Relationship Advice

I felt similar to how you felt during high school, except I was picked on for being smart and liking school. I was also called ugly by guys and talked about by the girls, but nowadays if I see anyone that I went to high school with who used to make fun of me they talk to me like high school never happened. Of course people change; people change all the time. Change is growth; it makes us stronger and more able to cope with life’s situations in our own unique ways. But it does hurt teens more than people think. I did some research on the psychological effects of bullying in junior and senior high schools for my Adolescent Psychology class this past semester. The statistics were astounding. Most teens who are bullied develop some form of depression and are more prone to contemplating suicide than teens who are not. And it goes both ways–bullies themselves struggle with their own insecurities and also suffer from depression. I feel for you, but boy do people come a long way as life progresses. We do need to take into consideration the worser cases of ridicule, however. Sometimes verbal pain is worse than physical pain.