Published on 12, July, 2020
Were any of you bullied as children/teenagers? I was subjected to mild mocking/teasing at prep school, but that was nothing like the severe verbal bullying I was subjected to at public school. I was introverted,shy,badly coordinated and socially awkward/naive. In other . words, not like the usual brash and extremely self confident people that went there. Nearly 50 years later and I still struggle with the psychological effects of it. I've never been able to pursue further education in a bricks and mortar setting for fear of being bullied and mocked My 1st psych admission was at the start of my last term at public school, the A level term.Hence no A levels and no degree.
My self belief and sense of self worth is gossamer thin. Ditto my self confidence. If I do well at something my mind says 'everyone can'. If I do badly at something then I'm stupid.
Yes, I have had too much experience of bullying and too little of something better. I heard a phrase regarding it on an autism online platform I was unaware of and can relate to: 'hurt people hurt people'. I'm glad Richard Beard has written his book to do with this too imo www.google.com/.../public-schoolboys-boris-johnson-sad-little-boys-richard-beard
I’ve heard that phrase before and I profoundly and fundamentally disagree with that phrase on ethical and moral grounds - the fact that someone even coined that phrase clearly points to the moral bankruptcy and deep hypocrisy of our society regarding bullying, as if this is some kind of excuse for the crime of bullying, for which there can never be any acceptable excuse in a properly functioning society - it has been a disturbing reality in mass shooting events in the US that the shooter has mentioned bullying as a motive for their shooting spree