I was in the sixth grade. I had moved from one middle school to another mid-year. At the new school, I had to ride the bus every single morning and afternoon to get to and from school. The school was way too far away to walk, and my parents didn't see the logic in driving me there when there was a perfectly good bus to ride.
We were living in low income housing at the time, because my father had lost his job. This meant most of the neighborhood kids were also living in the same situation. Their parents were probably having financial issues too. These kids were relentless! Everyday, the bus situation was my living Hell! Getting to and from school alive was my only goal to accomplish in life!
Even the bus driver hated the situation! She had no clue what she was doing or how to calm down and control kids. At one point, she had one of those round lumbar pillows she was hitting the bad kids in the head with. I think at one point, my parents must have asked that I be sat in the front seat to be closer to her. They thought maybe the bus rides would go better for me then. But soon it just turned into the bus driver yelling over my head at the kids that were misbehaving.
There was one kid named Elmer. He treated me the worst of all of them. Side note, teach your children, if they have a crush on another kid, not to be mean to her, call her names, steal and tear up her things. I don't know if this was Elmer's problem, or if he was just a little jerk! I would wear headphones and have a cassette player. That way, I could be in my own little world with my music. Well, Elmer figured this out! He ripped the headphones off of my head and broke them! I remember my dad meeting me that day when I got off of the bus, and I was just bawling.
My answer: Stop going to school! I would miss one day of school a week at least. I would tell my parents that I didn't feel well, which was actually true at the time, because of my kidney issues. They would not make me go to school! Finally figured out, the kids that missed school the most, got made fun of by the teachers. They made comments like, "Oh, she's absent again. Must be Wednesday!"
I started to feel really embarrassed by this. Finally, I decided, I was not going to miss anymore school! That week, I got an ear infection. My parents decided I wasn't going to go to school. They didn't even wake me up! That's the day the principal decided to call my parents. My dad was working nights and sleeping days, so, I just happened to answer the phone when the principal called! That really scared me! I thought, "Oh, no! I'm in real trouble now!" My parents never punished me for missing school though. Like I said, I finally did make the decision that I was going to go anyway, no matter how awful it was! I did make a friend. Her name was Bethany. My parents actually made arrangements for me to starting riding the bus home with her once or twice a week. That made my life better to get away from the kids on my bus.
It did finally get better, as they say. The next year, my parents decided to rent a house that was in the school district we had moved from the year before. These bullying experiences have impacted my life! My sixth grade year wasn't my only bullying experience, but one of the longer lasting situations. I know I didn't want to be treated like that, and I would never want to make anyone feel the way I did!
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