a good day Tempest.

Thanks, I wish you a good day too :D

This is a *huge* problem on the rise everywhere but I was shocked to read that most of it is coming from primary schools? I was expecting most of the bullying to come from secondary schools such as high school or something like that.

High school (and some of middle school) was absoloutly horrible for me as well. No friends, dysfunctional family, etc so I was a prime target. You can pretty much name every thing in the book except rape- it happened to me. I can 100% understand how this makes people feel; being backed into a corner with no other alternatives. Its sad but not every child makes it through school alive- and due to ridiculous reasons like this.

I would say I am screwed up but not in the sense where I am insane or I hurt people. I have one friend that I live with and two or three in other states so I consider myself fortunate. How am I screwed up? I was cynical for a few years before wising up. I still carry a distrust for most human activity and it is very hard for me to trust complete strangers.

Instead of succumbing to my own inferiority complexes I decided that it was my goal to become *better* than my aggressors not by ignoring them (that fable makes it WORSE) but by working hard at my grades and striving for success. I did pretty well- my GPA in high school was around a 3.4/4.0. Anime is one of the few things that has kept me occupied =D. So here I am: a college student who is working towards his dreams of owning a house and working for a major US company.

IE at the cyber bullying thing: If I have an idea of what this is: that is what the "ignore" button is for. Preteen or not people need to grow up and learn to ignore people. If it is a "stalker" kind of harassment with people constantly changing emails, etc or hackers then I see where it gets bad. Kids: learn some manners even if you are anonymous.

...hmm i can't say bullying is a problem where i live... or atleast i haven't seen it happen any... i don't think iv actually ever seen bullying taking place... then again iv never been in a positioned to be bullied or do i give myself the "air" to be bullied (im a big guy ... its not like im going to be bullied)
as far as everyone else... i really haven't seen any bullying going on... ehh just havent
bullying isn't anything i have ever had to worry about... nor have i seen others put up with it... hmm im not exactly the type a bully would bully anyone else around in my presence(did that sentence make since)
...i kind of live a strict almost "noble" lifestyle lol (or atleast thats what people say)

Bullying happens, but most people tend to snap or go nuts if they get pushed too far. I guess that's why school shootings and violence happens. I guess in America, it leads to external violence more than suicides.

@shippoyasha: I think thats wrong actually. I know of two suicides in my High School before I graduated. They just never made national news. I think the amount of suicides is high, while conversely, the violent attacks on innocents is much lower. The problem is no one focuses on the former as much. The more attention we give to the latter then the more these people want to die that way. So at least they will get noticed and be "famous".. the kid that shot everyone christmas shopping said that in his suicide note.

Bullying in the town I live in, here in Ohio, is quite low.

But other part of the US is bad, sort of like Japan. Some time is race related, some time is social static (nerds, geeks, otakus). Some people do do suicide because of bullying, but in the worst case is school shooting like Columbine. These kids killed their bullies and other students.

I don't know much about Hong Kong's bulling problem. I been away from my home town for a long time.

But I am sure no mater what any one do, bully will still be here. Human are xenophopic and afraid and anything differnt from them self or have the primitive thought of superiority will cause bulling.

We must show that every one is equal, we are all human so we shouldn't hurt one another. It start from home. Parent must show they are acceptance toward foreigners.

I don't know what the immediate solution for bulling is, no one knows.

But here some hit that might or might not help:
- Stick with in a group. Bullies are most likely to target individual. If all the lonely bullied people stick together, it might help.
- Make friends with big people or other respectable people. Big friends scarred bully away. Or become friends with scarry crazy people even the bullies would aviod.
- Report any physical threat, like pushing to authority and request to remain anonymous.
- If you can, avoid them. Find out the bullies' schedule and plan to avoid them. If worst come to worst file a restraining order so it would be illegal for the bully to get near you.
- Not recommended and might put you in more danger: confront the bully with words. Like saying that he should pick on some one his size. Or say only weak people pick on weaker people and that the bully should be a men and pick one some one as big as they are.

My mother actually gave sound advice when i got bullied. Living in Brooklyn, NY at eight going to a pretty tough school, its eat or be eaten.

She simply said this. Weakness only makes you weaker. Be strong, even if you get beaten up, get up and make sure you win no matter the cost (cheat if you have to). If he did not kill you, you have every right to kill him. Mercy is luxury you cannot afford in a fight.

From that I got so used to beating up guys twice my size. It was very fun....Defintely made me harder, I even killed my fear thanks to that advice.

Face death like its nothing....Makes you much stronger in the long run.

Bullying is usually not about being scared of people who are different. It's about power.Usually a school class consist of:
- a leader
- the followers of the leader
- whose who don't want to be part of the power struggle. Let's call this group independent people (for later reference).

The leader wants to be able to tell other people what to do so he/she tells the followers to bully somebody who isn't following the leader. This will usually be an independent person. The trick is that the followers and the independent people aren't allowed to realize what goes on so it's not a direct order to bully but more like small stuff and then a bit more little by little. If done correctly then the followers don't even realize that it's not their own doing.

The result is that the children become unsafe and without knowing why or how it they start to follow the leader and the leader gains power by having more followers.

Naturally a group based on this can only stay together as long as bullying takes place. Because of that independent people (who are usually alone and not protected by a group) will have to be bullied to make the followers keep following the leader. IT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HOW THE BULLIED PERSON IS OR ACTS. The easy reasons could be people of different origin (they are usually alone as well) or with odd interests. However if there isn't any obvious reason then the leader will make something up because there needs to be bullying and then say shoes of a certain shape/brand/whatever is a reason for bullying. If no such reason can be found then another solution is to make up something like "I saw (name" yesterday. He was doing (inset something stupid)". The victim for this could have been at home reading a book or whatever but that doesn't matter because according to the story it was so stupid that surely he would deny.

What is beyond me is how it's possible that in almost every single class there is somebody capable of starting this and figuring out how to do it. I mean it took train psychiatrists to figure out how they do it and we are talking about kids of age say 6-7 years old starting this (maybe even younger).

So what to do about this?
Well for a start the teachers should be aware of this and they should be forced to do something about it. The biggest bullying problems are at places where the teacher takes part of it. It's easier for a teacher to be upset with the parents of a bullied child than it is to go against a bully leader. Maybe Sweden is showing the way by making a law that outlaws bullying at schools. It actually reduced the problem but I don't know what the law actually says (I guess you would have to be in Sweden to figure that out).

So who is the bully leader? Well it could be anybody. I know of a case at the local school where it's the cute little girl who never does anything wrong. How she started controlling the boys is beyond me but when you know what to look for then it's clear that she is.

I can see that most (all?) of you were bullied. I'm not surprised as people with interests (could be for anything: figures, trains, aircraft, history, whatever) usually tend to fail seeing a bullying hierarchy and end up as independent people who are used as a tool to control the followers.

I actually have fond memories of Bullies. When I was a grade school, I had a thin and introverted personality.

I remember the main drive of me getting good grades was to avoid physical punishment when the teacher didn't like my result's. (A British/Indian orientated stylized school)

Eventually I was a target for delinquents to copy my work.
Thankful they always invited me to watch there soccer matches and participate as a umpire or scorer.

The most striking memory was when I was bit by a bee. 'Mursal' (Bully's name) carried me and ran me to the clinic.

i never got bullyed nor did i ever bully any one probably on ancount that iam built like a bull dog

ha ha sum of the response are amusing xD
aniwaes...
well since i was a little girl who was REALLY shy and " -_-, dnt talk to mi" sort most of mi childhood
i got bullied at times
>:D but then i found this great thing called "anime" and....
ha ha now im this hyperactive caffine-drinking cosplaying high school girl weirdo i am today x3

Bullying as a child is common everyone but I've found these days in my area it hasn't been much of a problem for teens. I've heard before of the atrocities reported from Japanese schools and its just horrible. I kind of figure it may be because Japanese kids are all...Japanese...they have to find the little differences in people to pick on. In my region (Canada, BC, Vancouver) we're so multi-cultural it's usually a racial thing to pick on. However, once you reach college, all your friends are most likely of a different culture and jokes can be made in a casual setting without the implication of it being bullying.

I guess its hard to explain.

I just don't understand what is the point of bullying what you get from it nothing actually but only cause other to live in pain. For me to think a person that bully other is a coward. In my opinion the person that conduct this bullying have their own problem such as the environment they live in or their family have problem therefore they will take revenge at other people like at school example. If we could do something t help them from stop bullying then the world will be a much better place to live in.

People need enemies to vent their frustrations. Its always about the "Us" and "them" mentality. I was bullied because I was a pacifist and not as athletic as those in my school. Now that I reflect upon it, it was because I was so different in mannerisms, appearance and hobbies that they decided to ostracize me.

I've come to learn over time that "Victory does not necessarily go to the Just or Righteous" and that "Vice may be punished, but Virtue will always go unrewarded".

If you want to take something in life, remember that unnecessary sacrifices do not pay off.

Oh, man and I thought it was bad at my high school.

Thankfully no.

Well, I was for a little while..but it was not something life threatening or something that bothered me for a long time.

I think one time I pushed the person away...and it was all over

Bullying seems to be a major problem in every country, sadly...

I mean I was bullied every now and then when I was younger but not much though, I never got bulled physically at least, they were just verbal insults at best. Sadly, kids are cruel man and some kids who have problems are extra cruel, its sad but the truth.

I think I've talked about bullying before on DC. oh well, I'll share my 2 cents again ^_^
Use to be bullied by my best friends, thought it was a great prank cuz I was always so over protective at home X_X. I remembered completing a French assignment as a group w/ my friends and they all hit on me @ the end just because they felt like it T_T. So, I get back at them ten fold. Won't tell you how, but I enjoy this method. Gets them to think twice about hitting me again.

I guess I'm kinda lucky..?
The only time I remember being bullied is in primary school. But it ended in 1 or 2 weeks.

Me too.

Amazing and sad news for the japan reputation :(

never really experienced bullying but once in awhile i did get some a holes trying to piss me off. i don't fight, so i just get my buddies to threaten those ppl. in highschool, i pretty much know everyone in my grade even some ppl in younger grades. my school is 90% chinese people and pretty much you don't see white ppl picking on asians. some ppl though me and my buddies were drug dealers because we had long hair and play in a band.

you wrote:
"A few colleagues and friends who used to live in Japan have left to go back too the US because they didn't want their kids going to schools in Japan."

You have got to be kidding! Bullying is HUGE in the US. I have not really been bullied except for maybe 1 or 2 instances by one person that just didn't like me, but I have seen a TON of bullying here in the US.

It starts with redneck kids that have no proper upbringing, which is 70% of the kids here. It got much worse when we started shipping black kids into suburban school. The black kids always have to put up a big front and act like a badass (even though they never pass and flunk out, but they blame the white* people for that :rolleyes:). The stupid insecure and wanabee white kids act like the black kids and pretty soon you have a whole school acting like badasses.

It is really pathetic, but it is a reflection of the US culture. Or should I say, the total lack of any culture. The US is not like Japan or China that has a rich history to use as a guide. Here people care only about themselves and live for the day, never looking within themselves. The US is pretty much a shit hole, full of myopic fools.

I guess I was quite strong and tough on my own. (I don't really reckon being too lucky =.=)
I never remember being bullied. If there was any, at least I didn't feel too bad about it.

Since I was homeschooled, I've never really been bullied. I use to hang out with this homeschool group at my church, but since they were all Christians I never had a problem. I use to have a lot of good friend, and whenever I went to a nearby park I made friends with every single person there. Even teenagers. XD

As of now, I'm still homeschooled. But my life took a turn for the worst at age 12 were everyone started changing. My best friend (also my age) who always liked hanging out with the "older crowd" decided that was the life for her and dumped all her manga on me. Basically, she tried to act like a 15 or 16 year old at the age of 12, I found it really stupid. One of my other friends joined her while my other two really good friends moved. I guess I just kinda broke down because I wasn't use to being alone, I didn't know what to do at all and stopped going to my church's youth group because of that.

Now, you could say this old best friend of mine has now turned into the worst person ever. She has new best friends and wishes to be a bad girl in her school. And whenever she comes to church once in awhile she uses me as a foot rest and there's really nothing I can do about it in class. So I don't know if I would call that bullying, but whatever. She basically just thinks she's god now. > . >;;

I'm use to be alone now even though I still do miss some of my good friends that are still left, I'm trying to go back to youth group now to remake friends... maybe recruit some otakus... etc. XD Though now I've been given the task to save one of my old good friends from my old best friend, they pulled her out of school so she wouldn't be with her. She still is nice to other people but when my old best friend comes again she just sticks with her and acts like a completely different person. =x

So we'll see~ This is sorta off topic. oopsie. =P

i dont even remember, im not the type of guy that lives its past a lot, i focus on where i am now and where i want to go. Still is kind that sad all the bullying in Japan, it remind me of one episode of Shigofumi and its extreme case of bullying

I was certainly bullied like hell, during a period of 3 years (a specific school & city)
That was a frustrating time but I can surely not say "I have zero fun memories as a child."
So ya... made me stonger

Most bullying in my country happens during high-school.
mostly happens in state-owned school while not very much in private school(but there still are)

Back-then when i was studying at SMA 70 highschool in Jakarta, the seniors somehow felt that bullying and tormenting their underclassmen is a part of the school tradition.I remembered the story that some kids in the documentary club are forced to brush their teeth with soil and dirt as part of their inaugurration, then i also heard and confirmed that the boxing club did the same except they made their "new member" into a living punching bag.
Even if you don't follow any club, you're bound to be called to somewhere silent and get beaten senseless by a bunch of seniors for no apparent reason except for their amusement.
the bad thing are: the teacher does nothing, the teacher pretend to hear nothing and pretend that bullying is a part of the school culture and necessities

Here's some example of the rule in my school:
-freshman and sophomore are not allowed to untuck their shirt
----------+------------ girl are not allowed to wear down their hair(must be tied at all time)
----------+------------ must respect their seniors more than their own teacher and do all they are told to(and let them do what they want to)
----------+------------ have their own place in the cafetaria including the choice of food(seniors got the best and biggest area>sophomore>freshman)

and yeah, i was bullied once by a goddamn senior while i was a sophomore because of the 1st example i wrote above.

I taught High School in the States for a few years, and sadly, bullying is a fact of life here as well. But being a teacher, I saw the side of it most kids do not. I had to talk to the parents of kids who were accused of being bullies. And the really sad thing was, 99% of these parents didn't care if their son or daughter was a bully, and most of them couldn't be bothered to even pretend they cared about any part of their child's life at all. Bullies are not born, they are created.

If you are being bullied, the absolute worst thing that you can do is nothing. You will simply be seen as a target. Speak out to teachers, parents and school administrators; in private if the situation demands. Make it a pain for others to bully you. And be aware of two things (at least here in the states!) First, the old Hollywood trope of fighting back can indeed work, but only rarely. Bullies usually hang around in groups of three or more, and unless you are Peter Parker or Clark Kent, you aren't going to win, and you will earn zero respect for trying. Second, most schools are under a ton of pressure to perform academically. If you are doing great in school and being bullied, remember that in most cases it is in everyone's interest to make you happy. Use that to your advantage.

Perhaps the situation is different in Japan, but I suspect remaining silent is a mistake there as well. :(

Wow it's that bad over there? Not that it isn't in the US or anything but in my experience I never really saw or experienced anything too extreme... I only really got bullied by people who were just annoying in general, not really for being Asian or anything like that.

Also, sorry to hear your childhood wasn't so great Danny but it's awesome to know that you're enjoying your life at the current moment! :D

There was no problem with bullying in my primary and high school years. In primary school everyone got along really well actually even if we weren't friends. In high school there wasn't any major bullying. There were a few fights from people hating each other, but as far as I know, no bullying. Nothing so far in college.

I had problems in elementary. I was never quite the chatty one and I was a short kid. Oh and of course, I was light.

Middle school was different. People started noticing my charm. I was still the quiet one, but they took note of my charm and of course, I became popular. Chances are that a person who didn't know who I was had a friend that did. This continued on and you know the rest from there.

I remember that when I was young, in elementary school I used to fight against 2 guys for quite awhile each day but don't remember the reason of the fights(was I being bullied? No idea). I would consider myself lucky because I was born with innate talents in sports and strong. That was a way to help me communicate with others, through sports. Had I not possessed this ability, I truly wonder if I would have been able to make some friends in elementary school because I am the quiet type and was the only Asian in my school.

I was bullied a bit at school but looking back it doesn't seem as bad as it did at the time. I've moved on and am making something decent out of my life - they aren't. I went into a local bookshop once and spotted an old bully, who couldn't afford to buy his girlfriend a magazine. When I took my car to a drive-through wash and found him collecting the money, I understood why. I don't want to feel superior and would rather he put the effort into making a better person of himself, but it's hard not to feel a little pity.

In the philippines, bullying takes on a brutal level with arrogance. I was bullied for 4 years in highschool. I rarely and seldomly have fun filled memories of it. Like the prom and other events. After that, back to the real world. They even disrespected my mother and I tried everyrginf I could to defend my family's name. Whenever I think about them, I think of hell on earth. The face whenever I see them puts me in digust. Bullies while young can be very bad people when they grow old. A good bully, is a DEAD bully.

I would be willing to bet that Danny's "acting like a child" habits are exactly the reason he is so successful at what he does. He seems to have the perfect mix of childhood fun and business minded-ness.

Y i gettin bullied well sort of.... not the rough but i have some but the 1s i used to hang around with hate me and anoy me until i hate it . but i think ill live also u just dont bother to tell cause u dont wanna break the kinda code that u cant tell and u cant be botherd and getin parents involved suck.

I think ill be ok it s the perfect thing that got me into this kinda world of anime (possibly same 4 evreyone in a non anime comunitly)

Bullying via electronic means seems to be on the rise. It is so easy for people to vent their anger through e-mail and IMs without thinking twice about consequences, and the meaning behind such actions. All we need is some sort of healthy outlet to vent our frustrations.

Yes.. I went through a really bad verbal punishment as a kid in grade school.. it still haunts me to this day. "Shut up FATHEAD!"... ~~p

Verbal abuse is getting worse and worse

I would be foolish to deny that bullying does not occur in my area, but I was fortunate enough that I did not have to endure that type of behavior. Of course, that does not mean that I did not come across some instances in which I have suffered verbal abuse or taunting. Fortunately, I had a core group of friends and we typically had each others back.

Now, I will admit that there were some tensions (of the racial variety), but generally, most everyone kept to their own groups or cliques. And even when such instances came where tensions were go overboard, this was an exception caused by attention-starved, ill-behaved individuals that eventually faded to the wayside.

***Japanophiles don't read or you'll hate me***

I am alienated from both Japan and America because in Japan, I'm from America, and in America, I'm from Japan. It will always be this way, and I will never have a true home.

I remember my Japanese classmates (I went to school in Japan a while ago) asking me if I liked Japan or America better. My reply is I honestly like America better because although Americans are fat and have poor hygiene, they are the most welcoming and fair people around, and are not afraid to voice how they feel, whether it's a man or a woman. The Japanese are highly nationalistic unlike the general American population (who hate America), and I remember after getting made fun of for not knowing enough slang, I cried on the plane ride back and vowed to never return to such a horrible and unwelcoming place again. My parents are trying to send me back to Japan this summer but I don't know if I can handle it. I don't know my way around and will probably be locked up in my parents' home the whole time since I get treated like a child every time I go back.

I'm very fortunate to not get bullied anymore, but I dont want my old past to resurface when I step into Japan. The end. ^^

I was bullied pretty much constantly from about 3rd grade on. I know it pushed my personality towards the loner type. My innate melancholia and paranoia didn't need the shove either. Being poor and living distantly (Nearest kid my age for the longest time was over a mile down dirt back roads.) really didn't help. I had very few friends, and even fewer close ones. I think, if I hadn't been picked on as much, I would have been more social, maybe had a real date in High School (Yep, didn't date until college. And even that was somewhat limited.) Maybe I wouldn't be such a hateful ball of anger and vengeance. I know I'm not supposed to hate, and that these kids were just trying to fit in, but if I ever run into a few of them in a dark alley, they won't be coming out.

Well I can't say people haven't tried to taunt or make fun of me, it's mostly been because I'm 15 years old and i still play pokemon which I love so I just ignore those who try to make fun of me. ^_^ I think, people who bully others in high school just feel that they must do so in order to feel better about themselves.

I was bullied as a kid because of my race, though most of the bullying seemed to come from other minorities. When I went to a school where Chinese were something like the first or second largest minority group, then it was bullying by white kids. Sometimes by teachers too.

In high school, I think I got out of being bullied by being on good terms with different kinds of people. Sometimes even with people who bullied and those they bullied.

oh god bullying just pisses me off so much! I've had bad experiences in the past with bullying, I'm still in high school so I still see it a lot but when I see some one get bullied now a days I just can't sit there and watch.

I've dealt with my fair share of bullying as a kid. It was mostly being ridiculed and called names because I was overweight. But the same people that bullied me died within a couple years since the bullying started, so I kind of feel like it's pretty even.
I could handle one of them, Jody, because he didn't bother me too much at all. He called me names every once in a while but I think it was mostly because he was trying to gain acceptance within his social group of friends. He was crushed by a tree in an unfortunate accident.
The other bully, Kale, however, he was a complete dick. He was relentless and always teased me. He had issues with his family so I guess he was just trying to make other people as miserable as he was. He was still a dick though. He was diagnosed with cancer in his leg and after about a year of struggling, he died from it. It's sad, but I don't feel remorse for him.
I'm sure people have dealt with worse stuff than simple name calling, but it does still hurt, especially at such young ages. I really wish people would stop, it's a terrible thing to do to anyone.

This article really gives me something to think about considering that my new wife and I had pretty much decided to relocate to Japan as soon as we can, and start our family there. I wonder if kids who are half japanese are bullied the same as or worse than the foreign kids... Definitely something I need to think about.

Aside from that, I am shocked at the extreme ways that some of the folks here were bullied! I mean, seriously-- some of you are lucky to be alive! It's truly horrible and unforgivable. I was also bullied throughout most of primary school and high school. I was very rarely in any physical harm, however. I was mostly subjected to mental torture (well....mostly).

Kids were very cruel to me because I was quite small with braces on my teeth and glasses over my eyes (starting from an early age). I also have almost NO talent for playing sports and I spent a lot of my free time playing games or making art or music. I also came from a family that was very far from being wealthy, while most of the other kids in my school had lots of money-- expensive clothes, spending money, etc. Additionally, I was not particularly interested in my studies at that age, either, so I didn't even get sympathy from teachers. In fact, the teachers practically gave the other kids permission to bully me; and sometimes joined in the teasing, right in the middle of class.

Even though I was never beaten up too badly, the constant teasing, humiliation and alienation I experienced was very difficult. I really believed I would never have any other person who cared about me, other than my parents, for the rest of my life.

What I find really interesting is that many of the kids who teased, humiliated and bullied me during school have grown up to be....well, losers! It seems that many of them experienced the best of their days back when we were school kids, whereas I've been relatively successful and really enjoy my adult life. Funny how it turns out that way.

The worst bullying I received was back in middle school (boarding school) when I was 13-15 years old. Bullying was done systematically where the seniors got to pretty much do whatever they want to the juniors, as long as it didn't involve any serious injuries. Some were turned into personal slaves where they had to wash clothes, fetch food/water, give up their pocket money, etc. etc. The most unfortunate ones became 'boy toys' for some of the seniors who probably swung both ways. Kinda like a mini-prison. The teachers didn't really care. Pretty sickening.

One good thing that came out of that experience is the strong bond I formed with the fellow bullied. Our own band of brothers, so to speak. Some are dearer to me than family.

I turned out alright though, so I suppose it wasn't so bad.

I was more happy back in Japan where I was fited perfectly, than I have to move to here in U.S. and China because of my parent were seperated.It was ok when I was in China cause my place most kids in Beijing had good parenting. But most them are starting to cursing at elementry school. In school china was teach to respect(thank god) but some of them still call me little Jap because I'm Japanese(cause of history class from their parent, and communist t.v). I try to get use to it and it did cause they were just joking in harsh way so, can't dont anyhing about that. And we do get alone about animes. If wasn't for my grandfather with his wise mind I would of start massacre.

than gets worst

In U.S not a very good place to be in, in my place of course. 6th grade I was bullied by a huge fat guy with @shole personality. Now in high school his more of loney person now. In high school, I was called names by so many chinese/taiwanese people, cause I'm Japanese/Chinese and my name, Makoto, and I speak Chinese more. I got pis so many time and finally stop calling me. But still some still do...I knowest I was treated more poorly by Asian chinese speakers, than other nationalities like Mexican, or Americans, and american born Asian. There aren't any Japanese in my school,there are two wich is pretty cool with them even though we barely talk.

Probly few days before I was miss understood by a guy in school(his uncivilized smoking,gangish chinese guy), try beat me up but I tried to talk through him tried apologies him. Ended up a smacked but didn't get bloody, except I couldn't hear anything on my left ear for whole day. And it did cause me great mental damage...I was even scared to going school.

And I'm quite average height 166-8cm 17yo, can't really fight. And I don't like getting troubles for me and my parents to worried.

but for now all I want to do is get a degree or social ID in u.s and leave this country. I rather join those super otaku in Japan, having friends, find a work, having a regulare life than living here alone.

sorry for the long story...

I was bullied quite badly in that in nearly all I took part in at school during Lower sec, I was called names, excluded by everyone else, shoved, etc. The biggest problem was the part about being excluded, as everyone was determined not to make friends with me and in fact treat me condescendingly.

This was mainly due to my lack of socializing skills that prevented me from making friends properly. I also has a lot of queer habits then that made people want to pick on me.

Nowadays, I'm much better socially and the bullying has largely stopped, because I'm no longer as submissive as I used to be. I decided to change and get "stronger" to counter the bullying and actually mix with people better for a better life.

For what the news say, it seems that this problem is starting to go up here in Spain. As for me, I wasn't specially bullied, I mean, who hasn't ever had a pair of stupids in his/her class some year?

I guess the kids I grew up w/ were kinda rough so you had to know how to fight. We were always wrestling, playing tackle football (American) in the street, pretending we were boxers. Most of us grew up w/ the mentality of don't start the fight but you better defend yourself and win. That was pretty much a rule in my family so I didn't get bullied. Some tried I guess but usually a friend or someone who knew me would tell the guy that I knew how to fight and that would make them think twice. Plus it help that I had no problem fighting dirty (some of us had rules when fighting).

I was never bullied bu teachers. There was this kid in elementary school who gave me a hard time though..

bully.. the thing is don't let them control you, no matter what. counter their attack back, that's why you have to learn karate. i know i too had bullied by senior till blood spill out of my mouth. after i TAKE CARE of my PROBLEM no one dares to disturb me, but for exchange they want to join my club "AVOID DRUGS EAT FOOD" heh... very interesting club. but remember fight for the ones that you love.

Danny, you ROCK!

Huh , Danny I fell ur Pain I wish I was strong enough to fight back those bullies but IM not Im just a weak little nerd.I respect for what You are Doing,returning back ur childhood *selutes* and *cries* I respect you Danny Choo T_T

No sweet childhood memories for me too.

Huh as a child I wasn't bullied through violence, or name calling... I was just excluded and cut off from all my peers... although I blame myself for this but whatever. Past my middle school days I have not been bullied. Actually its kinda funny once I got out of middle school and moved into high school I have made a good amount of friends, and the bullying has come to a stop. Although I know people at my school defineatly still do get bullied quite often... sad

Don't ever "grow up" Danny. I plan on playing video games and building the occasional lego set until my hands develop arthritis and keep me from doing it.

If you can't enjoy your life and do what makes you happy, regardless of if others approve of it, then life is not worth it.

I get laughed at all the time because of my "childish" interests. But I really don't care what anyone else thinks. I'm happy and that is all that matters.

Didnt have a happy childhood either. I was bullied a lot because I was odd and easy to tease. I cried a lot. I was very innocent too, so I didnt understand why they acted like that to me.

And when I wasnt teased, I was frozen out. I didnt have friends until I started 8th grade.

My big comfort was drawing and comics. I`ve watched anime since I was 3, and was reading manga before I could read.
- So my "childish" hobbies of comic, cartoons, and dolls is to compensate for my lost childhood. And I love these hobbies. I wont mind doing them all my life. ^^

Bullied in the states for being Greek bullied in Greece because i was "American" but it depends on your social skills if your easily bothered by comments your just fueling their need to make themselves look better. Luckily I realised that early on bullies are the same where ever you live.

i was bullied a lot at school, college etc...because i was overweight, , i have no happy memory of my childhood and teenage years ruined by idiots , i even tried to end my life twice...i m happier now but have been physicly and emotionaly 'damaged' for life.

I was bullied all through my Primary School, Secondary school, and a chunk of college, all because I spent so much time with my head in the clouds or a book, and was more intelligent than any person who knew me. Screwed me up a bit, explains my slight immaturity now, but I'm at uni doing a Physics degree, and a fair few of them ended up as parents at 17, and college dropouts etc, so I must have done something right!

There was bullying in my elementary but luckily I wasn't one of the targets.Of course in time I grew mentaly and physicaly and beat the crap out of them!

The Star and Sun are kinda cute. How ever they should exchange their facial expressions. for me its always the other way.

Dear Danny Choo-San,
NEVER EVER GIVE UP ON WHO YOU ARE! THE WAY YOU ARE AND WHO YOU ARE DEFINES YOU AND YOUR WAYS! NEVER GIVE UP ON THEM BECAUSE YOUR WAYS GIVES US HOPE FOR BEING GLAD OF WHO WE ARE AND WHAT WE ARE! YOU ACTING LIKE A CHILD IS BEING AN ADULT! NOT JUST OBEYING RULS AND BEING PARANOID BUT LIVING LIFE TO ITS FULLEST WHILE YOU CAN! YOUR BLOGS AND PERSONALITY MAKES ME FEEL PROUD OF BEING DUMB IN THE REAL WORLD BUT VERY FUN LOVING AND KNOWLEDGEDABLE IN THE IMAGINARY AND FANTASY WORLD! YOU ARE MY HERO! THE WAY YOU ARE GIVES ME AND US HOPE FOR THE FUTURE! NEVER CHANGE YOURSELF! YOU ARE TRULY MY HERO! AND THANKS FOR YOUR BLOGS! ALWAYS LOVEABLE AND ENJOYABLE! ARIGATO GOZAIMASHITE!
HERE IS SOMETHING A GIFT FOR YOU! THANK YOU FOR ALWAYS POSTING VIDEOS AND BLOGGING EVERYTHING ABOUT JAPAN! DESPITE NEGATIVES AND POSITIVES ABOUT JAPAN I WILL STILL GO THERE JUST TO SEE FOR MYSELF REAL JAPAN AND TO THANK YOU PERSONALLY! I WILL MEET YOU SOMEDAY ON MY OWN WAYS. YOU ARE MY HERO AND NEVER EVER CHANGE YOURSELF! THANKS FOR BEING THERE FOR US! THANK YOU! AND THANK YOU FOR BEING MY HERO! TAKEO! ARIGATO GOZAIMASHITE!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nkzdr7rKilo&feature=channel_page

ARIGATO GOZAIMASHITE!

People use to tell me that the school years where the best years of my life. School was hell. Ever since I left that small social environment and got into the real world where people worry more about important and piratical things life got significantly better. I used to have a narrow rage of interest in things that other kids couldn't relate to, so I was alienated. I also behaved more like someone much beyond my years and didn't fit in anywhere.

To those who feel like their childhood was "wasted" let me tell you this:If you haven't missed: high school expeditions,occasional dates,visits to distant far-away relatives then you have the exact same "fond" memories someone who hasn't been bullied has. The fact that you don't know this makes you think others memories must have been epic. they're not. You remember either good/really funny stuff or the opposite. Nothing in between.
Regarding the post: Japanese mostly bully gaijins, which make 1% of japan's population. And in that kind of bulling you should include "the dead zone" in subways, occasional sneak peek/camera flashes. Well these aren't bulling. being called names, molested continuously, unfair situations is what's called bulling.

Whereas in other countries bulling comes from the same race/ethnicity. And even if the stats aren't only about gaijins, well most of the countries have worst stats, and they don't even address it. Also take in consideration the honne and tatemae, those help a lot when it comes to not outcasting someone, to be a compact group. At least japan is doing something about it, in a lot of central and especially eastern European countries there is no word for bulling. There just doesn't exist a word for it, I know of a fact, but hell if it happens a lot. If you're physically weak and don't like/frequent groups, you're begging to be bullied.

So, either join the group(bitch yourself) or join a gym.
Period.

I think bullying is a problem everywhere and everyone has probably had a run-in with a bully at some point in their life. What I always found is that bullies tend to leave you alone if you ignore them. I've had a number of people take shots at me because of my height, I'm 5ft. and have been short my entire life, but I was always just as good at dishing out taunts as the bullies themselves. I think if you play the victim then they'll keep bothering you. If you stick up for yourself, or ignore their very existence, they tend to leave you alone; it's not as fun then.

That being said, I didn't enjoy my middle or high school years much. Elementary wasn't too bad. While I wasn't bullied, I spent a good amount of time being scared of becoming a target and trying to be as invisible as possible. I had seen how some kids were singled out and ridiculed and didn't want that to happen to me.

I had been bullied by others before, due to my chinese name. Danny, you know chinese,right? read this alod and you'll know why. 鸿舟. That's my chinese name. I've always been teased and been called many stupid names by others until one day i snapped. One person was calling me names until i started shouting like a madman and started strangling him ><" From then on, no one really dares to make me angry and my temper has gotten worse over the years =="

Bullying sucks. I caught a metric ton of it when I was in school. Being the "brain" type basically paints a huge target on your back. And I was short and skinny when I was little...still short now. It's not as bad here in the States as it is in Japan, and there is less tolerance for it now over here. Back when I was growing up, we still had the conspiracy of silence and the idea that bullying will "toughen up" a kid.

Most Hikikomori went through being bullied at school. Food for thought.

I've been bullied physically and mentally growing up. The result is the messed up person you see before you.

I'm no stranger to bullying; I went through plenty of it from elementary through HS.

I remember bullying as a child, in my primary school I was the school terrorizer.
The reason was simple, I at the time was the large one, I was 5'4" and I looked intimidating.
I remember being annoyed that everyone was intimidated by my size and it annoyed me more seeing the avoid me. So to simply get there attention I would pull tease them and just make them miserable.

But once pubirty hit, that all changed, during middle school I got what was mine :P many of the kids outgrew me and it humbled me in a way for the roles to reverse, I finally had there attention and no one was afraid to talk to me. I however had the worst 3 years of my life after that.

I finally grew out in High School and the people I bullied from middle school are my closest friends to this day, some are in graduate school and some are in the working world but we always have a bond we kept from childhood.

Bullying isn't the answer but It certainly offer's a good lesson in life. Remember though, there usually are two perspective's when it come's to bullying, its good to see both when trying to solve it. Look at my case, I just wanted to be accepted and I ended up acting out, if I could go back to that large misfit of a child, I would tell him to treat people how he would want to be treated but I can't. Many people posting might even have kids suffering from bullying, identify it and try to look at all reason's around it, maybe the bully him/herself needs someone to show them right and wrong, not tell them but show them (and I don't mean through punishment either).