I don't know. I personally think that a lot of this is just modern media hype. It's just like the plethora of students coming out of schools today unable to write properly because teachers can be fired for "putting down" a student by telling them that they write poorly.

I was a bully victim in middle school. I hated it. But then I grew up, as did my bullies and everybody else. I'm not different because of it - I knew it was a natural part of middle school and I knew it would eventually be over. Bullies have been around for as long as intelligent beings have been around. We just feel the need to sugarcoat kids these days and act like it's such a huge deal.

Mind you, I'm only 21. This isn't a cranky old woman talking. I just hate seeing what this constant sugarcoating is doing - it's producing a generation of egotistical adultchildren that can't handle criticism and think that every little thing they do is perfect. Not all, of course, but many.

I was a bit of both. When I moved, people were, of course, mean to the new kid. I was also smaller than most kids grades younger than me, let along my grade.

I started asserting myself too much sometimes. It really was because I was afraid of being a target. No excuses, it was just how I felt at the time.

I was bullied quite a bit, I do think it has made me more sensitive towards others' feelings as an adult.

I was tormented throughout school. So much so that I dropped out the day after I turned 17. I was over it. It was like all of these people were trying to figure me out but no one bothered to actually ask me anything or have a discussion with me so it was all superficial judgment. I always had one or two really close guy friends who stuck by me but I stayed away from a lot of the girls. I wasn't interested in shopping or fashion or boys in the way they were and my mom never really let anyway come over so there were always question marks about me. It was one of those things that is hard to explain with examples of exactly what was done but it was the general approach everyone took with me regardless if we'd ever interacted before or not. I have been told countless times that I'm intimidating to a degree and that's what my mother always blamed it on. She would constantly tell me it was just jealousy and I found that extremely difficult to believe because their words were far more powerful than her's. (She would also occasionally back it up with a few insults of her own after having a cocktail or six.)

While all of this was happening, I became very shy and withdrawn. There are times where I still feel bullied as an adult, but there are subtle differences between then and now. Now, it's more of a "bullied by manipulation" instead of by aggression and gossip. I don't know, it's hard to explain.

I try my best not to buy into insults and things like that. It's impossible to be liked by everyone all of the time. I also think it's somewhat telling of a person's personality if everyone does love you. To me, it suggests you're willing to alter your personality or only divulge aspects of your personality to certain people. It's disingenuous to a degree and I don't see how someone can truly be happy that way.

(Example: One day you're hanging out with someone who hates vanilla ice cream so you say you hate it as well and the next day you're hanging out with someone who loves vanilla ice cream and you proclaim it's your favorite flavor ever -- well, which is it?)

I was bullied for one year, which was when I switched from private school to public school. I was smart and the current smartest student didn't like the competition. So, she started a bunch of rumors about me and made it so the other girls had to choose between the two of us. It was terrible. However, I got a boyfriend and made a few solid girl friends right away. With time, the other girls realized I was down to earth and not out to be better than anyone else. Basically, it all worked out in the end and didn't affect my life afterwards.