When I was a kid, I was a frequent victim of bullying. You could say that I graduated from the school of bullying (on the wrong end of the lessons). That’s not too surprising, given that I was a a skinny runt (still am, only weigh 130 lbs.), the town was a working-class blue-collar suburb, and I was (and still am) a bit of an “Aspie” (a person with a certain lack of human relationship facility). I had to endure a goodly amount of scoffing and even some physical abuse from the guys who were bigger, cooler and meaner, right through junior year of high school. It got to the point where I couldn’t ride the bus to high school; I walked the mile and a half each way, whatever the weather. For whatever reason, I had a pretty good senior year (and I had a car too; no more walking in the snow).

As an aside, I remember that the bullying ran in cycles. I could go three, four or even five months and be left alone, then it would start up for a string of days, sometimes weeks or even months (on-and-off). It sort-of reminds me of what I had read about the Roman Empire’s persecution of the early Christian communities in the Second and Third Centuries CE. For whatever reason, the Emperors would give the Christians a streak of martyrdom years, and then ignore them for awhile. But in the long run, the Christians survived. I’m not saying that my cause as a young student was quite as noble, but like the early Christians, I also survived my own little persecutions.

However, a female high school student in the white affluent suburb of South Hadley, Massachusetts was not so lucky.  »  continue reading …