District 4, Bay Harbor Elementary School

Narratives and drawings by the students of Bay Harbor Elementary School.  Click an image for larger view.

David Franco, age 12

On a Thursday in September, I started school in Miami. I felt excited to go to a school called Super Bobcats Elementary School. That afternoon two boys, David and Timothy said, “Hey, what’s your name pimp?” Then they almost hit my sisters, but a friend of mine named Jordan came to my rescue. He said, “Hey, go away, David and Timothy. Leave this kid alone.” Jordan was like a super hero. Then I saw my brother’s teacher. She was very nice. I stayed near her until my mother came. 

Tony YaYA “9da”, age 11

I was walking home alone. Someone from my class came up from behind and pushed me. I fell to the ground. When I fell I was mad. I wanted to beat him up but he ran away. I didn’t tell my parents because they are busy and wouldn’t do anything. So I kept this to myself. He never bullied me again. 

H.A., age 12

By the time I was in 4th grade I was really emotional, at least I was starting to be. It was my first year in Bay Harbor Elementary school. I came to this new school because my teacher failed me on purpose. I was in a private school where the teacher could do anything she wanted. Anyway, I went to a new school and people made fun of me. People called me names like, “gothic retard.” I was very mad and I started to cut myself. I didn’t realize how much pain it caused me to be bullied. By the time I was in 5th grade my life was getting even worse. People still made fun of me. But luckily I made a new friend. She stood up for me and helped me. She was great. Bullies have no idea how much pain they cause. I was one of those people and I never want to experience that again. I learned to stick up for myself. It’s never too late.

Brian B., age 12

I have seen a bully, bully someone. The reason why that happened is that the person being bullied was annoying. He was calling the bully names. So the bully told him to stop, but the person kept on going, so the bully started punching him. But right after the second punch, the kid was on the ground crying. Now the annoying kid had his lesson, and he never did it again. Now that kid is living a normal life. I told this story because I saw it with my own eyes. 

The Fool, age 11

One day after school my friend was walking home when two kids started to push him around. They called him names and one of the bullies ran away. Then the other ran away, too.

King Copernacus, age 12 or 96

In the fourth grade I was being bullied by this kid D.T. One day I stood up to him and we fought. We were going at it and then I got him, and he never ever fought with me again because he had learned his lesson.

In fifth grade there was this kid Mike. We had just gotten back from our Physical Education class and Mike kicked me in my privates. I got a detention for getting kicked in the privates and I will never forgive Mike for that. So I got him back by hurting him. He will never touch me again.

Kim, age 10

A bully was bothering me and I told the teacher. The teacher told him to stop but he didn’t. He continued. He stole my homework, and I felt bad because I had to lie to the teacher or I would have gotten an F and that’s a bad grade. Now I make two copies of my homework in case the bully steals my homework again. If the bully keeps bothering me I will tell the teacher so he doesn’t repeat bothering me.

Matthew, age 12

I had a real bad bullying experience when I was ten. This experience occurred after school. It was a normal day. I finished my homework and was playing with a soccer ball, alone. I kicked the ball past the last portable. Then I saw Steve. I know he was going through some hard times but I did not know how much of his emotion he was holding in. But I soon found out. I said, “What’s up?” At that moment, I knew Steve was not himself. He was saying bad words. Then the worst happened. He snapped. He came over to me and punched me in the ribs, then in my face. I screamed “Stop,” but to no use. I fell to the ground and was covering my head with my hands as Steve stomped on me about 15 times. Before I knew it he had done an aggressive assault, but it could have been worse. He might have used a rock, etc. I felt mad at first, but then sad because Steve had no control over his hard times and life so he had to try to control my life and emotions. The good thing is that I didn’t fight back so I did not cause more violence.

Little Bunnyfufu, age 12 or 97

One time I saw this kid getting picked on by a bully. The boy was crying because the bully punched him. The only thing I did was walk away because the bully was big. I am very short. I am in the 5th percentile which is half the size of most 12 year olds, but I have never been bullied. I have a lot of friends that are 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, and 19 years old that are 6 feet tall. Even though I am short I am extremely athletic. I am very fast, I can jump really high for my height and I am good at sports. I am small but I can shoot 3 pointers easily in basketball.

Nick, age 12

When I was in second grade I knew this kid was a bully. He was always hurting me and other kids. Then one day he was bullying me and I said stop it and he said I was a wuss and I said very loud to stop calling me names and to leave me alone. So he said okay. Then he left me alone and never bothered me again.

Mr. Hungry Monster, age 11

When I was ten I was a bully to this kid. I teased him. I called him four eyes because he wore glasses. I did it because he was so annoying. I hit him and kicked him until he cried. Then I felt bad because I didn’t mean to hurt him or be mean to him. I guess I wanted to show off to my friends and be cool, but the bad thing is I got two detentions. The point I learned is if you bully someone something bad will happen to you. 

Princess, age 11

I know this girl who gets bullied by her older brother John, who likes to call her names. His sister, Michelle, always feels hurt inside. When she tells her parents what happened they first calm her down and make her feel better by giving her a hug and telling her, “It’s all right just don’t listen to him.”

So when someone is bullying you, you should tell someone that you trust, like your parents or another adult. When you tell someone about your problems you feel a lot better. 

“Talk about your problems. Don’t be a bully.” 

Fried, age 12

Once I saw someone get bullied. They were fighting. Then the teacher separated them, but when school was over they started fighting again. When they fight, it’s usually until the bully gets tired or someone gets hurt.

A.K.A. Slim Thug, age 12

I’ve been bullied. I’ve been a bully. And I’ve seen bullying. Well, being bullied feels very bad. Being a bully feels better. And seeing bullying feels even better. When you’re the bully it feels great because you have power over the ones you’re bullying, and you know that they won’t do anything back to you. That’s why you keep on picking on them. But then if they snitch on you the bully will bully them twice as hard. In my case, the problem was that we were friends until I started hanging out with other types of friends. My new friends and I started bullying my old friends mostly every day. But then I stopped because I started thinking about it and then I stopped bullying because some bigger kids started bullying me. Then one day I stood up to the bullies and they stopped bullying me. I haven’t been bullied, and I haven’t bullied in a month. 

Angelina, age 11

One day in school in the early morning I was sitting upstairs and this kid named Daniel was talking to another kid named Juan. They disagreed about something and Daniel starting to hit Juan. Juan hit him back but then a teacher came and they stopped. I don’t like when people get hurt and they have to go to the hospital. Some people die from getting bullied and I feel really bad. When I see bullying I want to stop it but I’m afraid to get in the middle of it when I might get hurt. 

Angie, age 11

Every day in school this kid makes fun of another kid. I don’t want to be a bully, but yes, I’ve bullied this kid too, and so has everyone else. Well, one day after school, one of the boys made fun of him and threw a backpack at him and hurt his foot really bad. He didn’t know he hurt him that much but he did. He did it so hard that the boy hasn’t come to school for a whole week. When I saw this I thought it was funny, but then I realized that when the kid didn’t come to school, it had to hurt him a lot.

#1 Baby Angel, age 12

In the cafeteria, I saw this boy spill milk on my friend’s homework. She got mad, I could see it by the look on her face, but she didn’t do anything. After school she told her friends and her friends were going to bully him that same day, but he didn’t come, so they waited until the next day. They beat him up. But I didn’t get involved. I was afraid to get in trouble with the security people.

I-Pod Loser, age 11

I once kind of got bullied by my older brother. He asked me for my I-pod but I didn’t want to give it to him because he lost one of my movies. When I said no to him, he threatened to delete my e-mail, knowing that I have important things in there. I felt mad at him, but in some way I knew that he would forget, and he did.

Nina, age 12

While growing up I was never the “skinny” girl. Because of my weight (not that I was obese) the kids at school weren’t very nice. I was very popular in the third grade, but the next year a group of kids were very mean to me. They called me Jelly-Belly, Sumo Wrestler, and other horrible names that made me cry, being that I was 8 or 9 years old. My mom and my sister worried because I was just a little girl and I was depressed. I came home with tears in my eyes. My mom got me to talk with the school psychologist because of the bullies, and other problems we were having. A lot of times I would talk to my teacher and she would try to help me. At school I would pretend it didn’t bother me, but I would go to the bathroom where no one would see me, and cry. It was the worst experience of my life. Now it’s about three years later and the teasing has stopped except for three people. It’s much better than the group of six kids. I’m still pretty hurt and upset because of it but its gotten better.

Chuky, age 12

One day before my birthday this tall kid came to me and said, “You better invite me to your birthday party or else I will kill you.” I told him, “I will never invite you to my party and you won’t ever lay a finger on me.” He said, “Come to the park at 5:00 p.m.,” and I said, “Okay, I’ll be there.” It was 5:00 p.m. and I fooled him. I didn’t go, so he came to my house and punched me in the nose and my nose started bleeding. I kicked him in the face and covered his nose and mouth so he couldn’t breath. I let go when he said “Stop.” He never bothered me again.

Leonard, age 11

I have never been bullied, I never will be bullied and if I am I will think of nothing but, “Ow.” In any case, if I do think of something, it would be, “I want my daddy.”

One day I was in indoor detention. There was only me and this other boy, but his name keeps slipping my mind. I am afraid he might hate me. About twenty minutes before I got out of detention the teacher went to the bathroom for about fifteen minutes. When the teacher came back to the room she found me on the floor. Nobody knew how I got on the floor in the first place. I never told what happened. 

Chanel, age 11

It all started when three guys in 8th grade named Chris, Daniel and David were bullying a 5th grade kid named Matt. They were kicking, punching and pushing him to the wall. I saw Matt’s nose bleed. I tried to tell somebody but the bullies got me by the arm and told me if I tell they will bully me for the rest of the year. So I helped Matt up and just then my friend Alexa came up the stairs and helped both of us.

A.K.A. 305G, age 11

One day while walking to my class I saw a bully go over to my friend and he started to yell at him, push him, grab him and pull him. I came right up to the bully’s face and I started to yell at him. The next day I was outside next to the school and the bully came up to me and started to yell at me. I punched him because he bullied my friend.

Olivia, age 11

In the country where I lived there are a lot of bad people. A group of five bullies surrounded my cousin. They hit him, and they took his cell phone and his bicycle.

Alexa, age 11

It all started when three boys in the 6th grade bullied a guy in 5th grade. It happened outside of school when me and my friend were playing tag and doing cartwheels. We heard noise behind the portable and went to check it out. We saw the three boys kicking, punching, and throwing this kid to the ground. The kid’s nose was bleeding. Me and my friend went to get help, but the bullies came up to us and told us if we tell anyone they will do the same to us. So we told no one what happened.