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By Jimmy Clare
When I was growing up, I had to overcome many obstacles like bullying. I don't know why I got bullied when I was younger. Perhaps it was because I was "slightly Autistic, my big head, my nearly overweight body, or all of the above. I don't know the answer because I never asked them personally.
It was a tough time when I was growing up, and sometimes it brought back painful memories. The bullying started when I was in elementary school with two twin boys on the bus. Though I don't know if I could consider them bullies because they didn't call me a name, they asked me hard questions that I did not have answers.
So, in essence, I guess you could say they were bullies in their unique ways. But then they were replaced by two girls who kicked the back of my seat every day on the way home on the bus. They were so annoying my friend and I became safeties on the bus.
Those who do not know what "a safety" is on the bus they are the ones who tell other kids to sit in their seats while the bus is moving. By joining that program at my school I thought those two girls would leave me alone. Oh man, I was totally wrong because they started bugging me 20 times more.
My friend and I handed in our safety belts and quit because we could no longer take any more. However, in middle school, the bullying got worse. I had bullies who started slapping my neck because of some stupid and unsafe game that they joined.
Overcoming Bullying
School was becoming very dangerous for me because I have a fragile neck. I have Spinal Stenosis in my neck. It makes it hard to move my neck up and down and side to side. My doctor told me that I could be paralyzed from the neck down if I get extreme whiplash.
It honestly took this one assistant principal 100 times to finally do something about these bullies. He was in total denial about the bullying. He said to me that bullies do not exist in this school. I wanted to tell him if you stepped out of your broom closet of an office, you would see it.
However, I kept my mouth shut. But thankfully, my 7th-grade teacher and my guidance counsellor started stepping in too. Finally, in high school, I was sick and tired of all of the bullies. I met two more bullies that worked in a group of three.
Like the three musketeers or the three stooges, except they were not funny, they were hurtful. However, instead of just picking on me, they started to pick on my friends as well. One of my friends was in a wheelchair, and they made fun of her every time she hit the doorway of the classroom.
I remember my math teacher telling them to knock it off, but they kept at it. I went home crying every single day, and I still kept reporting them to principals. They received a suspension, but that's a stupid punishment because it was like a vacation for them away from school.
One night while my dad and I watched TV, we saw a commercial for P90X, which Tony Horton from Beach body made. I remember asking my dad if we should try? He said why not, so he ordered it. After finishing the first week of it, I crawled up the stairs because I didn't know I had muscles in certain places in my body before.
When I got halfway through the program, I started to see many muscle definitions, and I began to have the courage to stand up to those bullies.
One day in my math class, after the bullies continued to make rude remarks to my friends and me, I made a split-second decision and weighted the consequences.
I would either confront the bullies during math class or out in the hallways with security cameras that may or may not work. I knew I wanted witnesses, and I didn't want it to get ugly.
So I got up during class and started walking toward the bullies. It was near the end of Math class, with about 20 minutes left in class. My teacher saw me and told me to sit back down. I continued walking towards to bullies ignoring my teacher's orders.
When I finally got to the bullies desk, I looked them right in the eyes and yelled in their faces. LEAVE ME AND MY FRIENDS ALONE! After that, I got sent down to the principal's office because I disrupted class. However, the principals did not give me detention because they knew I was sticking up for my friends and me.
One bully tried to pick on my friends and me once again, but this time it was the last because once I reported them again. One of the four principals in high school expelled one of the bullies. During 12th grade, the bullies wanted to be friends with me, but I quickly turned down that offer. But they agreed to stay away from my friends and me. That was music to my ears because that's what I wanted since day one of getting on their radar.
Find out more about Jimmy and his work at www.crazyfitnessguy.com