Fellow Crusader Louise Wise brought this terrific book to my attention and I wanted to pass it along to you.
Seven authors (Jo Davis, HD Hatcher, Omegia Keeys, Autumn Prince, Lisa Rusczyk, KJ Thompson, and Vogue) have joined forces to send one message. That message is, You are not Unloved! Unloved is an anthology dedicated to those who have been the victim of bullying, or know someone who has been bullied.
Seven authors (Jo Davis, HD Hatcher, Omegia Keeys, Autumn Prince, Lisa Rusczyk, KJ Thompson, and Vogue) have joined forces to send one message. That message is, You are not Unloved! Unloved is an anthology dedicated to those who have been the victim of bullying, or know someone who has been bullied.
Bullying can take on different forms. Bullying is not just a physical act but can also be an emotional, written, or verbal act as well. Bullying can take place in the workplace, school, online, and even while we are traveling in our vehicles on the road. Bullying is a form of abuse that has reached epidemic proportions in the United States and civilized nations across the globe.
All proceeds from Unloved will go to charities in support of Bully Prevention and/or Suicide Prevention.
For more information, please visit: www.hdhatcher.com or www.passionatewriterpublishing.com or visit the Unloved Facebook page.
I wanted to tell you a personal story about being bullied. In sixth grade, a girl physically stuffed me into a locker and wouldn't let me out because she thought I was checking out her boyfriend. She covered up the little slats at the top and told me I would soon pass out from lack of oxygen. Being in honors science, I was fairly certain this wouldn't actually happen, but I was borderline claustrophobic and doubt began to set in.
It was her boyfriend that ended up letting me out a couple of minutes later (he was my neighbor and my lab partner which made it impossible to avoid looking at him).
When I think back on it now, I wish I would have slugged her. She wasn't that much bigger than me and it probably would have put an end to the whole situation. Unfortunately, the bullying continued the entire year until my family moved and I started going to a different school.
So what are your experiences with bullying? Are you the parent of a child that's been bullied? Have you experienced bullying first hand? How did you handle it? How have you taught your kids to deal with it?
It was her boyfriend that ended up letting me out a couple of minutes later (he was my neighbor and my lab partner which made it impossible to avoid looking at him).
When I think back on it now, I wish I would have slugged her. She wasn't that much bigger than me and it probably would have put an end to the whole situation. Unfortunately, the bullying continued the entire year until my family moved and I started going to a different school.
So what are your experiences with bullying? Are you the parent of a child that's been bullied? Have you experienced bullying first hand? How did you handle it? How have you taught your kids to deal with it?
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19 comments:
Bullying stories break my heart to read. I wasn't bullied but I was the butt of a group of girls jokes in sixth grade, and it was hard. (Come to think of it, maybe that is emotional bullying?) Anyway, the book sounds powerful. Thanks for sharing.
Fantastic topic, Lisa.
I unfortunately had it first hand from my older brother and my father. Not the most pleasant childhood for me. But I fought back the best I could. It only took eighteen years to get my father to understand I was creative, and there was nothing wrong with that.
As for children, it seems to be ever present everywhere. I actually feel sorry for the kids today. They have it rough. The schools are no longer safe.
If I had I child I would teach them to fight back... Most bullies back off once you stand up to them.
Michael
The book sounds good but I'm so reluctant to read it. Maybe afraid is a better word. I was bullied pretty relentlessly in middle school, and I doubt I've gotten over it. Just thinking about it brings up a lot of old anxieties.
I wish fighting back was easy. I tried a few times and it always seemed to backfire, with the kids bullying me going to a teacher and claiming I was doing something to them.
What I wish is that I had a supportive face in school, a teacher, a friend, someone. I think it's better to teach kids who aren't bullied to reach out to those who are. I hope someday, no one fears going to school.
As a teacher I worry a lot about bullying. I try to make it as easy as possible for kids to talk to me about it. I try to be proactive in stopping it - but it's really, really hard.
Hasn't bullying been around forever? I don't understand why it's a big deal now.
Some kids can be really mean. I've tried to teach mine to stand up for people who are bullied, themselves included. Tell a teacher, tell a counselor, tell a parent, just be brave enough to do something other than let it continue. But it's hard for any kid to admit they're a victim.
I hate to hear about bullying. I was bullied a good part of my childhood. Now I sit back and watch as my own child comes to me upset with things being said to her. I'll have to read this.
Also, I'm passing the Stylish Blogger Award your way. You can check out the details here.
Thanks so much for the award! Sweet of you to think of me.
I was a victim of bullying, too, so this is near and dear to my heart. It seems like so many of us writers were bullied. Makes you think...
I was bullied pretty heavily when I was in middle school. I fell into depression and spent many years of my life trying to get over it. Now, though, I think I'm stronger because of it and will not tolerate any form of abuse around me. I've stood up for people on numerous occasions, usually resulting in the bullying turning on me. But that's okay. I know I can take it.
This kind of stuff will never stop, but we can make sure those who are being bullied know they have someone on their side and they aren't alone.
This sounds like a worthwhile project. Too bad that some kids feel the need to be so mean, oftentimes for no good or sensible reason.
I was never stuffed in a locker- but at my junior high this tom boy actually shoved me down the stairs then for almost the entire year would step on the back of my heels- I had huge blisters- and throw rocks at me. At the end of the year I turned around one day and told her to stop throwing things at me or I would retaliate. She asked me what I would do and I just said don't do it- turned and walked. She threw a rock at the back of my head- so I turned and slammed her into the wall and told her to leave me alone- she was surprised- I walked away- she then grabbed me by the back of my neck and punched me- it knocked my glasses off my face so I saw red and beat her up- next thing I remember is getting oss for three days and she never touched me again.
Thank you for sharing your story here and for the info on this amazing book!!!
I do remember when I was about 13 these two boys who who were good at verbal bullying not just with me but to other quiet studious type girls. No matter what we did - we reported on them, ignored them, gave them as good as we got - they got away with it because they were never brutally physical - they just used words and demeaned everything we did - e.g. mimicking my poor friend's nervous twitch. To this day I wish them ill and hope they have permanent ugly boils under their armpits. :-)
Take care
x
A lot of people think of bullying as a physical thing, but when I was in the 7th grade, I was subjected to pretty severe verbal abuse/bullying by my peers. I survived, but I still think of it as one of the worst years of my life.
I'm so glad more attention is being placed on bullying in schools now. It won't eliminate cliques and hierarchies, but hopefully it will promote a more "live and let live" atmosphere.
I'm fortunate enough that I've never been bullied, but a friend's little boy has recently, and it's heartbreaking--you'd do anything to save them that hurt.
This sounds like a wonderful project, thanks for drawing attention to it!
Gosh stuffed into a locker? How awful! I have been bullied throughout school for one thing and another. I realise now I used to shrink into victim mode and had i been more confident I would not have attracted the bullies.
The book sounds great. :O)
Great topic Lisa. Thanks so much for bringing this book to my attention. I know many kids who could benefit from this. It saddens me because there is not enough being done about bullying (at least in my area). It seems to be one of those things that everone knows about but schools are only skimming the surface.
Lets hope it will be taken more seriously before more kids have to suffer.
Although I haven't had a chance to read it yet, my good friend Lisa Rusczyk has a story in it and I also work for the publisher who published it.
I was often excluded from the other students. I didn't belong, but I didn't really try too hard to belong either, and I've heard exclusion is a form of bullying, although I never felt it like that. I was often in my own little world, though.
I'm glad we have books like this that spread the word about bullying.
Sounds like a lot of us have been bullied in the past! My experience was of verbal bullying, and thanfully it stopped before I got to high school.
I teach at a girls' school and I think it's so much harder to pick up on bullying than at a boys' school. Boys are probably more likely to physically bully each other and that's easier to see. With girls it's probably all the verbal/emotional stuff - easy to hide when a teacher is around. So I think it probably happens a lot more than I know...
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