For those who have read my posts consistently, you’ll know that I was bullied through school. It started at Parkway Middle School in Fort Lauderdale. It mostly occurred the moment I got off the bus, where I lacked the safety of adult supervision. The bullies mostly pushed me and knocked me to the ground while I walked home, sobbing from the humiliation, eventually stopping when their walk home took them down a different path. Once, I endured their spitting gum in my hair as they targeted the “Chinaman”.
Upon arriving at South Plantation High School, the bullying didn’t necessarily stop, but it morphed. While I no longer feared for my physical safety, psychological bullying took its place. Classmates uttered cruel and demeaning comments, loudly enough for many to hear, but softly enough to avoid detection by an adult. Still, in a handful of instances, even when our teacher heard such words (like “whale” or “sumo wrestler”), they reasoned that it didn’t rise to the level of disciplinary action.