Love Yourself

My Story

I've been bullied. Most people have.

Back in 1st grade, I wasn't as smart as everyone. I wasn't good at math and I read a lot. People used to laugh at me because I didn't understand math. I tried really hard to understand, to be like other people, but then it got worse. People would say I was stupid or I was going to die of stupidity. I felt the harder I tried, the more hated I would get.

In 2nd grade, everything got worse. More and more people started picking on me. This one girl started a group. She invited almost every girl in the group. She didn't let me in it. At the time, I thought being in the group was the only thing that was cool. I was so upset about it. Then, kids started to get more physical. The same girl that started the group started pulling my hair. She started tripping me and she got others to do it.

3rd grade came around and it got a little better. I started to become less bullied. I still felt like I wasn't smart and one of the new kids at school, Emma(she is now one of my friends), wasn't helping. She'd call me stupid and an idiot. I never thought she tried to hurt my feelings but she did. It made me feel like I had no power. By now the hair pulling had stopped and more people had started to like me. I told my mom about the bullying and she called she school up. In 2nd grade I actually switched classes.

In 4th grade, my teacher hated bullying. So that's when the bullying stopped. It didn't stop entirely but mostly. 5th grade- it stopped except for a couple of boys. That wasn't so bad but it still sucked. I told them off, stood up for myself. It worked until this year.

This year, I haven't been bullied but I've been made fun of a couple of times, here and there. I realized something- I make fun of people, I could be hurting their feelings, I could be the reason they are so upset. I never ment to hurt anyone. I realized I'm dishonest, disrespectful, and I'm a bully.

Today I decided I, Leah Kathleen, am going to stop being the way I am. I going to stop being that person that makes fun of other people for what they look like. Because the majority of people today have their own problems, I don't need to make them worse. Because everybody is beautiful, at least on the inside.

I watched a video called To This Day and they said the saying "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words with never hurt" is crap because people are made fun and they feel like they will never be loved. They said the feeling of never being loved hurts more than a broken bone. I think that exactly. But I'm being stupid. I've been bullied, I know what it feels like, yet, I'm doing the same to other people.

What I'm saying is, love yourself. No matter what anyone else says, you are beautiful. Anyone would rather have a beautiful person on the inside than the outside.