It’s about them not you

I’m England we are put in secondary school (high school) at 12 years old, you go to school with 18 year olds at 12, I used to think that makes you stronger but I’m not so sure.

When I was in to my first half of my first year of school I walked to the train station to get home with my friend, we were met by a group of 16 year olds that started calling us names and spitting on us. It was horrible but I thought it will be okay I’m with my friend it’s happening to us both and we won’t see these people again. Little did I know that for the next 6 months the ringleader would wait at that train station every day after school so she could call me names and spit on me continuously. I naively thought that the reason I was standing out was because I was in a blue jacket if I changed that jacket she wouldn’t recognise me.

The next day I went into school without that blue jacket hopeful she wouldn’t recognise me that day, but there she was waiting at the gate of the train station once again waiting for me. I would go home and cry every time it happened, I was miserable and I was scared.

It got so bad that I sobbed to my mum and dad that I didn’t want to school anymore, I was inconsolable. This was the first time I considered not staying, at 12 years old. I refused to let my mum and dad ring their school (it was a different one than mine) as I knew it would cause it to get worse.

I often think about that girl and hope that she became a nicer human being as she got older. I think about what she was going through at that period of time and I feel sad that something obviously was going on in her life to push that pain on to me.

Bullies don’t bully because of you, they bully because of themselves. It’s taken me a long time to realise that.

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Story submitted by Kirsty.