So, in my previous blog post, I mentioned how I was about to face my past as a bullied child, in the very school it happened, to have a talk with the teens about bullying and its consequences. And while things did happen, I'll take the opportunity to point them out.
I reached the school at the planned time, one hour before the school begins. With the director waiting for my arrival. First thing he did was to apologize for the mistakes of his predecessors, before asking me to follow him to his office, where he wanted me to explain the full story, as said predecessor only wrote it off as a "minor problem", like many things. So I went on and told him the full story, and once again, he apologized.
Then he introduced me to the teachers' room. Including one or two who were at the school at the time it happened, but none who actually got me as a student. One had my older brother, though, so she met me during the parent-teacher meetings, and she had a hard time to believe a kid as calm as me could be able to do something like that. I simply answered her that "the calm ones keep to themselves what the harsh ones say openly, so it's much more violent when it breaks out", something she agreed.
Then, I was introduced to the room where I'll have the talks. Which actually was the room where it happened. And it turns out that, to my surprise, there are still faint traces of it - The floor being made of old tiles, the joints took a darker color where my bully bled. The day was split into two talk courses, gathering all the first year students so I could talk to them, and the first was about to begin, so I simply sat, waiting for it to happen.
And the first course began. I got introduced by the teacher, talked about how it happened, and as I was doing so, I noticed how looks turned from two girls to a third one, while being noticably more and more scared as the story went on. Turns out it was a case of bullying that began because the bullied one received a nasty surprise from a pigeon on the head on the first school day, so I took the time to defuse the situation.
Then, a round of questions happened. Things about how was my life since then, if I had news about my bully, or, surprisingly, a teen who couldn't grasp how someone thin and weak could suddenly destroy someone much bigger and physically stronger. Which pushed the teacher to talk about adrenaline rush and its effects. Then the bell rang and the pause happened.
The shock of talking about it at that place pushed me to sit a bit, which, when the second course was called and the teens came back, pushed one teen in particular to antagonize me, since "you're sitting at my place". I laughed it off, more surprised than anything since teens openly attacking people 20 years older than them isn't a sight you often see, then the teacher came in and forced him to sit in the front row.
So I began the second course, explaining what happened, and under my eyes, said teen's face turned red. Then white. Then green. Then blue. Worried about his state, I stopped the course to inquire about his health, and the answer that came out of it shocked me, for a solid reason - His uncle was... My bully. So I called for a time out of the classroom with him and the school's psychologist, who is always there for such cases and talks.
I suggested for him to get out of the classroom until I finished the talk, but he actually wanted to stay until the end, in order to "hear about the whole story" since he actually didn't knew about it (probably as he was too young for that in his parents' minds). He ended up asking for more and more questions, understanding the situation more and more.
Then came the round of questions with that group. And there, a teen who began calling the whole thing a lie. The teacher was the one who answered to him... By pointing out that the darker shade of the floor joints was because of the bully's blood. The teen got shocked and refused to talk about anything until the bell rang, and ran outside of the classroom faster than the others.
And with that, my day at that school finished. After a small talk with the direction to confirm that the task was done and to let the school psychologist and the teachers give their opinions about it, I simply left the school and went back home, my shoulders much lighter than before now that the whole ordeal is cleared. Plus, as the director kept my number, I can be called at times for other talks, which can be good financially wise, considering a single talk is usually nicely paid.
In the end, the talks were rather smooth. The case of bullying I found was easily solved, the students were quite comprehensive, and I ended up much better as a result. I just hope these talks prevented things like my own case to happen to others.
I reached the school at the planned time, one hour before the school begins. With the director waiting for my arrival. First thing he did was to apologize for the mistakes of his predecessors, before asking me to follow him to his office, where he wanted me to explain the full story, as said predecessor only wrote it off as a "minor problem", like many things. So I went on and told him the full story, and once again, he apologized.
Then he introduced me to the teachers' room. Including one or two who were at the school at the time it happened, but none who actually got me as a student. One had my older brother, though, so she met me during the parent-teacher meetings, and she had a hard time to believe a kid as calm as me could be able to do something like that. I simply answered her that "the calm ones keep to themselves what the harsh ones say openly, so it's much more violent when it breaks out", something she agreed.
Then, I was introduced to the room where I'll have the talks. Which actually was the room where it happened. And it turns out that, to my surprise, there are still faint traces of it - The floor being made of old tiles, the joints took a darker color where my bully bled. The day was split into two talk courses, gathering all the first year students so I could talk to them, and the first was about to begin, so I simply sat, waiting for it to happen.
And the first course began. I got introduced by the teacher, talked about how it happened, and as I was doing so, I noticed how looks turned from two girls to a third one, while being noticably more and more scared as the story went on. Turns out it was a case of bullying that began because the bullied one received a nasty surprise from a pigeon on the head on the first school day, so I took the time to defuse the situation.
Then, a round of questions happened. Things about how was my life since then, if I had news about my bully, or, surprisingly, a teen who couldn't grasp how someone thin and weak could suddenly destroy someone much bigger and physically stronger. Which pushed the teacher to talk about adrenaline rush and its effects. Then the bell rang and the pause happened.
The shock of talking about it at that place pushed me to sit a bit, which, when the second course was called and the teens came back, pushed one teen in particular to antagonize me, since "you're sitting at my place". I laughed it off, more surprised than anything since teens openly attacking people 20 years older than them isn't a sight you often see, then the teacher came in and forced him to sit in the front row.
So I began the second course, explaining what happened, and under my eyes, said teen's face turned red. Then white. Then green. Then blue. Worried about his state, I stopped the course to inquire about his health, and the answer that came out of it shocked me, for a solid reason - His uncle was... My bully. So I called for a time out of the classroom with him and the school's psychologist, who is always there for such cases and talks.
I suggested for him to get out of the classroom until I finished the talk, but he actually wanted to stay until the end, in order to "hear about the whole story" since he actually didn't knew about it (probably as he was too young for that in his parents' minds). He ended up asking for more and more questions, understanding the situation more and more.
Then came the round of questions with that group. And there, a teen who began calling the whole thing a lie. The teacher was the one who answered to him... By pointing out that the darker shade of the floor joints was because of the bully's blood. The teen got shocked and refused to talk about anything until the bell rang, and ran outside of the classroom faster than the others.
And with that, my day at that school finished. After a small talk with the direction to confirm that the task was done and to let the school psychologist and the teachers give their opinions about it, I simply left the school and went back home, my shoulders much lighter than before now that the whole ordeal is cleared. Plus, as the director kept my number, I can be called at times for other talks, which can be good financially wise, considering a single talk is usually nicely paid.
In the end, the talks were rather smooth. The case of bullying I found was easily solved, the students were quite comprehensive, and I ended up much better as a result. I just hope these talks prevented things like my own case to happen to others.
