Post by g on Jul 19, 2010 6:12:49 GMT -5
Bullying seems to come up again and again on these boards. Does the feeling of being excluded by our peers make us particularly susceptible to looking for attention and validation? I was wondering just how much that affects us as LAs
I was teased at primary school mainly by
The boys because of my olive skin. I always wanted to be blonde and fair skinned like many of my classmates and did actually consider myself as 'less than'. I don't obsess over it but I know that feeling is there. I was teased because I was muscular due to the sports I practised. 'Fat legs' was my nickname at primary ( one boy who called me that in particular but I'll never forget that). Another one was specky four eyes cos of my glasses.
I was a bit of an ugly duckling during my early teens and I think that's how I feel about myself to this day.
Being a very intelligent chid also caused me to be excluded, envied or teased. Hmmm I didn't care about being excluded for being special tho.
As I got older I cared less about what people thought about me but suffered for my sister. She's just a year older but has always looked younger than me. Petite, really slim, not academic and very popular with all the boys. My polar opposite actually. But she was picked on at highschool. Her group of closest friends turned on her and sent her the most offensive letter I've ever read. She had a nervous breakdown as a result and had to get psychiatric help. I was always the strong one ( or I pretended to be) and looked out for her throughout our teen years. I'm still very protective of her as a matter of fact.
Don't know where I'm going with this post but I'm in a weird mood this morning after a lot of reflection and discussion with our therapist friend last night.
Think I'm just realising that there is nothing wrong with being 'different' from most people. Conforming to stereotypes or standards that I don't naturally identify with just leaves me feeling trapped. I'm not 'less than' at all. Just 'different from'. And I don't want to be the same as everyone else.
I was teased at primary school mainly by
The boys because of my olive skin. I always wanted to be blonde and fair skinned like many of my classmates and did actually consider myself as 'less than'. I don't obsess over it but I know that feeling is there. I was teased because I was muscular due to the sports I practised. 'Fat legs' was my nickname at primary ( one boy who called me that in particular but I'll never forget that). Another one was specky four eyes cos of my glasses.
I was a bit of an ugly duckling during my early teens and I think that's how I feel about myself to this day.
Being a very intelligent chid also caused me to be excluded, envied or teased. Hmmm I didn't care about being excluded for being special tho.
As I got older I cared less about what people thought about me but suffered for my sister. She's just a year older but has always looked younger than me. Petite, really slim, not academic and very popular with all the boys. My polar opposite actually. But she was picked on at highschool. Her group of closest friends turned on her and sent her the most offensive letter I've ever read. She had a nervous breakdown as a result and had to get psychiatric help. I was always the strong one ( or I pretended to be) and looked out for her throughout our teen years. I'm still very protective of her as a matter of fact.
Don't know where I'm going with this post but I'm in a weird mood this morning after a lot of reflection and discussion with our therapist friend last night.
Think I'm just realising that there is nothing wrong with being 'different' from most people. Conforming to stereotypes or standards that I don't naturally identify with just leaves me feeling trapped. I'm not 'less than' at all. Just 'different from'. And I don't want to be the same as everyone else.