School bullying

[McGherkin]

I was bullied too, for many years. And not by one guy. By half the year. I was at some points put on the roofs of cars, turned upside down and shoved in a paper bin, one time about 30-40 people came into my classroom, dragged me into another room and forced me to fight another boy.

You know why I was bullied? Because I was an easy target. They could get a reaction from me. Not violent, but they knew I didn't like it and that's why they did it.

One lad by the name of Sam Lavis was the worst. He bullied the whole year, but me the most. Just constantly hitting me, putting me down, the usual. In fact, the whole year, over 200 people, went to the headmaster and demanded he was kicked out. The school did nothing.

I beat bullying. Now, I'm popular, and nobody hits me, puts me down, or anything like that. And I'd love to say that it was because the school helped me out, but that's not true. Regular schools, in the UK at least, lose money if they expel someone, so they don't do it. Colleges on the other hand are not out of pocket if they expel, so they don't have a problem with throwing out bullies.

I beat bullying because I simply ignored it. One day, you will just think 'sod it, they can do what they like, because I don't care.' Because you've stopped reacting, stopped getting upset, you are no longer a target. And if you're not a target, then the bullying stops.

Sam Lavis went on to train to be a submariner. In fact, click here to see a newspaper interview. I wish him well, I think he'll do well in the navy.

I've gone on to train to be a mechanical fitter building and maintaining the submarines that he will serve on.

Funny world.