Brandon’s Story: Witness to Invaded Privacy Via Facebook
I was a freshman in college in 2006, when 18-year-olds across the country were discovering that their MacBooks came with cameras. One of them was Anna, who lived in my dorm and decided to use hers to spy on her roommate. Anna’s roommate was shy and awkward; whenever I saw her, she was reading a […]
Marci’s Story: Being Gay in the 70’s
Growing up in the ’70s and trying to figure out who you were was very hard. I knew I was gay when I was about 8 years old. When I was in the 4th grade, I had told someone I thought was a friend that I liked girls. She appeared not to care at the […]
Mean Kids Suck
In 5th grade, Billy would come home after school and sit in his big comfy chair covered under a blanket, not wanting to talk to anyone. His grades fell. And my bouncy, free loving goofy child was replaced with a blob who was going through the motions of the day. Of course he refused to […]
Rachel’s Story
My 6 year old daughter was bullied mentally, physically, and verbally every day in school. This is her story. The teachers and principals wouldn’t do anything, not matter how hard we fought. By the time we, as her parents, could do anything about it, the damage had already been done. No apology was made and […]
Ann’s Story
As a mixed Asian child growing up in a white community, I never fit in. My family was not as affluent as the other families, and as much as I tried to fit in, I didn’t. I wasn’t blonde, blue-eyed, and stick thin….I had almost black hair, dark brown eyes, and more muscular. I won’t […]
Lena’s Story
I don’t really know if I got bullied. At least that’s what I tell people when they ask me the fitting question. I got called names (cause I’m overweight and not interested in the things others are/ were), but I never really complained and always thought that there were others who suffered worse. There was […]
Katie’s Story
I’ve been bullied from elementary through High school. It wasn’t bad in elementary school I got name called and boys my age would put their face in front of me and call me a name. In Middle school, boys my age would start ‘Dating’ me then ‘breakup’ with me the day after and bully me […]
Julie Cornell’s Story
One year ago, I signed the Tyler Clementi Foundation’s Upstander Pledge. In doing so, I promised to make others feel safe and included, to speak up if I see bullying occur and not to use offensive or homophobic language. As is any promise, saying it is much easier than doing. But since I have signed […]
Abbe Berger’s Story
“I come to the Tyler Clementi Foundation threefold- first as a humanitarian, second as a public school counselor, and third as a parent. As a humanitarian, school counselor and parent, I have the opportunity to teach people about bullying. I choose to be an Upstander in many ways. There are so many bystanders observing bullying […]
John Westphalen’s Story
“As a student, I went through many years of bullying at school, mostly in junior high and the first couple of years of high school. Though still very confused and unsure of my sexuality, every day I would be subjected to verbal harassment, being called “fairy,” “queer,” “gay-boy,” and many other names. Occasionally the insults […]