Stories

Provided here are a few stories and quotes from people who used to be bullies. You can read how these people view what they used to do to others and what happened to them and what they are doing now.

"There was a boy in my class, he was a real wimp, so I used to tease him and call him names, other people started on him as well because he was an easy target. We used to take his stuff and throw it around the room and hide it from him so he couldn't find it. Then one day I found out that he ended up in hospital as he had tried to commit suicide because of the bullying. I felt really bad, I hadn't meant to make him feel that bad. I guess me and my friends just thought it was a bit of a laugh. I went to the school councillor to talk about the bullying, he helped me to realise that what I was doing was wrong and helped me to put a stop to putting other people down. In the end I managed to apologise to the boy, it was very difficult admitting that I had a problem with bullying, but I am glad that I spoke to someone about it and got rid of the problem".
(Carl, 19)


"At school I was the 'hard man', everyone was scared of me, I would bully anyone and everyone. I started taking drugs to make myself feel more confident. Once I had left school I had no-one to pick on and felt that I had lost my power and control over people. The only way that I could feel in control again was to commit crime, mugging people, shoplifting and stealing cars. That way I kept my 'hard man' image and everyone was scared of me again".
(John, 25)


"I never really thought I was a bully even though I would give my peers a hard time, until one day I was confronted by one of my victims and he asked me how I would feel if I was in his shoes"?
(Jamie Shore, ex Bristol Rovers player)


"There was a girl at school and we thought she was really ugly, she probably wasn't really, but we teased her every day non-stop about it. She started to lose weight very quickly and scratches appeared on her arms. We later found out that she had not been eating and had been cutting herself and had ended up in hospital. I feel very ashamed about bullying her now".
(Becky, 18)