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Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

danoah.com

61–70 of 123 posts

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#61
post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>If you're not strong enough to impose your will on someone making violence on you, then train and get stronger. If you're intelligent, it doesn't matter if the other guy is bigger than you. Take up boxing or martial arts. Brain beats brawn. In 9th grade having a little boxing under my belt, i was attacked by and successfully won the fight with 2 10th graders. Well, a half-day latter, the 10+ of them met me. Not ever…

Very true. The biggest problem with the parent comment is that this can and does happen. I've known plenty of bullied kids who scrapped it out only to have the bully's entire clique ambush them the next day.

I think the problem is that there aren't any perfect solutions to bad human behavior. Sure, this kind of retaliation can happen but that doesn't mean it was wrong to fight back in the prior incident where one doesn't have this foreknowledge.

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#62

This comment will be controversial, especially for North Americans and Western Europeans. I ask you to read it and think about it a moment before reacting, and comment if you disagree. I believe what I'm about to say is true, and I'm not trying to get a rise out of people - I want to fix some problems with society. I feel for the author. I also moved around a lot as a kid. No, wasn't a military family. Just coinciden…

Fuck them up. It's the only thing these vicious freaks understand They're wild animals. Impose your will on them. Teach your kid to fight back and fight smart Fight dirty if you have to. If you're much smaller, pick up a hard object and do it. Show them that you'll go to self-destructive lengths to defend yourself I agree with this. This is why I've given my kids knives. Most bullies are dumb and unarmed, so it's eas…

[deleted]

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#63
post #43
post #14

I disagree strongly with the sentiment that bullies just need love, that they're only doing it because they are hurting too. People are diverse, so I won't deny that perhaps that's sometimes true. But I think it would be more accurate to say that bullies do it because it's fun and above all because they can . In short, bullies need to face punishments with teeth. And the bullied need to have access to a justice syste…

That's the best post in this entire thread. People don't get bullied in adulthood because there is a working police and judicial entity. People get bullied as kids because there isn't one. Currently kids grow up for 18 years in a everyone-for-himself, in-order-to-be-successfull-you-need-physical-strength-and-iron-will world, and just then they switch to the much better and fairer world where being sucessful is not de…

Not all bullying situations are necessarily toxic or dangerous. Consider hazing and boot camp, both of which are essentially sanctioned bullying. I suspect a good number of people actually enjoy hazing (joining a fraternity) and others believe military training builds character, etc.

Likewise, try entertaining the idea that childhood bullying (within reason) might serve a social purpose. I've heard multiple first hand accounts of former targets overcoming bullies to become protectors, for one. Perhaps bullying creates a social order, a sense of empathy for victims, etc? I'm not arguing that all bullying is constructive, but I'm not also willing to say it's all destructive either.

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#64

This comment will be controversial, especially for North Americans and Western Europeans. I ask you to read it and think about it a moment before reacting, and comment if you disagree. I believe what I'm about to say is true, and I'm not trying to get a rise out of people - I want to fix some problems with society. I feel for the author. I also moved around a lot as a kid. No, wasn't a military family. Just coinciden…

"... But son, as soon as someone puts their hands on you, they've crossed a line. Fuck them up. It's the only thing these vicious freaks understand. They're wild animals. They make violence on you, you need to show them that you're the stronger, bigger animal. When someone attacks you maliciously for no reason, you need to impose your will on them. ..." And the first girl who uses an indirect asymmetric attack? This…

Just want you to know, I really appreciate your post and for mentioning Aikido. Of all the martial arts I know, I find it to be the most profound and wise in its philosophy.

There is also the interesting practice of Tonglen that I was recently introduced to. It is a meditation technique (endorsed and practiced by the Dalai Lama), that teaches you how to train your mind to effectively and healthily handle the issue of suffering:

http://www.naljorprisondharmaservice.org/pdf/Tonglen.htm

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#65
Dan's open some seriously deep wounds.....

Am a 31 year old and this is a throw away account.

I have asked many questions here on HN and some, read correctly, clearly showed my level of self-belief.

Since the age of 13 I was bullied, very little physical, mainly regarding my appearence and colour. I am Indian, a little darker than my fellow indian school mates. As I grew up, the the name calling and the playground bullying started. This got worse as I got in to my teens. The same people got the opportunity to bully me for around 12 hours of the day. This serious torment has rendered me to the point of taking the suicide option on a daily basis.

You would be correct in assuming "he wrote the last sentence as present and not in the past.".

You see, as a fellow HN'er, I can bearly program. I have not been able to concentrate on anything. I scraped through a degree, blagged my way in to jobs. My life has always been about planning, planing the escape from classmates, planing how to get out of school without being noticed, planning how to walk past some classmates on the pavement on the opposite side. This, without realising, has had a dramatic effect on my life. I left my family, I left everyone I knew to "get away". I planned to do this and planned to do that, but nothing materialised because the constant bullying has lead me to be down and depressed every step of the way.

Today, I earn over $60K+ working in Telecoms. I am shy, dont have the confidence to approach women and yet, managed to somehow marry a beautiful, kind hearted women but she has never known this about me. I hate myself. I still feel, ugly, fat and black (this is not in the black/white way racial way, but in a dark skinned highly unattactive way)....all those thing I got called years ago still affect me today and I am 31 years old.

I am qualifed, experianced and confident in walking in to an interview and getting the job, but my level of confidence ends there. Once in the job, am subdued in to the corner by my own doing, loose all motivation, feel depressed and just want to leave....all that after 2 weeks of starting a new job, yet I love technology, I love neworking, programming and love being a techie!

What is wrong with me? How do I 'snap' out of this? Is it even possible? am I depressed??? My doctor came to this conclusion 2 months ago. He died recently so nothing was done about it.

I have been involved in some small startup here in the UK. I have buried myself in them and throughly enjoyed it, albeit, with the constant nagging from within of failure, unattractivenessno, no self-love etc etc. None have been successful for their own reasons.

I long to do a startup, I long to make a successful product. I dont have any love for designer clothes, fancy cars or big houses. Is simply wish to learn to code and create a much loved and successful product.

I long to learn how to program correctly, effiecently but at each step, I fail with lack of concentration (even basic CSS is not happening), pressure from within and just wanting to get away from it all therefore loosing time and forgeting what I learnt.

I wish I could go back and stand up to those bullies, I wish I didnt let them get to me, I wish myself to be dead to this day. I have my religious beliefs which stop me from commiting suicide, but god knows I have been close. I am 31, and I still cry myself to sleep for being a failure, all this, without my wife of 10 years, knowing a single thing I've wrote above.

Bullies...Please Please Stop It.

Any advice would be helpful.

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#66

Dan's open some seriously deep wounds..... Am a 31 year old and this is a throw away account. I have asked many questions here on HN and some, read correctly, clearly showed my level of self-belief. Since the age of 13 I was bullied, very little physical, mainly regarding my appearence and colour. I am Indian, a little darker than my fellow indian school mates. As I grew up, the the name calling and the playground bu…

First of all, you must share your past and feelings with your wife. If she's the right one for you she'll support you until the end. You're partners in life, when one of you falls down, other one is supposed to help him/her get up. I'm sure your marriage bond will be stronger when you open up your past to her.

Talking from my experience, I strongly advise you to take up some sports or martial arts training. Not to beat some bullies up, but to empty your mind and get rid of that stress clogging up your spirit. Sports also helps with low-self esteem as you will be able to see yourself making actual physical progress throughout the experience.

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#67

This comment will be controversial, especially for North Americans and Western Europeans. I ask you to read it and think about it a moment before reacting, and comment if you disagree. I believe what I'm about to say is true, and I'm not trying to get a rise out of people - I want to fix some problems with society. I feel for the author. I also moved around a lot as a kid. No, wasn't a military family. Just coinciden…

Treating the symptom, rather than the cause. A valid approach in some circumstances.

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#68
post #40

If I ever have kids, they get martial arts training. From someone who emphasizes self-awareness and a productive discipline, but who does not skimp on the full range of effective techniques and the physical training to achieve them. They may like it more or less. Regardless, it will be a part of their schooling. Bullying ends when you end it. There may be more than one way to accomplish this, but when you're outnumbe…

As somebody who knows...skip the traditional martial arts and get them into wrestling and Brazilian Jui Jitsu. Anything else will just turn into an embarrassing situation.

As with anything, YMMV. I've taken Karate lessons (specifically shaolin kempo) since I was 4 years old, and I couldn't be happier. Just pick something that makes sense.

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#69

This comment will be controversial, especially for North Americans and Western Europeans. I ask you to read it and think about it a moment before reacting, and comment if you disagree. I believe what I'm about to say is true, and I'm not trying to get a rise out of people - I want to fix some problems with society. I feel for the author. I also moved around a lot as a kid. No, wasn't a military family. Just coinciden…

I had a friend at school with anger problems. People would wind him up until he exploded and ran into them, fists flailing, shouting "Die! Die!". And then they would beat the crap out of him, because he was terrible at fighting. This was so entertaining that they would do it every time they saw him. So hitting the bullies was definitely counter-productive for him.

Re: Memoirs of a Bullied Kid

#70

This comment will be controversial, especially for North Americans and Western Europeans. I ask you to read it and think about it a moment before reacting, and comment if you disagree. I believe what I'm about to say is true, and I'm not trying to get a rise out of people - I want to fix some problems with society. I feel for the author. I also moved around a lot as a kid. No, wasn't a military family. Just coinciden…

Fuck them up. It's the only thing these vicious freaks understand They're wild animals. Impose your will on them. Teach your kid to fight back and fight smart Fight dirty if you have to. If you're much smaller, pick up a hard object and do it. Show them that you'll go to self-destructive lengths to defend yourself I agree with this. This is why I've given my kids knives. Most bullies are dumb and unarmed, so it's eas…

> Most bullies are dumb and unarmed, so it's easy to catch them off guard with a quick shiv to the kidney.

Your sarcasm is in bad taste.

Doing that kind of injury to a person is never justified. Self defense is about defense. If you need lethal force proper strike to the face or chest would be far more effective at actually stopping someone. A knife is lethal force and pulling one is never a good idea.

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