Today is my birthday, but more importantly October is Bullying Prevention/Awareness Month.  Today is also the only day of the year I will ever deviate from my book discussion/reviewing mandate.  I feel strongly about many issues, but the only time I will take a stance on any non book-related issue is now.  You have been warned.

I was bullied in school.

There, I’ve said it and for the first time in many years, I am not ashamed nor am I looking for a pity party.  For five years of my life, as I transitioned from child to teenager, I was socially ostracized, verbally assaulted, sexually harassed and was the subject of many, many vicious rumours.  The reasons for my bullying were my appearance, my grades, my religious beliefs and the fact I stood up for my best friend, who received the worst of our classmates’ cruelty.

Now, I know that there are those of you out there that say bullying is just kids being too sensitive.  This is true in very few cases.  What my best friend (let’s call her Jane) went through was enough to put most people in therapy for a decade.  Nearly every single person in her class and mine (I was a year younger than her) actively joined in the bullying.  The teachers and school administrators did not do a damn thing, even when it happened in front of them.  After five years of every sort of horror imaginable, Jane transferred to a private school two provinces away, where she was happy.  I won’t go into many details because it is not my story to tell, but know that she suffered more in those five years than anyone deserves to in a lifetime. Continue reading →