Take Back What's Yours and My Experience

This post is a bit different to what I normally write. This post is about a the Take Back What's Yours Campaign. There's no better way to understand this than to read the post written by its creator, Chloe. You can read the post here. 

Hopefully you've read it now and understand what it's all about. If not yo can ask questions in the comments below. The main reason that I'm going along with this is because I was once bullied. It happened in primary school, Year 2-Year 5 and then I was cyberbullied during the summer between Year 5 and Year 6. I'm writing this post to not only promote the campaign but to tell you of my experience as many people are bullied out there and I want them to know that they aren't the only one. I also have some handy advice for you. Even if you haven't been bullied, still read on as TBWY is about more than bullying.

My Story:

It was in Year 2 when all of it started. At first, it was just like a bit of teasing, playground fun. But it suddenly escalated. I don't remember much about it during that year as I was only 7/8 but I do remember my mum phoning up my teacher as I used to come crying and not want to go in the next day. I remember Year 3 more clearly. This was the year that it got worse. The year before was just one person (who I will call Girl 1) being rude but then suddenly, Girl 1 started trying to turn all my friends against me as they were weak and easily scared of her. Year 3 was better however as my teacher had previously taught both of my brothers and she liked them and she knew my mum. This teacher is probably the only one who tried to properly stop what was going on. But just like the year before, my mum said I would come home from school crying my eyes out and then cry myself to sleep. In Year 4, things settled down a bit. Girl 1 was still rude. I remember that GoGos were all the craze in Year 4 and we would all get into groups to try and see who could trade their GoGos to get the best selection. I was in a group (they weren't set groups, just "friendship" groups) with Girl 1 and two other girls who were my best friends but also turned against me when Girl 1 was being rude. I wanted to trade one of my GoGos with another girl but because my group already had that one, I'd have to be kicked out and not allowed with my friends according to Girl 1. I still traded my GoGo with this other girl and I got kicked out of my group. You can probably understand that I was extremely upset at the time and it seemed like the end of the world. Another moment when Girl 1 was mean to me was when she made me and two other friends line up against a wall. Girl 1 had already told the other girls what she was doing. I wasn't told. So I went along with it and then Girl 1 stood at the end of the line and then 'examined' all of us. She then whispered to the other girls "Emily is the fattest *giggle giggle* ". This made me unbelievably sad. In Year 5, everything was a bit better. Girl 1 wasn't as mean to me as much but she was still very consistent with her rudeness and sarcastic comments. My mum told my teacher, she rang her, had meetings with her, I talked to her, but the teacher didn't listen. All she said was "Girl 1 is leaving in a few weeks, it's probably just because she is scared and worried". She left at the end of the Easter Term and boy was I thrilled!! All of her 'friends' cried and I was just standing there grinning on her last day. Well let me tell you one thing Mrs Year 5 teacher, it wasn't just a phase because she cyberbullied me along with her minions that she got on board with her. I went camping for a friends birthday and Girl 1 was there. She convinced everyone to hold the tent zip from the inside when I went outside to the toilet and she came with a name to call me on MSN so they could say things about me. There is no worse feeling than walking into a room (well it was a tent but anyway...) where everyone stop talking suddenly to laugh at you because of what they were just talking about. The girl whose birthday it was was one of my proper best friends and her mum knew what had been going on with Girl 1 so she dropped me home early the next morning as I just wasn't having any fun with all these rude individuals. Luckily, at the end of the summer, all of it stopped and so far, in the last 4 years, I haven't been bullied.

Glad that I was bullied?

The above question may sound a weird thing to be asked. But the truth is that yes, I am glad. Although at the time, coming home from school in tears wasn't the greatest feeling ever but now, I think that the bullying made better. In Year 6, I had kind of lost my confidence and happiness but then I thought: 'the bully was only rude to just me because I didn't let her get to me. I didn't let her change me and I stood up for myself without stooping to her level. That must obviously mean that I am in some ways brave and strong'. This made me feel so good that my confidence shot up straight away and right now, I am one of the most confident and loud person my friends have ever met (according to them!!) So I guess I made a positive out of a negative!

Advice

1) Don't in anyway stoop to their level. I'm not saying don't stand up for yourself but I'm saying don't be rude back to them as it makes you no better than them.

2) Get all the support available. Eventhough my teachers weren't that helpful, yours might be. I told my mum, my dad and my two older brothers. They both (jokily) said that they'd happily go round to Girl 1's house with a baseball bat. Not that they ever would, but just knowing that they support me really makes me happy. When I was being cyberbullied, my dad even said he would tell his friend who is a police officer as it was no longer just teasing.

3) Know that once it ends, something good will dome out of it. People at school say that they are sometimes slightly scared of me. That's because if someone is rude to me, I will give them a piece of my mind as I don't want them thinking that they can walk all over me. This confidence (and big gob) came from being bullied.

4) Remember that so many people have been bullied as well. You are not alone. It isn't embarrassing to tell someone neither is it dangerous to tell someone.

5) Lastly, if you're bullied, when the bully is being rude, stay calm. Do not show them that you are sad or scared even if you are about to burst into tears. This will make them think that you don't care what they say to you and then they may, hopefully, give in.

Well I'm sorry for the long post it is something that I believe could really go far if you all get behind TBWY.  I've now done what Chloe asked Bloggers to do. I've written a blog post about her amazing campaign. I don't have anything to take back as a New Year Resolution as I've already taken back my confidence which I lost during the years. I don't tag just 10 bloggers. I tag ALL of you. Whether you have been bullied or not, you should get on board with this campaign. The last thing she asked us to do was to add a picture of our poster. This took me quite a while so I hope you like. Chloe, this one's for you:

I did it in pencil as I don't think that something as harsh as bullying deserves to be portrayed through a poster with beautiful colours. I really enjoyed drawing it though because I love drawing and using it to help fight against bullying is great for me.

Take Back What's Yours campaigns Twitter is @TBWYCampaign and Chloe's is @chloesconcept.

Anything that you do for the the campaign, add #TakeBackWhatsYours.

Thanks for reading as this is such a personal topic.

Let's make a change.

Emily xx

ps. I set up Pinterest this morning. Search me up as farfromvogue or click the button at the side!!xx