In Britain as well as most countries in Europe, homophobic bullying is something that the people in charge really want to tackle, but also there are some countries in the Middle East where bullying is becoming more of a concern, with charities and politicians etc looking at it as a serious problem. In Israel for example a series of legislations were past to prevent discrimination towards gay people, which have helped in so many ways. But the Israeli army has some concerning problems in regards to openly gay service men and women having to put up with verbal and physical abuse from their comrades. Homophobic bullying in countries such as Saudi Arabia however, has some very serious consequences, bullying can have very different connotations in Arab countries than it has in others, for example in a country like France where homosexuality Is legal, the bully is only targeting the gay person because he or she is an idiotic bigot, but in a country such as Iran where gay people are executed the bully could be targeting the person to increase the awareness of this person’s sexuality so that the authorities find out. A few years back in Qatar an organization decided to ‘out’ one of the countries Royal Princes, the situation escalated to the point where blood thirsty crowds chanted for him to be executed. This is the most extreme form of bullying with the life of one of God’s creatures being threatened by the vicious actions of a nasty human being.
A profound feeling of isolation, a crushing weight which can not be lifted and the overwhelming sense of helplessness which a bullying victim feels, is soul destroying. But with the help and comfort of friends, family and anti-bullying organizations to turn to, this will always help a victim defeat those feelings and come out strong and proud.
A profound feeling of isolation, a crushing weight which can not be lifted and the overwhelming sense of helplessness which a bullying victim feels, is soul destroying. But with the help and comfort of friends, family and anti-bullying organizations to turn to, this will always help a victim defeat those feelings and come out strong and proud.
Sharing their stories...
The average teen and a previous My.Kali.mag’s cover boy, Bebo, 17 (right>), shares his side of the story with experiencing bullying in his school:
“You know, it becomes an overbearing routine, something that happens to me right about daily, speaking of school bullying that just shaped around my life, you just learn how to live with it, I hate it, but I got used to it! I skip the morning’s line up for the whole flag song thing, or I’ll be pushed around in the line, I get teased by younger kids, kids that are way younger than me and it hurts… but what’s disgusting is that I get sex offers from my own classmates! Teachers understand my situation when I choose to spend my lunch break in the classroom, I’m really blessed with friends, it’s not like I even have the choice. I try not to believe the things I hear, cause I usually do, leaving me with depression. It’s hard to miss the hints and the obvious calls; it just hit all the weak points. The other day, I was sitting on the bench during lunch break, watching the guys playing football, and I had a sudden feeling of discomfort, the feeling of disbelonging, I don’t belong here, it’s not my place to be, a while after two big guys came my way and started harassing me, then I ran to the bathroom and spent lunch break there to avoid any similar situation. That’s aside from the emotional bullying I get from my family and neighbors! I try to think of things that makes living with bullying easier, knowing that people like Victoria Beckham had experienced bullying in school makes me feel like I’m not the only one going through this, but when something scratches your dignity like that every day it breaks your heart.”
“You know, it becomes an overbearing routine, something that happens to me right about daily, speaking of school bullying that just shaped around my life, you just learn how to live with it, I hate it, but I got used to it! I skip the morning’s line up for the whole flag song thing, or I’ll be pushed around in the line, I get teased by younger kids, kids that are way younger than me and it hurts… but what’s disgusting is that I get sex offers from my own classmates! Teachers understand my situation when I choose to spend my lunch break in the classroom, I’m really blessed with friends, it’s not like I even have the choice. I try not to believe the things I hear, cause I usually do, leaving me with depression. It’s hard to miss the hints and the obvious calls; it just hit all the weak points. The other day, I was sitting on the bench during lunch break, watching the guys playing football, and I had a sudden feeling of discomfort, the feeling of disbelonging, I don’t belong here, it’s not my place to be, a while after two big guys came my way and started harassing me, then I ran to the bathroom and spent lunch break there to avoid any similar situation. That’s aside from the emotional bullying I get from my family and neighbors! I try to think of things that makes living with bullying easier, knowing that people like Victoria Beckham had experienced bullying in school makes me feel like I’m not the only one going through this, but when something scratches your dignity like that every day it breaks your heart.”
Vicky's side of the story (Elle magazine January 2008; <left):
Let’s go back. There’s someone you should meet on the playground at the Church of England school. See that chubby, pimply kid in the duffle coat with the hood cinched up against the cold and flying debris? That’s Victoria Adams, loser, loner, and—unbeknownst to the classmates pelting her with stones—future Spice Girl. “They were literally picking things up out of the puddles and throwing them at me,” Beckham says, cringing. “And I just stood there, on my own. No one was with me. I didn’t have any friends. People would push me around, say they were going to beat me up after school, chase me. It was miserable, my whole schooling, miserable. I tried to be friends with people, but I didn’t fit in. So I kept myself to myself.”
Let’s go back. There’s someone you should meet on the playground at the Church of England school. See that chubby, pimply kid in the duffle coat with the hood cinched up against the cold and flying debris? That’s Victoria Adams, loser, loner, and—unbeknownst to the classmates pelting her with stones—future Spice Girl. “They were literally picking things up out of the puddles and throwing them at me,” Beckham says, cringing. “And I just stood there, on my own. No one was with me. I didn’t have any friends. People would push me around, say they were going to beat me up after school, chase me. It was miserable, my whole schooling, miserable. I tried to be friends with people, but I didn’t fit in. So I kept myself to myself.”