Bullying meme

I would have needed a ladder and a sledge hammer to stand up to the guy I considered a bully in grade school.

I actually like the idea about each student disclosing who they think is a bully. Sure it'd help to have their parents involved, but I also think it'd make a difference to those kids to realize their peers looked at them that way. One time another parent approached my mom about me picking on her kid excessively. It was a family friend. We used to vacation together at times, and we were in the same class. It was really embarrassing. I thought I was being funny or that I had some legit reason to rag on this kid. It never for a second crossed my mind that this kid could look at me the same way I looked at the big asshole who I spent most of grade school desperately trying to avoid.

 

My friends and I were all pretty sarcastic pricks to each other and made fun of each other mercilessly. It's just how we were together. There was a kid who was kind of tangentially on the fringe of our group who I made fun of pretty badly. I genuinely liked him and I was just attempting to treat him the way everyone in our group all treated each other.

We ended up playing cards together a lot a few years after high school and he mentioned how much cooler it was to hang out nowadays than it was back then. "You're were a huge dick in high school and I pretty much hated you," he told me. In hindsight, I totally understood and realize that I was a complete dick to him, but I was a bit stunned when he said it. I just didn't realize it at the time. I actually thought I was being friendly and including him in the group.