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We're looking for stories about bullying. Were you bullied? Were you a bully? How did it affect you and how people treated you? Tell us in the comments.  You can also tell us privately by messaging us on here or emailing outforsmokespod@gmail.com. Thanks!

Comments

JN

Bullied in 5th grade but quickly learned to make fun of other kids to get laughs and avoid fights. One day this kid who always made fun of me tries to start a fight with me. So I tell him: “Go home to your mom and dad… NOT!” (It was the 90s) The joke being- he couldn’t go home to his parents because his dad was a deadbeat drug addict and his mom was in jail and his grandparents raised him. Kids around us started laughing and calling the guy an orphan. He started to cry and walked off. I feel like a piece of shit now maybe, but, he was a giant asshole.

John Kidwell

Alright so I don't think I ever really bullied anyone or got bullied, but there was this kid Richard in my class who was, if not on the spectrum, at least a little weird/awkward and got made fun of a lot. I felt bad for him because I think his family was poorer than most, but he was also really clownish in ways that attracted attention (i.e., I remember him getting in trouble during Sunday school because he said he had "a date with my woman"). So one day I was hanging out with my friend Artour at the playground, who was an Armenian immigrant. He spoke perfect English but his writing skills were sort of lacking; he wrote in chalk on the blacktop, "KISS MY ASS (ONLY IF YOU'RE GAY)." It was such odd phrasing that it's impossible to forget. So my dad comes to the playground to get me, sees Artour's chalk graffiti, and demands to know who did it. We looked at each other and one of us, can't remember who, said, "Richard did it." My dad starts talking about calling his mom but I somehow talk him out of it. Then a few weeks later at my fifth grade graduation, we all sang R. Kelly's "I Believe I Can Fly" (lol), and Richard got a solo. Later on at home, my dad was like, "I expected him to start singing, 'Kiss my ass! but only if you're gay!'" Anyway, I guess my question is: does blaming retarded kids for homophobic graffiti count as bullying?