The Bully Within

[Kyrul]

Regretfully, I bullied this one kid from the 5th grade to the 8th grade. He would annoy the hell out of me and my friends. I hung him up on a coat rack inside the teachers closet and closed the door, a few hours into class the coat rack broke and he just walked out casually and went back to his desk like nothing happened. One day he wore a Zelda hat to school, one of my friend's took it and threw it too me, and I took it and threw it into the girls bathroom.

I ended up apologizing to him in high school and today he is actually a really close friend. Funny how things work out.

As for the receiving end, not really. I mean there was this one time when a kid tried to dunk my head into the toilet at school, but he wasn't strong enough to actually do it, so I just kind of laughed it off.

 

[Kikaito plush]

I have never bullied anyone before even though they may annoy me.

 

[nimbo]

Yup. I was a very mean child/teen. I bullied many people, to their face and behind their back. Hell, even online. I feel horrible about it now, I really do. I wish I could take it all back. The really sad thing is, I did it all to look "cool", especially online (that's the super sad part)
I wish I could get a list of everyone I bullied over the years and send them a huge apology.

 

[Triforce]

At a push I might have participated in minor bullying within social groups but as a rule, no I didn't. I was bullied badly at school so I'm very against it. It infuriates me actually.

 

[madisonblue96]

I have been bullied and unfortunatley have also done the bullying. When I intered 5th grade I was in a new school and had to make all new friends. I ended up trying to fit in with the "cool" and "scene" kids so I decided I would be the funny, redellious girl. Well you see, I'm really ashamed of my actions that I took. There were these two (weird) kids in my class. One was a boy who had short hair exept for a TINY little ponytail attached at the bottom. It wasn't only that, that made people make fun of him. He would also fall asleep inside his locker and eat beef jerky while taking tests and so forth. Yes, odd kid. Well, he was besties with the other weird kid in the class, the kid I sat next too when I first started that class. She was a girl my age and was nothing but nice to me when I started, but once I learned that they were the "weird kids" I immediatly shunned her and got with the other kids and procceded to make fun of them verbally to their faces and behind their backs.

I remember even one time at the end of recess I snuck rocks into the girl's hoodie. When she got inside and took it off rocks fell all over the floor. She got in trouble and the teachers blamed her for it. I don't know if it was becasue of the constant bullying but after 5th grade they had switched schools and I never saw them again. Exept the girl, which I saw for the first time since 5th grade a few weeks ago at an anime convention. Note, I'm a junior in high school now. I was so surprised to see her, I wanted to apologize for what I said and did, but I also didn't want to bring it up in front of her friends.

 

[Mr Cat Dog]

Oh, probably. Undoubtedly, even. I can't remember specifics, and I would have been young and much more naive, but that's still no excuse, really.

 

[Livewire]

I have to watch myself sometimes. I can verbally tear people down if I'm not careful. Never physically bullied anyone though, although that would be easy too. You have to really anger me for me to get that nasty with you. Not to excuse this, but the only people I really ever took a swipe at were bullies in their own right, so.

 

[Pickle-Spaghetti]

I play tease with my friends and family, and trust me i have never ever hurt them in any way shape or form, i know i haven't. If anyone tries to hurt me, I WILL defend myself. I don't understand how anyone couldn't. But i never try to start fights, or try to hurt people. In the schools and what not that i have been to though, i haven't come across any bullying. We always try to get the new kids to hang out with us. I never have come across any serious bullying problems ever, but if i ever do i will be to the victims aid immediately.

 

[Nick]

I kind of feel like there's really no way someone can live for ten years or more without bullying at least one person in their life, even if it was only once and non-intentional.

 

[Plumpyfoof]

I think bullying is part of how I interact with people. Usually to show I feel comfortable with them and accept who they are as a person. So like I won't choose one thing and just hang on you for that, more I will make things difficult and make jokes at your expense. It shows I consider you a friend.

Alternatively I am most definitely guilty of relentless moron shaming. If you say something stupid I am going to call you out on it. I will then proceed to make sure everyone knows you're stupid and then make you feel worthless for being stupid.
Hopefully it spurs you on to either not say stupid things, or open your mind from the ignorant shell you live in.
I have a sort of neutral view of this aspect of myself. On one hand It's terribly cruel, on the other, you deserved it and I'm doing you and society a service.

 

[Aurora2698]

I guess you could say I have been a bit of a 'bully' by ignoring people and mouthing them off behind their backs. I'm sure a lot of people have done this too, but using that as a point would be an argumentum ad populum fallacy, right? I'm also... not the most savoury to others on the Internet, but I've been trying to iron that out over the past month.

On the flipside, I somehow get bullied almost everywhere I go. Being bullied at school has been a continuous problem for me for a myriad of reasons, whether it be because I'm effeminate (I'm sure this one will come back to bite me even harder pretty soon), socially awkward (as I have been for, what, my whole life), physically incapable (I never have been athletic, although this seems to be changing lately) or whatever other stupid reason there is under the sun - I've had to leave one school because of persistent exclusion and abuse. Lately, though, this has tapered off - the last time it was persistent and concentrated bullying (not just not really talking to me) was last year (although I still struggle to gain a social foothold and it's not like anyone else's attitudes are much help). Oh well. The general social exclusion that's always plagued me doesn't look like changing and I struggle to count this as 'bullying' anymore because it's always been around.​

 

[MetalxTongue]

I have been bullied for a long time, I greatly dislike it. Every time I see it happening I take action to stop it. I have never bullied and will always do my best to prevent it.

 

[Corvus of the Black Night]

Not really. I'm pretty blunt though so if I don't like someone I will be very open about it.

I'm pretty much teased relentlessly even in my adult years but I honestly just don't care anymore. I mean, yeah, people says stupid **** about me, but honestly I've grown so detatched from their crap that I don't even care.

 

[Silais]

I think bullying is part of how I interact with people. Usually to show I feel comfortable with them and accept who they are as a person. So like I won't choose one thing and just hang on you for that, more I will make things difficult and make jokes at your expense. It shows I consider you a friend.

Alternatively I am most definitely guilty of relentless moron shaming. If you say something stupid I am going to call you out on it. I will then proceed to make sure everyone knows you're stupid and then make you feel worthless for being stupid.
Hopefully it spurs you on to either not say stupid things, or open your mind from the ignorant shell you live in.
I have a sort of neutral view of this aspect of myself. On one hand It's terribly cruel, on the other, you deserved it and I'm doing you and society a service.

I'm surprised that this mentality still exists. Shaming and humiliation rarely act positively on the person receiving the bullying; oftentimes they internalize these negative comments and their self-esteem takes a hit as a result. I have never found insulting someone a good way of interacting with them. While it can be beneficial to call someone out on their shenanigans every once in awhile, we need to realize that we are all human beings and if it would hurt us to receive those comments it would most likely hurt others. Trying to make a person seem worthless in the eyes of others is quite cruel.

 

[Kanzler]

I'm surprised that this mentality still exists. Shaming and humiliation rarely act positively on the person receiving the bullying; oftentimes they internalize these negative comments and their self-esteem takes a hit as a result. I have never found insulting someone a good way of interacting with them. While it can be beneficial to call someone out on their shenanigans every once in awhile, we need to realize that we are all human beings and if it would hurt us to receive those comments it would most likely hurt others. Trying to make a person seem worthless in the eyes of others is quite cruel.

Shaming and humiliation is a part of many cultures, and helps bring about inside jokes and the such. There's a difference between that and bullying. I continue to insult people all the time, especially on this forum - and vice versa too :\ adapting to other people's norms is a part of being social. I don't think any of us who do this actually mean to make a person seem worthless...

 

[Plumpyfoof]

Shaming and humiliation is a part of many cultures, and helps bring about inside jokes and the such. There's a difference between that and bullying. I continue to insult people all the time, especially on this forum - and vice versa too :\ adapting to other people's norms is a part of being social. I don't think any of us who do this actually mean to make a person seem worthless...

Right, this is more what I'm about.
I think I used the term "worthless" a little carelessly earlier. The way it works is the same as if you try to teach a monkey to not push the red button. It pushes the button, it gets a light electric shock or a bucket of cold water thrown on it, monkey leaves button alone.
Ages ago I read a thing about this, a little in-humane but still highly interesting:

Spoiler:

Researchers would gradually introduce new chimpanzees into a group. Within the area they were in was I think a ladder and some sort of treat at the top. If one of them went for the treat a bucket of cold water was thrown on everybody else, very quickly they adapted to this and aggressively prevented the newer members from getting the treat. They began removing the older monkeys until the last monkey to experience the cold water was removed, and the chimps still violently and aggressively prevented the new members from retrieving the treat even though they had no idea of the consequences.
For all they knew you weren't allowed to get the treat.

This is the kind of behavioural modification I strive for. Although I understand that you, Silais, might object to this. I myself have read similar things but my experience has proved otherwise, no one says anything stupid around me anymore and they maintain the power to call me out if I do something similar. I have also never experienced any serious negative consequences.. Yet.

 

[pokemasta92]

Something that ticks me off just as much as bullying is reverse bullying.
In high school there were these 2 autistic guys in my senior class and I would always talk to them in the couple classes we had together. Unlike some people with autism they were alright with normal interaction and for the most part I could hold a conversation with them. They were hilarious and were always cool to talk too.

On more than one occasion a random person or someone I knew would come up to me and tell me to stop. They would think I was a jerk and that I should just leave them alone. They ignorantly assume that anyone without a condition talking and laughing with someone with a condition means I'm doing it to be mean. They automatically think I must be doing it for laughs and that I don't actually care to talk to them. That couldn't be farther from the truth and I hate that ignorant mentality.

 

[Broken_Arrow]

Yeah i did and i was a kid i even bullied people who were 3 and 4 years older than me and the sad part was they feared me ..wut? o.0..it's not an excuse i know but i was an annoying kid anyways,can you blame me??

 

[Faye Rose~]

All I have really done is mess with my friends, never anybody I didn't know personally or who did not know I was joking. I may have gone a little overboard a few times but never intentionally.

 

[Plumpyfoof]

On more than one occasion a random person or someone I knew would come up to me and tell me to stop. They would think I was a jerk and that I should just leave them alone. They ignorantly assume that anyone without a condition talking and laughing with someone with a condition means I'm doing it to be mean. They automatically think I must be doing it for laughs and that I don't actually care to talk to them. That couldn't be farther from the truth and I hate that ignorant mentality.

This is a perfect example of when I would step in. Those random people wouldn't outwardly express their assumptions around you ever again.