Respectme

I started my new school about six months ago. I was excited on the first day and I could hardly get to sleep the night before. I was planning on getting the bus the first day but my mum wanted to take on the way to her new job. So I went in and my teacher was nice.  She introduced me to the class and mostly everyone greeted me nicely.  But when I stared working I noticed a group of boys in the corner sitting looking and laughing at me. I just tried to ignore it but I was hurt.

At lunch time I went to get my lunch.  It wasn’t there and my bag had  gone missing. I told my teacher and she asked if anyone had seen it, but everyone said no.  One of my new friends shared his lunch with me so at least I had something to eat. I told him about the boys and he told me to ignore them.  

This went on for some time.  My bag would go missing or they’d throw things at me in class when the teacher wasn’t looking.  It was really beginning to get me down, I dreaded going to school and on Sunday night I’d lie awake wondering what they’d do to me the next week.  My school work also suffered – I didn’t want to answer questions in class because I felt I was drawing attention to myself and they’d call me names like “swot” and “teacher’s pet”.

Things came to a head one day when it was time to go home and one of them tripped me up.  I fell down the stairs and broke my arm.  It seems odd but I’m almost glad that it happened because it gave me the confidence to tell my mum and dad what had been going on.  I hadn’t wanted to bother them before because they were busy settling into their new jobs and doing work to our new house.  But when I did tell them it was a huge relief and I wished I’d told them earlier.  They went to the school and eventually things got sorted out.  I’ll never be best friends with the boys who bullied me but we’ve learned to get on and stay mostly out of each other’s way. 

I’m glad I eventually told someone because now I’m happy at school again.