Scarleteen

Hi everyone, I finally decided to tell this story I haven’t told anyone before, to give you context, this happened about two years ago, I was a wee 5th grader, unaware of the capabilities of my fellow peers. I was also the talented queen of the school, I wasn’t your typical bitch, I was the nicest ,nerdiest, and talented kid in the school, I even got awarded for it all 5 years of elementary school.

I was at recess one day, sitting on one part of the park just minding my own business, as happy as I could be, when all of a sudden my whole class approached me, just talking shit about me, saying they were only my friends cuz of my social status. I decided to retaliate back, saying that they were pathetic for using me for that, Each kid proceeded to slap me in the face, except this last kid who almost broke my leg, I fucking screamed so loud, you could hear me at the park that was across from the school. They all kicked and punched me until I was almost unconscious. Except my best friend who tried calling an administrator to stop it. The said friend and an administrator arrived, and they then took me to the nurses office to question me. There wasn’t any legal involvement, just suspensions. Bullshit, I know right? Well that was fucked up on the schools part, I would have sued them if I had the choice, but some of them I knew wanted carriers that involved no legal violations. I still have depression and during that time I cut myself. This world is fucked up, but passing it on to the youth? I can’t get the what if’s out of my head from the flashbacks of that year, cuz the hate started from the beginning of the school year and the administration did shit about it.

Ali,

I'm so glad that you feel able to tell us about this. Not being able to talk about ways we have been abused and traumatized is a terrible thing, and I'm glad that you've found a space you feel safe in to talk about this. I'm so sorry this was done to you. This was terrible.

It doesn't sound like you need me to tell you that this was a horrible thing done to you and that you experienced. As well, I agree with you, it sounds like this was not handled the way it should have been, to say the least. I know from your other post that it may be that there are also some issues with your parents, but all the same, your parents should have been notified so they could have taken action, including reporting this to the police (were they). The administration should have addressed this within the entire school community, including involving police, if that was something you wanted. It should have at least been made an option. Your long-term emotional and physical safety should have been addressed and plans and arrangements should have been made around that.

It is possible for you to still press charges against the school for the way they handled this, for the record, or your classmates. Because you didn't then -- or, from the sounds of things, didn't have any adult in your life helping you to pursue that -- doesn't mean you can't now. You obviously had witnesses, and generally with crimes like this, given your age, there will be a long time period in which you could charge. In the event you do want to seek justice when it comes to this, or at least explore your options with someone, I'd be glad to do some research to find the right kind of person in your community to do that with you. Let me know if so, and I'll hop on the case.

Otherwise, how can we help you out with this? We can also see if we can help you connect with a counselor or therapist to help with (likely) PTSD and other impacts and effects following that kind of trauma. We can provide you emotional support here. Let us know. <3

I mean I did fix my relationship with one of my classmates, and she did say that she was genuinely sorry that she did this, and we have met up a couple of times. She is also trying to get my in contact with some other of my classmates that feel the same way.

Hi Ali,

While it's good that at least one person feels genuinely sorry, what matters most in this whole thing is how you feel. Do you have any interest or desire to contact those other people? Do you think doing so would be emotionally safe for you?

Have you given any thought to some of the resources Heather mentioned in their first post, either in regards to addressing the fact that the administration failed to handle this correctly or in getting connected to some form of counseling to deal specifically with the fallout from this attack?

I did trust my friend enough now to reach out to other people about it and it’s helped a lot.

That's good to hear! Am I correct in thinking that some of these people were involved in the incident? If so, have they acted genuinely sorry and now seem safe to be around?

Do you have any concerns about this or a similar incident happening again at/after school this year?