hey guys, my name is stacey  im 15 and i have been suffering with bullying for a while now, it all started last year when my teacher (im assuming in his 50’s) created a fake fb account and pretended to be a teen to start chatting me up and i only just recently discovered a few months ago that it was my teacher hiding behind the account! He would always chat me up and compliment me at first, but then things started to get a bit more suspicious because the so called “teen” would always tell me to go to class and start feeling up my teacher and to flirt with him…and he said many other things that started to make me feel extremely uncomfortable. I told the principle about this and now the teacher is on sick leave until this is investigated and sorted out. I have had to talk to sooo many police about this matter i have been pulled out of class many times to discuss this and it has had a horrible impact on my life. People found out about this and i have been getting teased and bullied for this at school a lot by all the students, people are accusing me of sleeping with the man and its just gotten out of control :’c i haven’t been able to concentrate at school im failing my lessons majorly and im terrified to see my teacher if he ever comes back. I haven’t got many friends i basically have only got my best friend but she is used to me being happy all the time and she cant stand to see me upset she doesnt know what to do. So she doesnt help me and no one will :’( im alone and have no one, my parents only care about killing this guy and not how i feel, im alone and scared and have no one to turn to, i have no friends i sit in the toilets and eat my lunch and i cry and cry and cry! i sit by myself in class and pray to god i wont have things thrown at my head that day…recently boys in my classes have begun to hit and abuse me, they flick me with rulers, punch me over and over again, they steal my stuff, they go through my bag and draw all over my books and things saying “slut” “whore” “the girl that sleeps with her teachers” ect… its so embarrassing. And yeah, Thats a brief description of my story <3 

This was written by the brave and beautiful Stacey (love-me-or-hate-me21). I wanted to post this for two reasons. First, because I know several of us, if not all, have experienced the horribleness of school bullying. It can easily defeat you and cause severe depression as well as become a trigger for any number of self harming addictions. It may seem like a blanket statement that you hear all over the place but I’m going to say it again, bullying has to be stopped. We have lost so many people to it through the years, and yet it’s still treated as a normal occurrence rather that the social sickness that it actually is. 

I’d like my followers to take this chance to stand up to bullying. In absolutely any way you can. If you see someone being targeted, let them know they aren’t alone. You may think it’s none of your business but you’re fellow students, your neighbors, your friends, your loved ones, they are all your business. And yes, it is your responsibility to protect them, stand up for them, and stand with them. 

The second reason I wanted to post this is that I know some students will be able to relate to a teacher behaving extremely inappropriately. It’s a hard place to be in, especially as a teen. And while talking to the police and going through the aftermath is sometimes (most times) just as hard, it is worth it. Because these men and women that choose to take advantage of their position never truly stop. They may act like it was a mistake when they get caught but that is rarely the end of it and standing up now, telling someone, getting help… all of it can save you and can save someone else from them. If you ever feel the slightest bit uncomfortable with someone, don’t tell yourself to calm down and accept it. Get away from that person and tell someone immediately. You do not deserve to be taken advantage of or hurt but anyone, no matter what. 

To Stacey in particular but also to anyone being bullied or in situations that they feel inescapable. You are worth so much more than you are experiencing right now. It may seem like I’m simply saying that and it’s just a bandaid for whatever you may be facing but please understand that I truly mean it. I’ve been there and the best thing I can say to you is to keep going. Because this will end and you will be stronger than the cowards that made fun of you or hurt you. You will have endurance and self respect that they could never fathom or attain. Fight for yourself, tell someone what is happening and if they don’t listen, tell someone that will. Tell everyone until someone takes this as seriously as they should.

And if you feel like your parents are getting swept up in the wrong side of an issue (although I fully respect their desire to see that this guy is punished for what he did), talk to them. Sometimes you have to go a certain way about talking to parents for them to really hear you.Not because they don’t love you, just because they are used to steering the wheel so to speak. Sit them down, tell them this is serious and you need their help. Tell them that this deal with the teacher isn’t over because he’s on sick leave. That you’re now dealing with being bullied and physically assaulted. Because believe it or not, these boys can be arrested for what they’re doing. And they deserve to be. Because these kind of boys that believe it’s okay to physically assault at this point? They’re the kind of boys that grow up to further abuse people. And it needs to be stopped. I know it feels like no one is there to help you but they are. Your parents just have tunnel vision at this point, I’m sure their overwhelmed. Because let’s face it, we all get to a place in our lives where we feel like something couldn’t possibly happen to our children or us. And when it does, it’s hard to hold on to all the things that spiral out from it. They just need you to tell them what’s going on in a way that they can understand and act upon. 

But if for any reason (because obviously I don’t know your home situation and can only assume) they don’t do right by you and you still need help. You can report these boys to the police yourself or you can go to the administration at your school and keep talking until someone listens. It may seem daunting but you don’t have to put your head down and accept this, lovely. You truly are worth so much more.